Maybe It Was Nashville

Maybe it's the time of year, maybe it is the weather, maybe it was Nashville.  I find myself more and more longing to get out of Houston and go to a more rural, beautiful, peaceful place....! 

Here is one!  Good idea!

We were in Nashville last weekend and in addition to the fun times with family as well as  birthday and  First Communion celebrations, I was taken by how nice Nashville is.  I guess after the last nine months in Houston, the concrete jungle is getting to me.   In the neighborhood we visited the lot size is a minimum of one acre and there are no fences.  There are however lots of huge trees and hills.   Let me repeat....huge trees and hills!  Everything felt so spread out.  We live on a flat postage stamp size lot and there are fences around each house.  The freeway in Nashville has trees along the sides for the most part until you get downtown.  Houston....and the surrounding 30 mile radius, has a patchwork of car lots, strip malls, fast food restaurants, gas stations and billboards along the side of the freeway.  One would be hard pressed to find a tree larger than a shrub near the freeway...and the only hill you will find is called an overpass.  Every sense is bombarded.

I happened to browse through some old photos last night and came across some from a few years ago taken one May at the farmhouse.  The new spring grass was brilliant green, the tulips were blooming, the sunsets were lovely over the water and it took my breath away.  I miss it!  I could almost smell the air! Most of the time we live our life here and we enjoy our life here.  There is a lot to say for having anything and everything you need or want so close.  We like the city most of the time.  I think after a while though we just need to get out  and have a change of pace and a change of scenery.  Time to recharge our senses and our spirit.  We need to slow down a bit and take in nature and refocus.  Life in the city....or the suburbs, has a different focus... a more material and competitive focus.  Drive faster, be busier, accomplish more, buy more, keep up!  I think I might be getting tired.  I am ready to worry about what bugs are eating the artichoke plants and if it is time to mow the grass yet and to look out and see wide open spaces instead of houses, fences, buildings and freeways.

Luckily I will have that opportunity one week from today!  We will be at the shore for a little over a week and then head back to the concrete jungle.  I should be able to tolerate the jungle for a few more weeks then until it is time to move north for the summer!  Bring it on!  Maybe it is just the time of year.