Highway 56 is my familiar road home. I’ve traveled it many occasions. I ‘ve grown used to the traffic, the landscape, and the rural acquaintances. However, on my latest trip back, something magnificent caught my attention. Magnificent in a free and simple kind of way. Hay bales.
That’s right. The simple beauty of hay bales.
At EXIT 147 take a left. Travel through historic Council Grove heading west. Pass the goats. Pass the ostrich. Look for the “stop tree” (my young babes named this recognizable tree so many years ago). Turn left. First right. Home.
Ohhh… but not this last visit!
At EXIT 147 take a left. Travel through historic Council Grove heading west. Pass the goats. Pass the ostrich. Look for the … oh my!
There, just beyond the “stop tree”, this beautiful display of hay bales.
I had to stop the car. I had to get out. I had to breathe in. And breathe out. This is splendor for all to see.
It is simple, yet complex. It is breathtaking, yet life giving. It represents labor, yet rests as leisure.
It stunned me. It stopped me. It moved me.
Oh and believe me, I have seen a few hay bales growing up!
Why THIS reaction?
Because it matters.
My little ones, back in the day, knew to look for the “stop tree”. They knew how to look out the window. They didn’t bypass the beauty for the distractions inside the car.
Anticipation, expectation, and hopefulness are forward thoughts.
This is what I have taught my own children. This is what I want for every child. This is future.
Are you looking ahead? Are you teaching your children to look out the window?
Are you stopping to take a look at the beautiful? Breathing in? Breathing out?
It’s a free view. And it is right outside your window.
Shelly Simoneau Stories 