This picture is the view from the front yard of my Utah house. Last summer I spent so much time outside...just breathing in the cool summer night air and gazing at the mountains that hugged the neighborhood I remember so well. I was in Utah a few weeks ago and I took a nice walk that turned in to a hike in the foothills by my house. It was so beautiful. I miss mountains. I miss open spaces and dry, cool air. I miss hiking! I miss mountain biking! I miss playing basketball with my family on the driveway. I miss these beautiful sunsets. I miss hilly, ragged, asphalt roads. I miss houses that don't conform, yards that need work, yards that are beautiful and unique. I miss houses painted pink and churches on every corner. I miss the familiar clank of my grandparents door when I walk inside to visit with them--the unmistakable smell of grandma's house. I miss seeing children playing and wandering the streets at dusk. I miss, oh I miss aspens--quakies as we call them. I miss the slow pace of an unchanging city. I miss Taco Amigo. I miss shopping at Macey's grocery store. I miss soft green grass that you can lay on. I miss the colors of fall. I miss driving up Battle Creek road--the familiarity of Mount Timpanogos and the thrill of seeing little blotches of red and orange on the mountains in late September. I miss seeing, watching, hearing hummingbirds--dozens of them at a time drinking nectar from our backyard deck. I miss the G on the mountain and the beautiful meadow even higher on the mountain that goes unnoticed by so many hikers. I miss my enchanted waterfall a short hike from my house. I miss running, biking, roller-blading the Provo canyon trail. I miss walking along the canal that stretches for miles in the valley. I miss gardening--being able to plant corn, squash, cucumbers and tomatoes straight in to the ground. I miss family. I miss children laughing, playing, screaming. I miss games around the dinner table. I miss ongoing conversation--opinionated, heated, caring...I miss father and mother, brothers and sisters, grandmas and grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, neices and nephews. I miss my dear Pleasant Grove...you never, ever change and I like it that way.
