A Driving Force

have you ever gotten into the car and just felt like driving? no place special in mind, just an escape from your regular routine?

this week Trevor and i are staying at my parent's house while they're at the beach with our extended family (all 28 of them!!!). my parent's house is about 40 minutes from our house - its surrounded by mountains, fields of corn, and lots of smelly cows. our latest schedule involves getting up around 6:00 a.m., feeding my parent's animals - one of which is a cat who doesn't seem pleased with anything i've fed him thusfar. we attempt to round up the dogs and coerce them out to their pen - they'll have NONE of it - food seems to be the only thing they respond to. when they run for cover we resort to the grab and run method - grab them before they escape and run to the pen with them. we're merciless ... who has time to deal with spoiled (but I LOVE THEM!!) dogs that early in the a.m.? after our jaunt to the pen we hop in the car and drive 40 minutes back to our house where we feed and water our own critters. we hastily don our work clothes and jump in the car and head off to work. this routine has actually helped us get to work on time this week!

the whole point of sharing this with you is because this morning i got up a little earlier and walked out onto my parent's front porch. i had a freshly brewed cup of coffee in one hand and my camera in the other. the sun was rising and it was a bit misty. the pony was in the field, and the neighbor's peacock was proudly (and loudly) proclaiming its existance. it was so beautiful. hummingbirds and bees were buzzing around the feeder and flowers. the outline of mountains were visible through the mist. the field glistened with drops of dew in the morning light. the thermometer read mid 60's. not bad for an august morning in southwest virginia! i took a couple of pictures, but mostly i just enjoyed the sense of peace i felt at that moment.

when we got in the car to drive to our house i had the feeling of wanting to just drive. head for the mountains, keep going. over the parkway. straight through the state of virginia. into tennessee. over and around mountain ranges much bigger and real than our own roanoke mountains. revisit cherokee national forest in north carolina where the presence of american indian history fills the air. all back roads - no major interstates. past summer green trees and late blooming wildflowers. across little one lane bridges and slow moving creeks. through the misty morning to places not familiar with my daily routine. i think i wanted to hold on to that feeling of peace i found this morning. to remain in that moment as long as possible.

as we were driving i thought i would share my moment with trevor. i asked HIM if he ever felt like driving just so he could enjoy the sights. his response?

"we are driving."

"i mean driving and not stopping - just getting away for a bit."

"no, not really."

*sigh* ...

maybe he wasn't ready for a deep thought that early in the morning. but i sure was. what great beauty god created for me to enjoy. i think he meant for me to wake up early just to witness something i wouldn't normally see. something outside of my normal routine ...