Hopefully if you follow me on Instagram, you don't mind obscene doses of photos in short amounts of time. I couldn't help myself. And I know the photos have been on Facebook too, but that is only because my phone wouldn't let me post them for my eyes only. I had intended to only share them all on here.
So guess what! You're going to see a bunch of them again. Because I'm generous like that. You're most welcome. Let me show you around.
I've occasionally been asked, "Mississippi? What is so special about Mississippi?" And aside from the obvious (fantastic family time), it is underrated on the ridiculously beautiful scale.
This is my grandma and grandpa's fishing pond. From here, you are standing on the dam and looking at the place where I caught my very first fish. In the thick of those trees, where we no longer fish for some reason, I caught a teeny-tiny catfish, and Grandpa got stabbed by its little horns, or whatever they are, while he took it off the hook for me.
If you turn around and face the other direction from the dam, you see this breathtaking view. Mississippi has the best trees. They're tall and dense and full and unbelievably green, and I know that's pathetic sentence structure.
Oh yeah- and the best part is the mud. Red clay. Bright reddish-orange clay. I think it's the mud that gives Mississippi its scent. I don't know if I can describe it to you... It's kind of how the first warm day of spring smells, when it's on the verge of raining, or if the rain just ended. It's magical.
One thing about Mississippi that I could do without is the strange, large bugs. Specifically, spiders. They've got massive, terrifying spiders down there. Pass! But they also have some stunners, like this dragonfly, who thankfully steered clear of my personal bubble.
And on top of strange, beautiful insects, you can find amazing flowers like this one. I've never seen anything like it before. Grandma said you can eat the little pods on the top, and they're very sweet or tart. I found it when I was walking across the dam with Tristan, and I told him to smell it because it smells delightful. He just looked at me skeptically and answered, "Just keep walking."
And then there's the house, nestled gently into the woods, waiting for us. That is where the true magic of Mississippi hides. This visit was my first since Grandpa's been gone, and I wasn't sure what to expect. (An emotional breakdown was on my list of possibilities.) However, being surrounded by family and the fresh life in Ethan and Alicia's kiddos was good.
Honeysuckle was planted in memory of Grandpa. Ethan said walking up to the deck wouldn't be the same if we weren't dodging bees. Some things should stay the same.
(I swiped this picture from Alicia's photos.)
Fish stories will come later, but we ended up with more than enough fish to have a large fish fry. Grandma said that it was the best way we could have celebrated Grandpa's birthday, and that he would have gotten a kick out of seeing us in the kitchen.
I don't really believe that our loved ones stick around after they're gone. I pray that my grandpa is sitting with Jesus and drinking in His love every day for the rest of eternity. However, I am thankful that his legacy lives on in all of us, so that we are able to see him in each other when we are together, that we are able to share memories and stories.
What's that? You want to hear more about our trip? Ok, ok- we'll talk again soon.
Until then,
Aim
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