Memory Lane

Today I took a trip:


winding

down

the dusty lane –

lined with

towering

evergreens –



past

the little

lake cottage

once owned

by my great-great

grandma

(but that – in my earliest childhood memories – was occupied by her bachelor son, also my grandma's uncle)...

by the gate

and fence

that locks

in the yard

with the

steep

stairs (on which my mother took my tiny hand and first led me)

down to this lake's shore...

and over a few lots...

to the place that my grandma bought with her inheritance from that favorite uncle –

(the one with whom she and sister also stayed during their summer vacations with his mother/their grandma);

looking

up

the

hill

at

the

lake home my grandparents then built on their lot...

(It was the place in which – growing up – my sisters and I spent many summer vacation days.)




strolling into

my grandma's garden

to find flowers

with lavender blooms –

even now

as October ends –





returning to the lakeside

to pick out

a few souvenir stones

to take

(along with

a small bouquet)

back with me...



for an
afternoon
visit to
the nursing
home

where
Grandma
now
stays,

so that

together, we could share a trip down Memory Lane.


What a blessing Tuesday's flat tire on our new-to-us car turned out to be. Because I had to make the 90-minute drive past Grandma's place en route to the dealer to get the warranty-replacement tire, I was able to take today's trip!