Back Home Again

There are a lot of reasons I love where I grew up. While leaving Birmingham was/is a heartache, there are joys I find here that are different. I love our Birmingham "mountains," and restaurants, and shopping, and friends...But there is something about the atmosphere three hours south that feels like home. I love to see a horse trailer being pulled by a muddy truck, the familiar streets I've watched whizz past me as long as I can remember, the people who know more about my past than I do that I bump into in the grocery store. And while the absence of really good restaurants is grievous :), a weekend like the one I just spent makes the loss seem petty:

My baby sister, Kendall, has been dating Watson for seven years

Watson's family has a cattle...farm...business...not sure exactly what you call it...and it spreads across a whole lot of acres just south of town.

As you wind back through the fields of Southern Cattle Company there is a lot of beauty to take in







BUT, in the last pasture there is a hidden treasure. It's one of the few places I've been to that stirs an awe within me that I can only describe as--magical.



I guess it's the shock of the unexpected. The cypress trees that you expect to be growing out of murky water, are towering over a pristine blue oasis.



And if you look closely you can see that there are caves--stretching almost a mile deep in that cold water. It's eery and beautiful, and when encountered alone, could inspire a man to write poetry he didn't even know he could write.



When encountered with family,



It can inspire a whole lot of fun :)

After all that fun, everybody had quite an appetite. So, we moved the party back into the pasture for a picnic and some football.

As we drove home I said, "Do you feel like we just experienced the kind of joy God created us for?" Family, food, and glorious creation...

and rest :)