One of the things that happened, especially early on, was they’d barely get out the door, and she’d say, “Up!”

Papa Eck’ick would shake his head and reply, “It’s a walk–not a carry.”

As I think of life as a walk, there are times where I’m like Little Miss. I don’t think I can keep going. I ask ‘Up!’ and am told, “It’s a walk–not a carry.”

This week, as you walk through life, remember, sometimes you’re stronger than you think you are. Keep trudging along. Soon you’ll arrive at the coffee shop where you can get a hot chocolate, or at the market where friends will give you hugs.

I’ve often had my students create a brochure of their town as if it would go to the visitor’s center for Spanish speaking people who come through. Maybe one of these days, I’ll make the assignment actually get published for the visitor’s center. However, I’ve heard the complaints. “We don’t have anything special here.” “What’s the big deal about our town?” I can understand.

We get lost in what we know. The everyday loses its appeal. But every town has something special.

Here are some things to consider.

Landscape

Sure, not every town is going to have the beach, but every town will have something! I can just hear you say, “But I live in Iowa!”(Now, I have nothing against anyone who lives in Iowa, I was born there.) My answer is simple, you have a river, farms, lakes, bluffs, woods, hills, or something of interest. Rivers, creeks, and lakes are awesome for swimming, fishing, kayaking, or boating. Farms are wonderful for produce in the summer and fall. Around here, it’s blueberries in the summer, cranberries in the fall, and lambs in the spring. We can go and pick blueberries and make blueberry smoothies, muffins, or just eat them fresh and whole. Someone who has never seen a cranberry harvest is intrigued with why the fields are flooded and what the red stuff floating around is. Meanwhile, locals around here find the harvest as boring or mundane, and sheep? Don’t even go there!

Museums

Even some of the smallest towns have museums or other historical places. The town to the north of us which boasts a total of 3,000 people has a small museum. Then south of us we have a the Hughes House, a historical house built by one of the first families to settle in the area. Further south, the Coast Guard has a museum. These little museums are wonderful places to explore and learn about the area. When my husband and I went to Willow Creek, California, we explored the local museum on big foot. If you visit Bandon, Oregon’s museum, you’ll learn about a fire that raged through the town in the early 1900’s.

Points of Interest

Even if you don’t have a museum, your area has to have something that makes it special, whether it’s a festival, special restaurants, specialty stores, marketplaces, or library events. All of these are things that draw people to your town. Cranberry Festival and the 4th of July are the big events in our area. Both boast parades complete with candy throwing and bands. From there, other events take over that draw people in from all around. As for restaurants, who wouldn’t be curious about a food establishment called “The Greasy Spoon”? Over the last year, they’ve change the name just to “The Spoon”, but I can’t count how many people have stopped to take a picture of the old sign. 

What makes your town or area special? Have you taken it for granted? Look around and consider. What draws people to your area? Let me know. I love traveling and gaining ideas for towns for my books. After all, Boeskay featured in Dragon’s Heir and Dragon’s Cure was inspired by my summer years in the Mississippi River valley of Muscatine, Iowa.

Today, my eighteen year old received his acceptance papers to a one year Bible College five hours away. He will be leaving the first of October. I was excited for him, but then realized that my little boy was growing up.

My nineteen year old has decided to go to the local community college. She will stay at home for the first term. Even though she is at home, between a night job and classes, we won’t see her much. Again, I am glad for her, but sad that my little girl is growing up. Tonight she realized that our youngest will be in high school next year.

Where has the time gone? Wasn’t it just a year ago that they were the ‘twins’, the one only 17 months old feeding the one month old? It goes by in a blink of an eye.

With this realization, the other happening today weighs heavy on my heart. One of my uncles passed away. I barely knew him because of where we lived, but I remember my cousin with fondness. She lost her mom, my aunt, just a few months ago and now her dad. This leaves my dad and his younger brothers as the patriarchs in the family. The realization that Dad is the oldest of his family now is sobering. I know too soon life will cycle through. I don’t want to think that way, but watching my kids grow up makes me realize that in time I will be the grandma. It will be my job to hold the family reunions and keep us together just as my grandma did before me.

Tonight, I can curl up and cry, but tomorrow I will be the strong mom ready to face the future with my kids. I’ll be prepared to encourage and cheer them on. I’ll brag about their college plans and be proud of what they have done. For this is what a mom does. She takes life, cries, laughs, and beams with joy.