by greg stone

Time seems to slow down while I’m on the road. Various landscapes, dawns and dusks, lightning, snow showers and enveloping fog bring back memories of my travels. In all those memories, I sense my truer self rises forth while alone and on the road.

These teaches and coaches, and many others over the years, helped shape me into the person I’m trying to be today. I was blessed to have several educators who were molders of dreams in my life, and countless others.

Part of the joy of getting baseball cards is the anticipation of who is inside. And then, after getting the cards, you arrange them by teams and add them to your collection.

Snow Days growing up meant a break from school, time with my family, and time by myself on one of my journeys in the woods. I remember being mesmerized by the beauty of God’s creation seeing the shimmering light from the sun filtering gently through wooded branches to the pristine snow drifts down our steep hollers. Traveling deeper into the valley’s away from our property to those of neighbor’s properties, I would quietly listen to water running down streams made fresh from the snow melt. I would follow those streams, mesmerized by the sound of the flowing water and the beauty of the winter landscape.

I cherish the memories of those meals, from the smells of Mom’s amazing cooking of fried chicken, pork chops, fresh ham and beans with pancake cornbread, to the sounds of laughter, teasing and reflections on our day. Those were sacred moments of our family together gathered around the dinner table. 

What is it about a cold bed made warm by your own body heat and thick blankets that elicit such peace and joy? How I miss those times of utter peace, rich rest, and contentment. Today, I rarely sleep through the night. I go to bed in my warm bed through central heat and our fireplace insert, and wrestle with the Lord about worries, regrets, fears and stresses. I wake up two to four times each night to go to the bathroom, returning to my warm bed but many times finding it hard to return to sleep.

On hot summer days the feel of the air brought welcome relief from the heat, along with the anticipation of swimming in Bear Creek or getting a solid hit in summer league baseball. On cooler days in the fall, winter, or spring, however, the back of the truck brought shivers as we huddled closer to the back window.

We played a game where older brothers Perry or Mike would be either in the kitchen or down the hall in our bedroom. Dave and I would have to sit on the living room floor. We called this game “Train,” and it was terrifying, but fun. Suddenly one of the elder brothers would come running in making a train sound, “Choo Choo!!” We had to get to one of the couches before they ran by and ran over us.