Fresh Look

Going away for the weekend always gives me a fresh outlook on what the heck is going on in my life. I spent the past weekend in the desert with none other than the man of my dreams. Aside from being with him, what I like most about being out there, in the middle of no where, is the peace. I’m not necessarily talking about peace and quiet; Brandon’s neighborhood definitely has its fair share of emergency sirens, bass rumbling from car stereos and the cooing of a pigeon in a nearby tree. (However, we did find a headless pigeon on Brandon’s driveway Monday afternoon. Our discovery leads me to believe our pigeon friend may be less of an annoyance next time I visit.) In any case, the noise level in Lancaster is no different from the everyday life in any other town. The peace that I am talking about, on the other hand, is the calm I feel when I’m there. By stepping away from my everyday routine and all the things I “have to get done right away”, allows me to experience and appreciate the things that I love.

Last Saturday, oh beautiful last Saturday, Brandon took me to a local park and we kicked around a soccer ball that he recently purchased for this very reason. It was a complete blast. Between running and kicking, we spent long intervals lying in the grass looking for airplanes against the blue sky and talking about the future we’re about to enter together. It had been a little over a year since I kicked a soccer ball and well over that since I laid in the grass dreaming of what’s to come. There seems to be no time for those things when I get home from an 8 hour day with a list full of things that I need to accomplish before my head hits the pillow (Target, Wal-Mart, Safeway, Donut Wheel…you get the idea). I’m not saying that the peace I currently find in the desert will only reside there, nor am I implying that the desert will always be an escape from my everyday life. On the contrary, Lancaster will be my everyday life come September. But for now, I appreciate the lack of “I have to” that I come across when I’m away from home and I am inspired to try this “peace” thing out in my everyday place with the hope that it works just as well.