Lacey Spring

          This past week I have been in Lacey Spring, Virginia (next to Harrisonburg and the West Virginia border) spending time with family.  The center of my family has always been my grandmother's house.  Its been a central hub for all her kids, grandkids, greatgrandkids and family friends, which in total is 5 kids, 9 grandkids, and 14 grandkids!  This house has always been full of warmth, even in family trails and tribulations, its a place of laughter and sentiment.  Some of my favorite memories have been spent around the kitchen table watching my grandparents and aunts and uncles playing rummy until I was old enough to have a hand of my own.  While I've always lived farther away from my extended family then I'd like, the most precious memories I have are shared in the Shenandoah Valley.

          The more time I spend with my family the more I realize we have in common, how alike we all are.  Family tend to be a reflection of you, whether its a shared artistic vision, or a compassionate heart. We are all connected, and share more than a blood relation. Family is above all, the most precious gift.

          So while I had the chance I tried to capture a few images that I remember whenever I think of my grandmothers house.  My grandfathers chair that was always the prime seat in the house and offered a pair of loving hands, the cookbooks that were filled with recipes for warm breads and delicious dinners, the kitchen that I was always went "shopping" in, the kitchen floor I would play on, and the knick-knacks that made my grandmother a women who enjoyed beautiful things and shared them with others. As time has passed and took its toll, these are the memories that I cherish and cling to.  And whenever I  play rummy I will always think of my grandparents kitchen table and the loved that was shared around it.

       

          As my new philosophy goes, on every trip I go on I've tried to live in that moment, because you never know when you'll be back, or who you'll be back with.  So as any adventure goes, there's also something to write about. 

so more of my Virginia adventures coming...