It was an equally nostalgic feeling yesterday to go to my Facebook page and see the photos that a friend had posted for me of the dismantling of the water tower in my hometown of Haven, Kansas. I knew it was coming, having been a witness to the installation process of the new one over on the northeast side of town for some time now. Each time I went back to Hutchinson in the past year I always found myself driving over to Haven. I'd stop and take a picture of the progress of the construction of the new one but I would never leave town without driving by the old one, the one next to the city building on Kansas Avenue in downtown Haven. Often times I'd stand there and take a photo or two as I was fascinated by the remembrance of all the stories I'd heard over the years of teenagers and young adults who would scale the tower to the top, scratch their initials onto it, and then shimmy down before getting caught. Perhaps some of the stories were just that, stories. Yet even if they were, those tales were the stuff that great legends were made of and now as I quickly approach the start of my 60th year of life in 2015, I still get a smile from the thoughts.
October is always the month that the good folks of the town of Haven, Kansas celebrate their annual Fall Festival and true to the calendar, they will be doing just that in a couple of weekends more. Last year Mike and I made the trip back there, over the big mountain and down to the other side. It was important for me to get back home because my class was celebrating our 40th year of graduating from high school. I had made my "homesick" mind up that no matter what, I was going to get there. Nothing would stop me and thankfully nothing did. Right before we were to leave, the weather forecast called for the first snowfall of the year atop Monarch Mountain and my heart sunk to think that I'd have to miss getting back there because of the weather. But all of my worry was unfounded and we made it over and back 3 days later with no issues at all. It was wonderful to see all of the kids that I once went to school with and to talk about the old days and times. This year, even though I would love to, I cannot return. The journey is a long one and I am hoping instead to come back for a weekend at the end of the month to celebrate another year of life. Time, weather, and Monarch Pass will tell if I can/cannot make it back. Yet for the heart full of memories that I made last year, I will be forever grateful. If you were lucky enough to grow up in Haven and better yet, still live there, then consider yourself most fortunate. It's a great place and nothing will ever convince me otherwise. I hope you all feel equally blessed to have been raised up in the different places that you were. Those places are where our "character" begins and we can thank the many people back in wherever that part of the world was, for all the things that they did for us when we were kids just beginning to explore and figure out this thing that they refer to as "life".
In the darkness of the very early morning hours here, I am writing this blog post. The clock on the microwave reads "4:53" and outside on Highway 50 only one lonely car and a couple of semis have passed by. The motorcycle traffic, heavy all summer long, is starting to slow up a bit. Now with autumn's arrival and the chilly weather that accompanies it, I will not be surprised to see that kind of traffic winding down. I remember towards the end of October last year gazing out the window one afternoon to see a cyclist flying by as he hurried towards the east. It was like he was a member of the "last man out" club or something. I saw no more of them for the rest of the year. Cyclists were soon replaced by skiers heading up to the slopes all around us and the cycle of the seasons continued.
A busy day lies ahead for "the 22" and I. The days, the time just fly by. I hope to enjoy the season of Autumn and this sweet month of October with them and try to look at life more often through their eyes. They see things in the way that we all should sometimes but as we grow older, we get too busy with the worries and stress of life to remember it. The 11 boys and 11 girls that I am blessed to teach each day are good reminders to me of a life that I once lived myself, now so very many years ago. From time to time, it's kind of fun to be a kid once again with them if even for just a short while.
Have a great Wednesday everyone out there! This is the first day of October, 2014 and a great day to be alive in and if you end up thinking that today was good...just wait until tomorrow cause it's going to be even better.
From a year ago now, back home in Haven standing in front of the old Grier Pharmacy building.
The Farmer's Co-Op elevator on Kansas Avenue in my hometown of Haven, Kansas. They can take down the water tower and they will. They better just leave the elevator right where it is :)
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