tears.

I am tearful today.  I'm tearful at the thought of leaving my lovely town for the Summer.  I loveloveLove Prescott in the Summer.  We have a Courthouse Square that is the city's center point.  It's filled with these huge Cottonwoods and Pines.  It's a grassy area I love to run and play with the kiddos I tend.  I've often referred to it as my own personal backyard.

This was taken a few weeks ago on a play date I had with Owen.  We picnicked here on the Square.
A most gorgeous day.  

Today, I met my friend Beth for a walk and I sat for a while on the steps of the Courthouse while waiting for her.  There was a Craft Fair on the Square today with lots of vendors and artisans set up to sell their trinkets & treasures.  It's a frequent in Prescott in the Summer to have fairs each weekend.  The smells of the cinnamon toasted almonds and funnel cakes is alluring!

While sitting on the steps, there was a Kingston Trio-like band strumming and singing away.  The sky is a bit overcast today and it's chilly.  The trees are so green!  They were swaying and moving in the breeze, and my heart was filled with love my little town.

I've read once that Prescott is a place where not a lot of people are 'from.'  But, people come here and "grow-up" here.  I feel that way with Prescott.  I Summered here when I was little at Friendly Pines Camp, each summer spending at least four weeks at sleep-away camp here in Prescott from the time I was nine to 14.  I knew I would work at Friendly Pines when I was in College and I did the Summers I was 18 & 19.  It was Summer 2001 I moved here to make this place my home.  I've spent a lot of Summertime in Prescott over my 30 years.  In the last nine that I've lived here, I really feel like I've grown into my own.

I've 'grown-up' here.  I love my home.  I love my community.  At the Dinner Bell, the local breakfast place, I sit down, am served coffee, and the server comes to me and says, "Are you having the usual?"  I'm on a first name basis with the servers and bartenders at Raven Cafe.  When I walk downtown, I feel safe and at home. I've created this home for myself; I've been willing to become part of a community and to make friends.  I've been willing to grow here, and I'm so grateful for this place and these experiences.

My tears come as I realize I'm going to miss the Bluegrass Festival on the Square.  I'm going to miss the beginning of the Summer Monsoons.

I'm going to miss the sound and hopeful sight of the Cicadas.  The chorus and song these creatures create is one of my favorite of Prescott Summertime.  I forget the sound every year and then, all of sudden, it's here.  This lyrical hard-to-describe music that comes from the trees.  It is always a treat to see these alien-like insects, and each Summer I strive to find just one making his music in the trees.  Seeing one doesn't happen every year.

I know my adventure takes me to a gorgeous and amazing part of the world.  I am not without gratitude for what lies ahead for me.  I leave for Switzerland June 22 and will stay in Murren, Switzerland.  This place can be described as Heaven and I have pictures of such gorgeousness. (See below. :) I've been here before.  I'm returning to a place of Simple living--it will be a Summer without my cell phone or regular interneting. It will be a Summer of frequent activity.  A Summer without a car on a daily basis.  A Summer full of chocolate. (Oh, the chocolate!)

Here are images from last Summer that capture the joy in which I'm about to embark:

Owen's Joy Face. 

The coolest, longest, slowest slide ever at Allmendhubel.  The Alps in the background are the Eiger, the Monch & the Jungfrau.  

Owen, JJ & Sidney. Horseback riding in the Alps. 

Sidney conquers the Swing. 

The view from my window. 

Sidney takes an airplane ride through the Bernese-Oberland Region of Switzerland. 

The Black Monch at Sunset. 

The local wildlife. 

Sidney & I pose after our very awesome slide ride. 

Sidney & I trampolining. 

An afternoon at the Hostel in Gimmelwald. 

The very awesome Luge Slide. 

Sid & I after a very lovely picnic at the Alpinhof in Stechelberg. 

Layla at Sunset. 

The view while walking in the Lauterbrunnen Valley

A lot of pictures from last Summer.  I am soooo glad I posted these.  It got me so excited about the upcoming adventure I'm having, and the thrill of a place so amazing and a family so fabulous.  I'll be in Switzerland for six weeks!  I really am so excited, even if tearful, too.

My life is in transition.  I am embarking on change and it can be so uncomfortable and a bit unpleasing, too.  I am reminded:

I wanted to change the world. But I have found that the only thing one can be sure of changing is oneself. Aldous Huxley 

And, yes.  I'll miss a lot of what Prescott has to offer in the Summer.  Knowing this, I trust God will provide a lot of growing up opportunities for me this Summer....even if it's not in the high desert of Arizona.