... dirt, churches and soldiers...
... here in North Carolina there's a spot in Jay's backyard to the side of the house where little grass grows and it's mostly dusty and rocky... it's usually where I like to stand when I'm out with the dogs, especially in the afternoon and evening, because that area is all sunlit and warm... I crouch down as I watch the dogs run, but the whole area actually takes me back to New Jersey and when I was a little boy and I'd go to church with my mother and grandmother on Wednesday nights for Prayer Meeting... now, the word "meeting" is a boring word to any child - you can almost hear the droning of voices in the background when you say the word - so my mother would often let me stay outside the church in the warmer months and play on the grounds... this was a small church, could barely have held 100 people, it was a little one-story white building with the pastor's house beside it, and it all sat on the end of a street next to the parking lot of our local strip mall... and usually I settled on playing in the parking lot, maybe with a few army men or other small toys, pretending the dust and stones were a desert or alien planet... I'd also watch and listen to the cars passing by on the main road, and I always noticed how deep and green the grass around the church looked in the setting sun... then I'd hunker down again to make piles of stones or grooves in the dirt for my soldiers to battle through... so I keep remembering those days when I'm out there now, watching the dogs stir up the dust as they run past me and listening to the tall grass at the back of the yard whisper in the wind... no soldiers in my hands now tho', just the one in my heart who keeps walking forward while also looking back...
... I'll have to write more about that church since it influence me in so many ways and I have so many great memories about that place from when I was in single digits... our pastor back then was a Mr. Glen Fisher and he was/is one of the men I've admired most in my life... I don't even know if he's still alive, since he left that old church while I was still young, but he did leave a strong mark on me about how a man should live and act... so I'll bookmark today's thoughts for a reminder to come back to them and share more...
... for now, the dogs' are calling me, and it's a cool summer morning...
