TheBanyanTree: evening

[Julie Anna Teague]

Tonight we had a wonderful family outing to a lavender farm north of 
us--my mom and stepdad, husband, son and son's girlfriend. Great 
singer-songwriter, beautiful grounds, scent of lavender in the air, 
picnic dinner on blankets, heirloom tomatoes and basil from the garden, 
a peach pie made with the peaches from our own peach tree. Evening was 
setting in as we lingered, drinking my stepdad's homemade wine--a nice 
dry, white Muscat. The shade of the pines deepened, the air cooled, and 
we sat on our blankets, laughing, catching up, enjoying our time 
together. As husband and I drove home, feeling happy and connected to 
the people who love us, a spectacular sunset was unfolding over the 
rolling hills. Windows down, fireflies, sky going pink, orange, purple. 
Midwestern midsummer's evening. This is why, I think, exactly why I am 
so deeply connected to this place. It's not a place everyone would want 
to live. It takes someone who can see beauty in a sunset over 
round-topped grain silos, in the particular spicy scent of a field of 
sweet corn, in the peace of a slow, wide river, in a tree heavy 
burdened with rosy-skinned peaches. It takes, maybe, deep connections 
to family and a childhood spent smelling these smells and catching 
fireflies in these sunsets. I crave different places myself sometimes. 
I crave mountains and thundering rivers with white water. I crave 
ancient rock faces and sea breezes. But evenings like this, a sense of 
place passes over me. A sense of peace passes over me. I am happy right 
here, right now, on this amazing Indiana summer evening.

Julie