Quote of the day: “Yesterday is but today’s memory, tomorrow is today’s dream.” —Kahlil Gibran
Sacred Glade
We spent part of today in Ames, Iowa, where my husband and I both went to college and where we met, married and lived for the first years of our marriage. It’s been some time since we’ve spent any time in Ames. Our afternoon was filled with a mixture of fond memories and nostalgia, and surprise at all of the changes that had taken place since we left there over 25 years ago.
Since spring is much further along in central Iowa than in the Twin Cities area, where we live, it was a double delight experiencing crab apple trees in full bloom, wonderful red bud trees covered with tiny flowers, wild violets, and tulips and daffodils everywhere we looked.
We stopped to walk at a small arboretum near Iowa State University where I spent a lot of time as a student. I used to call it my church, as it was where I went to hear God. It was a magical place for me. It’s still magical, though not quite as I had remembered it. That’s the funny thing about memories, one is never sure if the memory is a little false or if the place has changed.
Amidst all of the nostalgia and happy memories as we re-visited places we had lived and worked, I found myself thinking, “We could move back here. We could live here again…” and we could… but moving back to Ames would not recreate the happy memories and carefree days of being a student, falling in love, getting married, and having our first child (and to tell you the truth, all of those days weren’t carefree and trouble-free).
But memories can be deceptive. Sometimes we remember only the good stuff, sometimes only the bad. For a young woman who grew up on a farm and went to school in a small town, Ames was an exciting place. I loved being at a university with 20,000 students, where I was just one of many different people with all sorts of different experiences and ideas. It was a lovely place to live and start our family.
And it is only a memory. If I wanted to leave my home in Minnesota, and move back to Ames, it would be like moving to a totally new place. The place has changed and I have changed. It is not possible turn back time or to recreate experiences from yesterday. Better to look forward towards new adventures and experiences.
All of the photos I’m sharing today came from the ISU arboretum in loving gratitude for the many hours I spent in this lovely place as a student and to celebrate the person I have become over these many years. As the commercial used to say, “You’ve come a long way, baby.”
Red Bud Tree Blossoms
Waterfall in the creek
Violets
Hidden glade
Red Bud Tree Branch with blossoms coming right out of the branch!
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