Prairie Life

 

Daily Gratitude Year 10 - Day 135: Today, I am grateful for prairie life.

I suppose Mama Ina Mae is on my mind quite a bit this week. We've just passed her birthday and Mother's Day and I've been reminiscing on her favorite things. So, another Laura Ingalls Wilder quote is up for today's post. It is the first time I've used it.

We who live in quiet places have the opportunity to become acquainted with ourselves, to think our own thoughts and live our own lives in a way that is not possible for those keeping up with the crowds." -Laura Ingalls Wilder

How have I missed this quote? It sums up prairie life. We were so blessed growing up. Chicago was ridiculously close. In fact, we could be downtown faster than many who live in the suburbs with I-57 passing through our little villages of Chebanse, Clifton and Ashkum.

We were country people with access to all the benefits of city life, but we grew up playing in the creeks, running barefoot and knowing how to grow food. We knew from childhood where our meat came from. We had chickens and cows at Grandpa Harry and Grandma Marge's house to keep us entertained for hours. We picked apples and cherries from the orchard.

We grew up knowing our neighbors, but respected their privacy, too. Our neighbors were a second family. No one faced tough times alone. No one celebrated alone, either. All of life's major events were shared from birth to death. Most are buried in the same cemetery... the Catholic and Protestant sides... but in the same bit of land. I have the fondest memories of summers with the Corbin grandkids when Case and Gladys were still alive.

We learned euchre skills from the older kids on the school bus and honed our skills with every passing year. Eula Vaughn, our bus driver for most of those years could drive a bus with one eye on the road... and I swear... another one watching what was going on in the back of the bus. She once told me she drove that bus 72 miles every day from start to finish. I'm sure she was spot on in her calculations. There is a special place in heaven for school bus drivers.

Our days were long at times. Many of us did some hard labor or had daily responsibilities we did without question because we lived on a farm. We learned tenacity and sweat equity. We were rich in life experiences. We understood the circle of life long before Disney's Lion King made it popular. We were tightly knit as a community for the experiences we shared. It was the country way.

As a child, I associated the 23rd Psalm with funerals. As an adult, I find it more of a love song. It reminds me of the farm and the richness of life in wide open spaces.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul." Psalm 23:1-3a 

I have everything I need; He restores my soul. What a wonderful life. David knew the responsibility of caring for animals. I think it made him a better king when the time came for him to take the throne. Farm life prepared him for future leadership. 

Perhaps the prairie life is not for everyone, but I am grateful I grew up in the country.

Today, I am grateful for prairie life.