I sit at my kitchen table enjoying the early morning sunrise while watching the deer in the backyard. Our dogs are on high alert as they watch the deer cross through the field at a leisurely pace. The air outside is surprisingly cool and crisp for a late July morning in Georgia. I can’t help but yearn for fall, with the leaves turning brilliant shades of red, yellow, gold, and orange but know that with fall coming, so must come winter. For now, I’ll enjoy the beauty of the day and the beauty that surrounds me.
Over the course of this summer, we’ve continued to look for a home to buy and I’ve gotten a full tour of most of Pike County. It’s somewhat amazing to me that, in the four years we’ve lived here, we’ve ventured out so little. I’ve now seen parts of the county that I did not even know existed and now crave to see more. I’ve cherished my Pike County map supplied by the Chamber of Commerce like a treasure map, for in some instances, it has been my treasure map. I’ve been on a search for the treasure of home and, thankfully, I believe we’ve found the spot marked with an “X” on our map. The journey to this place has taken me east, west, north, south, and all points in between. I’ve seen corn fields, cow pastures, rolling hills, back roads, hollers, and gulley’s. I’ve seen old houses, new houses, and all kinds of houses in between. I’ve seen the old fashioned General Stores and the modern day convenience stores. Driving through the county one day, I thought about how the area truly is the best of both worlds—the old and the new. It’s obvious that here in Pike, folks cherish the past with the realization that the future will change us. It’s also obvious that folks here want as much involvement with shaping that future as we can get, which shows remarkable commitment to our proud land.
Now as we embark on this journey to become homeowners in Pike County, to really put down our roots and claim land as our own, I dream of our future here. I know what home meant to me as a child. It was my haven, the place that I knew was, if nothing but symbolic, my family. The memories made within those walls are forever written in my mind’s memory bank and so when I want to visit home, I just think back and I’m there. My mother still lives in that same house today and, as I’ve grown older and my heart desires a physical home of its own, yet I still look back on that piece of land with familial bonds. When my own children grow up, I want them to have the memories that will always take them home. I dream of the boys bringing friends home at holidays, as we always opened our doors to friends and family alike. I dream of birthday parties, Christmas parties, and parties just because.
My children’s memories of home won’t be the same as mine, just as mine were not the same as my parents. But the memories that we embark on today will be forever etched in the storybook of their lives and will define them into the men that they will become. Pike County will be part of their home and will be the place that, no matter how old they become or where they end up, will bring a warm smile to their face. When they look back through the memories of their life, I hope that they will remember this very special summer in Pike County and always be able to return home if only in their heart.
Messpot Diaries 