BETTER LATE THAN NEVER: THANKSGIVING 2013

So I know Thanksgiving has long since passed and Christmas is less than a week away, but I had forgotten about these photos and wanted to share our trip back to the farm where Wade grew up.

It's a different place from where I grew up.  There, it takes about 30 minutes to get to the nearest McDonald's and a movie theater is even further.  When I asked what he would do as a kid, he said a lot of fishing and watching the stars while laying on the roof of his home during hot summer nights.  Sounds so idyllic.

Wade's great grandfather built this house. It's the prototypical farm house, and what I imagined it would look like even before I first visited.  Inside there have been changes, but the floor is the same and I can sense the history when walking over the well worn threshold.

While I love being close to everything in the city, it's nice there are still places that exist where you can just roam.

Roaming is nice, but jumping off a tractor is also fun!  Here's my beautiful and sweet niece showing me how it's done.

I definitely did not get as much air.

You know what struck me the most, though?  It was that I could actually see the sun setting into the horizon.  Usually it's blocked by houses and buildings, but I loved watching the sun dip down from view the same way I imagine it disappears into the ocean.  Not quite the same, but as close as I'm going to get in middle America.

It was nice getting away for a few days, out of our normal environment.  The corn had been harvested and everything was preparing for a cold winter.  And we're looking forward to what's next.  The coming spring and the endless possibilities of growth.