Safe Place...

My safe place is where my heart can rest--a place where I can be. In this place, I can laugh and cry and invite my friends. Here, in safety, I will feel like a girl, like a woman, a part of all womanhood. My safe place is where my heart lives in peace--where there is love and kindness and gentleness and respect.

When I close my eyes and imagine a tangible place I can visit at will, I see a cute little house--a cottage really. Not big and monstrous like so many houses today but one just big enough for me, my books and my friends who want to visit. Inside is all light and airy, so much so, it's like the outside on the inside. During the fall and spring the sun shines in through the windows chasing away the sharpest of the cool air leaving all the rooms cool and comfortable.

Though the house is not big, everything has its place. The rooms are beautifully and comfortably decorated. Every chair and couch is perfect for reading--big and gushy and comfy.

The kitchen always smells of good food and laughter. There are stools at the bar so friends can visit and help while I fix dinner. The dining room is cozy with a long table made from barn wood with benches on the side for sitting. There are cut flowers in a vase on the table. They are from the flower garden in the front yard.

My bedroom is large and cozy at the same time. There are bookshelves stacked with books. The iron bedstead perfectly blends with the handmade quilt and pillows covering the bed. The side table sports a lovely little reading lamp that gives off a warm yellow glow. Beside the lamp sits a wind-up clock with a broken alarm. Then, of course, there are stacks of books. On the other side table is a vase of flowers from the front flower bed and another stack of books. A couple of cats are sound asleep in the middle of the bed.

An overall feeling of femininity hangs in the air because a woman lives here. Though, this room is very feminine, it is not girly. The mystery of the feminine thickens the air and entices the masculine. It is a room where I live--it is a room where, when my man finds me, he will long to be invited to enter and live with me.

The library walls are covered with bookcases and filled to the brim with books. Books of every subject and story and size and binding. There are several windows facing the front yard. You can see the flowers from the big reading chair when you glance up for a moment from your book.

In these rooms are evenings filled with candlelight and music and love and laughter. Rooms where hearts are invited to be open and shared. On warm/cool evenings the windows are opened and the breeze wafts through the house moving the curtains and making the candle flame dance. We can hear the sounds of coyotes and toads singing their nightly songs.

Full around the front of the house and halfway down each side is a big welcoming porch. Rocking chairs and porch swings beckon to tired souls to sit and sip lemonade and rest. Wind chimes hang from the eaves between the hummingbird feeders. The hum of the birds goes perfectly with the song of the winds.

In back of the house is a sitting area surrounded by flower beds and trees. There sits a couple of metal lawn chairs and a little table between. Overhead is a roof made of lattice. Wisteria grows on the lattice and twinkling lights are hung to enjoy in the evenings.

When you follow the path through the flowers you come to a large vegetable garden where everything grows. Rich dark soil stands against the deep greens of the leaves and many colors of the veggies. As you walk by, you can pick a handful of cherry tomatoes to eat while we wander further down.

Just outside the back gate is a cute little chicken house on wheels. The hens have all gone in to roost for the night so we shut their little door on our way to the barn. We walk through the barn to get to the pasture where the milk cow stands talking to us as we walk. Beside her is her 6 month old calf talking to us too.

As we go through the barn we partially fill a bucket with some oats so we can call up all of the animals. There are some sheep and some donkeys, of course. The cow and her calf and a pony for the neighbor kids to ride. Down past the pasture is a row of trees and a doe peeks out to see if it's safe for her to come out. Everything is quieting down for the night.

I go to this place--this safe place--this dream place when I shut my eyes and relax and think about my home in heaven. I go when I talk to my sister about getting a place in the country. I go here when I am embraces by a loved and trusted friend.