A Walk along a Country Road with a Little Buddy

One of the main reasons I retired over a year ago was so I could help provide daycare for my grandkids while my girls worked. Today is one of those lucky days I get to watch my youngest grandson.

We are winding down the summer season, so it was a perfect day to take a “hike” or walk with the little guy. I chose to go along a country road with little traffic but with a lot of memories for me. See, I live only about 1/2 mile from where I grew up, and these walks can bring back memories as I enjoy them with my family. An apology for some of these pictures because I tried to take some of them from my little buddies perspective.

We walked nearly three miles today along a route that I walked and drove often while I was growing up, and that was a main training route while my daughters were growing up and training for the cross country team I coached. Many times I ran along behind them, with the word behind being the important one here, usually well behind them, but those days bring back great memories of days I got to spend with my girls.

Our walk today began along a wooded trail on our property – a trail we use to sometimes go to church, visit others, or to go on longer walks or bike rides. This was my wife’s family property – yes I married the girl almost next door, so our paths crossed some while we were growing up.

From there my buddy and I went along a paved country lane for about a mile. It is A lane that my Amish buddy and I walked and hunted along many days throughout our childhood. At the top of the hill on this walk I couldn’t help but remember the pain of running up this hill near the end of the workout. This lane wasn’t paved when I was younger and wasn’t taken care of as well in the winter. I can remember one winter soon after I had my drivers license that I tried to take this route in my Volkswagen that never got hung up. Needless to say it did. I had to walk to my buddy’s house that day and he brought out his snowblower on a tractor to get me out. Don’t think his dad was too happy about that one.

From this lane my little buddy and I took a gravel lane that connected my house growing up with my Amish friends. Oh the miles I have walked, biked, and driven over this road, but none as special as that walk with my little buddy today. We walked past a pond I spent many days fishing with my Amish friends. I will never forget the day my Amish friend and I were fishing and a group of geese decided to chase us. We were running hard and all of a sudden my friend just disappeared. When I stopped and turned around after hearing him yell, I saw him on the ground. I yelled at him to get up and run, the geese were gaining, but he couldn’t. He had fallen into a mud hole that went all the way up to his chest. He was standing up and all I could see was the top of his chest and head. I chased the geese away and we both laughed so hard we could hardly get him out of the hole!

It was really strange today on our walk. We only saw one other person out walking the dogs on this entire trip and it goes by a few Amish farms that are very busy, but for some reason, not today. My little buddy loves tractors and while we saw some up close, they were not being used. He didn’t seem to care though.

During the walk, we walked past the home I grew up in. It is now a house used for overnight guests at a wedding venue that is now a part of the community. Actually there are two wedding venues now – both directly across the road from each other. Saturday nights can be a hopping place in our community. What would my mom and dad say about that I wonder???

Well, my little buddy and I finished our hike, making some more special moments I will always have with him. The memories are fun to remember, and the new ones are just as special to make!!!!

Thank for taking the time to read my posts. Likes and comments are always welcome!