Monday, March 30, 2009

What's not to Love?

Our recent visit back to St. Louis for a wedding reminded me of just why this little slice of the mid-west will always have a place in my heart.

Kirkwood.

... the parks


...walking to parks (Charlotte pulling her son and Sydney)


...The Magic House


...watching for the train


...gazeebos


...scooter rides





...and of course, the beloved neighborhood swing.



The timing of our visit was perfect.

Good to be in some warm, springy weather and to see something green besides a pine tree.

Other things we enjoyed...
Walking barefoot on the sidewalks, reading in the grass, visiting with dear friends, hearing an ice cream truck (and just missing it by meer seconds!) being 5 minutes from a St. Louis Bread Co., taking evening walks around the block, Greentree Community Church, getting to stay with our amazing neighbors on Van Buren, being in a place where there are memories...a history, hearing the train come through Kirkwood, the church clock striking every hour, hearing the morning birds and admiring all the cool front porches.

All these things are unique to Kirkwood and to the mid-west. As I was telling a friend, it is good to be able to go and appreciate those things and then come back here and marvel at what is here. One isn't better than the other, though my mind would like to sometimes make it that black and white. Our 10 years there was rich and good and full of life and stories.

But now we are in a new chapter and are creating new history, new stories.

Isn't life fun that way?
As much as I had hoped for settling somewhere for 30 years (boring, I know) that isn't the book God wanted to write for the Foxes.

And maybe that is a good thing.
Look what we would've missed out on...








Sledding in our backyard meadow 2 days after our return.
The difference in the girls facial expression represents their personalities!



-Leslie

2 comments:

Gretchen said...

Love your story. . . thanks for sharing

faith said...

i was so special getting to see your old world with you!! but i really love hearing your perspective now-- not one is better than the other, they are just different seasons. it is good to see you embrace them both. that resonates in me. thank you leslie.