Sometimes Distance Doesn't Really Matter

Friday there is a small job I must do that requires me to take some pictures.  It is a simple job so I am not stressing out about it very much, which makes everything go much easier.  I am hoping that Friday will be as beautiful as it is today.  The sky is that brilliant blue Summer color that goes on forever without a single cloud.  It always reminds me of hope itself.  In the mountains of Appalachia these sorts of days were my favorites because the sky was perfect for the contrasting color of the green rolling hilltops that also seemed to go on forever and there I was nestled right smack dab in the middle safe from everything, or so I thought, when I was a child.  When the wind blew the trees would bend and move like ripples of water and I was there, immovable, like a stone unless I swayed with them. 

It was easy to believe the future was so bright nothing could stop me or anyone else from doing and becoming what we wanted.  We had a sturdy base beneath us as rock solid as the mountains themselves: our families.  Nothing would shake our faith, love, and trust in them.  It was the Outside world that was different, but we understood they didn't know any better, poor things.

Now I don't have the protection of the mountains around me like I did back then, but I still have that blue sky and the love, faith, and trust of my family just as unshakable as it ever was in my heart and soul...maybe even more so.  The mountains are still there, too, calling and speaking their wisdom I couldn't understand when I was a child.  I am surprised I can hear them being so far away, but there they are, whispering in the old stories and songs and imparting knowledge even at this distance.  Making me smile.