Did I ever tell you about the time I went to Elgin, PA and fell in love?
We left Friday afternoon. Cute bf, his dad, and I on the way to a double surprise birthday party/family reunion. A seven hour drive loomed in front of us. Rain made the highway nearly invisible. Then sun shone moments later. Traffic crawled. Accidents littered the roads. And we just kept driving. Around midnight we arrived in Elgin, Pennsylvania. The air was cool and crisp down in the valley. The house was asleep already, so we went in and crashed into bed.
The next morning we woke up to light streaming in through a skylight in the ceiling and two large windows. The bedroom we were in was amazing. I hadn't even seen it the night before. It was large, and homey. With intricate wood detail, built in bookshelves and drawers and a sloping ceiling. The rest of the house proved to be equally beautiful. The deck off the huge eat-in kitchen was massive, and the view was amazing. A large yard stretched out, meeting a forest of trees, and a series of creeks.
We ate breakfast quickly and grabbed cute bf's niece and nephew and hit the 4 wheelers. It was girls vs. boys as I drove with his niece and he and his nephew led the way through woods, winding trails and the ever favorite: mud! We rode for well over an hour until our butts were sore and the sky clouded over with big, fat rain clouds.
That evening I met a lot more of the family (and did my best to remember names), then played Wii and Monopoly until it was time to get a good night sleep.
Sunday was the double surprise party/reunion. And boy oh boy was it a busy day. Never in my life have I seen an army of women create so much food in such an organized fashion. It was fantastic. We headed down to the local firehouse and enjoyed the party. Since there was supposed to be no drinking....
well....
Cute bf's dad, cute bf, and I packed a cooler. Somewhere around the end of the party we snuck out, and like underage kids had few drinks in the parking lot. As word spread about our clandestine activity, more and more family members joined- until the parking lot was full of people holding cold beers, telling funny stories, and enjoying the time of doing nothing at all.
We left the firehouse and in a long caravan headed to a Great Aunt's house (right up the hill from where we were staying). I can't remember when I've had such a good time. Kids ran around barefoot, 4 wheelers buzzed, beer cans were cracked open, and laughter rang out in the valley beneath the mountains, echoing in the cool night air. And then, sitting on the great front porch surrounded by so much the sky opened up and gave us more. A thunderstorm let loose, and lightning lit up acres of land revealing craggy rock, and fields of wildflowers. Rain poured over everything, feeding the creeks and plants.
As far as I was concerned the night could have gone on forever.
When we left on Monday mid-morning we decided to skip the Turnpike and weave our way through windy, back roads. We pointed out wild turkeys, chubby groundhogs, and views so beautiful we slowed the car to a stop to just look. I don't know that I've ever felt peace like that before and it's carried me through this day as well. I hope the feeling stays with me whenever I'm faced with challenging people and situations. I hope I can remember to slow down, and appreciate the simple things.
And I hope someday I can live in a home like that, where the front door is always open, and family comes and goes. Where toys litter the kitchen floor and breakfast can be eaten in the open air. Where people are good and pure and real. And where I can fall asleep at night to the sound of rain drumming on the roof.
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