New Eyes

July often seems to bring families together. Solidly placed in the middle of summer, it’s the month of holidays, outdoor gatherings and family reunions. We join in with a trip to western Pennsylvania to spend a short weekend with siblings. Despite the drive through a crazy rainstorm and some rain on our arrival which keeps us all on the welcoming sheltered front porch of our in-laws, our gathering offers much needed relaxation and excellent food and drink. On our way home, we split up the journey with a couple of stops: one at Cuyahoga Valley National Park to see the Brandywine Falls; the other at Pokagon State Park to take a hike through the bog and the forest.

We needed that time away from our everyday life. And, as I resume the daily routines here in Goshen, I find myself looking at my life anew. Sometimes I have to remove the dust from my eyes and really look. It’s easy to just follow the same path every day and not pay any attention to what is actually around me.

So, when I drive to Fidler’s Pond, I pay attention and when I start my walk around the pond with Stella, the dog, I marvel at the beauty right in my backyard. Clear deep blue water laps at my feet, fish swim, wildflowers bloom, trees give shade, birds sing and a light breeze gives relief from the heat. I breathe in deeply the smells of summer as I jog around the pond.

Later, Stella and I stop in at Wooden Music, my husband’s guitar making shop. As we step inside the cool space, the scent of wood greets us. Along several walls, guitars, mandolins and other stringed instruments hang, some finished and ready to play, others in various states of building or repair. Shelves hold wood for future instruments and guitars in progress sit on workbenches. I see this space with new eyes. I understand the talent and the love that goes into each process, the time that it takes to do this job well, the years of experience that lay in the objects around me. Most days, I don’t think about it, I take if for granted, it’s his “job”, but today, I’m thankful for this new appreciation. Special things happen here.

Later, we drink up our coffee at Embassy and we appreciate how fortunate we are to have this caliber of coffee in our town. And as I bike home, I stop and look around me, trying to capture the beauty of this place where I have made my home. That old bridge along the Mill Race could be Scotland, that view across the water could be from my hometown in Belgium. As I take in the smells of summer, though, I know I am here, in Goshen, my feet firmly planted in this northwest Indiana town, that is filled with beauty if I look for it.

Tonight, I’ll watch the fireflies light out as dusk falls and take in with new eyes and reverence the people and the landscape around me.