Take me back to yesterday...

"Grampa tell me 'bout the good old days"... that was running through my head this morning when Hubby and I went riding.  We used to always go down the road just a mile, it was into the country.  We would find a nice spot of the road, usually near the intersection.  It was always so peaceful there watching the sun rise over the fields. If we were lucky we would see some deer prancing around the fields.

This morning... I felt such strong sadness.  Hubby and I kept looking for a peaceful spot.  A spot without the harshness of lights, no traffic, just a quiet spot to sip our coffee and enjoy the sunrise. 

Sadly, they are all gone.  We will have to ride much further out to escape the spread of houses, to not see the beautiful fields and farms up for sale, now zoned commercial. A non-stop blur of houses and traffic.  Street lights everywhere. 

We spent the whole weekend simply riding and enjoying each others company.  We found nooks and crannies that seemed left behind.  We took a road simply based on it's name... Hog Hill... We came across horse and buggy warning signs.  Ate at a Mexican restaurant that had a great mural of Popeye and Olive Oil, actually ran across our nieces' grandparents while we were there.  Funny!  We never run across them in town, but 70 miles away... there they were. 

Today, I simply felt sad.  So many empty houses, shops and store fronts.  Instead of using those, they just keep tearing up more farm land.  More of the precious peace we all truly need just disappearing.  It was heart breaking!

It really made it hard to enjoy our coffee... but we sure tried!

We needed it.  Our five days were over.  We were needing to be grounded, it was time to go back to work, to put play time behind us. 

There is so much stress in the world.  I am torn with all the stuff going on around the world.  I am distressed that our President wants to commit us to war.  I don't believe it is a war we should be involved in.  Yes it's an atrocity, but it isn't our atrocity.  I have too many young men and women that I know and love that are serving this country.  I don't want them in harms way for something we shouldn't put our nose in. 

There are still so many people that are hurting financially, and it breaks my heart.  Yesterday when we stopped in this small town for water, Hubby struck up a conversation with this young couple and their kids.  The husband was so sweet and the woman smiled so much.  My heart broke to watch him go in to pay for that gas with a ziplock bag of change.  They were going to a family event, and had to pay for their gas with change.  I went to go inside and "pay it forward", as the cashier had made him wait until all the other customers had left as he was paying with change.  This upset me, I wanted to give them a gift.  Hubby completely backed me up on this, but sadly I didn't get in there soon enough.  I would be so happy to hear they won the lottery today... so deserving...

I need the peace that hubby finds while we ride together.  I love that restfulness... I want the good old days... I want a few less bright lights, a bit more moonlight.  Less congestion and more open spaces... I want more peace, less conflict. 

I need the good ole days...