Home is Where the Heart Is

I haven't lived in the Ozarks of Missouri in 11 years but I left a part of my heart there and it will remain as long as I have my memory. Here are a few of the places that we visited that are dear to me:

Davis Creek Church: the church I attended with my siblings as children and later as adults with our children. This is where my parents were married and where my aunt attended her first day of school.



Grandpa's barn: of course it doesn't look quite the same as it did when full of hay and where I would visit with Grandma and watch while she milked the cow.






Grandpa's shop: where ALLL the grandkids learned to work on our bikes, where we took our bikes for Grandpa to fix flats, where all the girls were determined to sweep up all the grime on the floor. Grandpa's shop was where Grandpa could always be found. There is still a path that leads from the front door of the house to the shop.



Just one of the ponds on Grandpa's place: where all the cousins could be found fishing with cane poles. I am not a fan of fishing, but even I caught many fish using Grandpa's cane poles in his ponds. When we were little the only pond we were allowed to play near was the one behind the shop, closest to where Grandpa could keep an eye on us. As we grew up we could be found more at the distant ponds like this one that were out of eye and ear shot of the grandparents and parents.



This is all that's left of Grandpa's sawmill, where he earned much of his living. Grandpa was a jack of all trades, from logger, to grading roads. When playing at Grandpa's we always found our way to the huge sawdust pile.