life & passion : small-town subtleties

My time in Ellsworth has been well spent. Reliving all of the memories I've accumulated over my years here plus adding a few more has been exactly what I needed. Besides meeting my beautiful, joyful niece Stella in Kansas City and gambling with Dad at Prairie Band Casino in Topeka, the majority of my time has been spent in Ellsworth this trip.

I helped think of some new ideas for Grandma's kitchen remodel, took a run down Main Street and said hi to all of the silhouettes, visited the antique mall in search of their wide collection of marbles which had sadly been bought a few months ago, hiked over to the old orchard behind the baseball fields where Aunt Kay and Uncle Loren used to live, went to putt at the amphitheater at the city park, and of course visited brother Matthew and Grandpa Kenny.

I haven't seen Grandpa Kenny since he passed away. It was a bit of a shock at first when I saw his name on the stone. I hadn't really given it much thought. Brother Matthew has always been right down the road, but Grandpa Kenny was a new sight. It was very heart-warming seeing his stone after such a long time had passed, especially since the whole family is right next to each other.

Besides the usual, Dad taught me how to use a riding lawn mower! I've never lived anywhere that a riding lawn mower would be a useful landscaping tool, but it turned out to be really fun! I felt like an artist designing the grass, much like a zen garden.

For my last night here we are heading to Aunt Cathy and Uncle Jerry's to make homemade peach ice cream like Grandpa used to make and compete in a serious game of Marbles (Grandma's favorite)!