My Home is at the end-of-life a dead-end dirt road, in a rural county…  I chose to move here because of its natural beauty. The place I call home, My Swampy Bottom Acres, is my sanctuary from the insanity and chaos of the everyday world. When I come home and close my gate, I am home. The trees surround me like guards, to watch over me, they are Home to birds, squirrels,  and other things no one sees but me. I hear… The breeze through the moss-draped limbs as it whispers through the swamp, carrying the sounds of the day and night. Soothing sounds, the cicadas, the frogs, the bugs, and cries of wild things, all familiar to me. HOME.

This morning the world is gray, and the sun has not broken through the clouds. There is a stillness in the swamp, it too speaks to my heart, it’s as if it is telling me, ” Be still and know” Psalm 46:10 This is what I love about my home… it is where I feel closer to God, it is where my soul smiles, my heart rests easier, my troubles feel less heavy, my wounds heal, and my strength renewed. I find joy in the red birds that feed on my porch, the hummingbirds that dart past and stop to stare at me. The frogs and lizards that scurry about on my porch, have made their homes among my plants. LOVE IT. The intricate and complex ecosystem that makes its home here, nourishes my soul. IT’S WHERE I LIVE, MY HOME.

This morning, I got up before the light appeared, I felt the caress of the darkness as I watched the blackness turn to gray…heard the heavy dew dripping from the trees as the light breeze drifted through. The world outside is so still, it is easy to imagine that I can hear its heartbeat, and feel it stirring awake… My Home, this is where my dreams, my hopes, and my body and soul live, where I find my peace.