Every summer my entire family would go to Turkey Run Indiana to camp and play in the river. We would all go to the river, probably 20 of us and play and look for Indian beads. One day just me and my grandma went. She always found the best and the most beads, which she placed in a clear jar, with a salmon colored lid and shell on it. In the middle of the river, right under a covered bridge was an island. I can see my grandmother bent over searching for shells and beads. I sat on the shore, playing in the sand and watched her. When she found a good one she would yell at me to come see it. The “good ones” always had a hole through the entire rock, so we could string them onto a necklace. The water was shallow, only ankle deep. The river was very cold and my feet were numb. I stared at my feet and watched the current push sand and rock over my toes. I still remember my grandma short hair, her 1980’s big framed plastic glasses. She always wore cut off shorts and a swim suit to the river. She was always grouchy, but kind. I could smell hotdogs cooking on campfires. I could feel my shoulders burning and see that my grandma’s shoulders were already beet red. After several hours we returned back to camp. I remember being very hungry and worn out. She had 10 other grandkids camping with her that weekend; I always wondered why she only took me.

Indian beads—
a diamond
in the ruff

cold feet
sun burnt shoulders…
a day at the river

long winding road
years of travel
still there

leaves blowing
fall approaching
worries at home

aching heart
eyes so sad
on a walk

the eyes of a child
a road
reaches heaven

Feburary of 2004. It was a beautiful, sunny, but extremely cold winter day. It was my Great-Great Aunts funeral (the same aunt that took my sister and me on Sunday drives). My family has a private cemetery outside of Shelbyville. My sister and I drove the 10 miles in silence. It was windy that day and very cold. I remember my tears freezing my face, but I did not care because that last thing on my mind was being cold. My family members hugged me, but I could not feel that either. I remember wishing that I was somewhere else, anywhere, just not there, on that day. Everyone was upset and crying, but I only cared about how I felt. My heart was as cold as the wind. My aunt loved music, and she loved to hear my little brother play his trumpet. So my brother performed for her. I could faintly hear him playing taps, but his trumpet was over powered by tears and sniffing of noses. The air that day smelled clean and of roses. The grass was an ugly brown color, because the winter sun had taken its color. No one spoke, we just listened and remembered.

the broken ground,
a broken heart—
a funeral

winter burial:
warm hearts
a cold body in the cold ground

I live in Sullivan and I take my kids to the park where I used to go when I was a child. I see the sun shining through the trees and the water glistening on the leaves with one swing still moving. I am brought back to a day this summer when my kids were playing outside and it was very hot. I had tried to get the kids to come inside and cool off and watch a movie. They protested and I caved in and let them stay outside even though you could barely breath it was so humid. The short time I was outside I began sweating almost instantly and could not wait to go back inside to the cool comfortable house.  Six neighborhood kids and my three were playing outside and they asked if they could get out the water guns and tubs of water to play. I dragged all of the stuff out, filled the tubs with water, and passed out the guns. The clouds moved in from out of nowhere and covered the sun. The rain started to fall straight to the ground. The rain was very steady, cool, and refreshing.  We all ran around on the driveway and in the yard getting wet, laughing, shooting each other with the water guns and having a lot of fun. The rain stopped just as soon as it started, the sun came back out, and we searched for a rainbow but did not find one. This was a summer day with a refreshing surprise.

summer day
unexpected rain
relief

fresh summer rain
sudden delight
energizing

Since we live in central Illinois we see a lot of produce stands, farmer’s markets, cornfields, and bean fields. This is a part of our surroundings that you cannot really get away from. When the harvest begins we know summer is leaving and autumn is on its way.  Autumn is my favorite time of year.  I love to watch the seasons change all around me. The fields are harvested and left bare; the leaves begin to change into the most beautiful shades of red, orange, yellow, and brown, the smell of fresh cool air in the early morning and late evening become the new season. Autumn is the bridge from summer to winter. My husband and I chose to get married in October because we loved being outside during that time of year. Autumn is a very romantic time of year when you are able to sleep in with the sun, snuggle together to keep warm on those chilly evenings, and walk hand in hand while looking at all of the beautiful changes.

bare fields
cool mornings
beautiful leaves

together
vows of love
autumn blessing