Ahhhh Summer

Ahhhh Summer. Summer always makes me think of home. The hot sticky air, jumping off the pier into Lake Simcoe and IceCream at Skippers. Beaverton. That's my hometown. I moved around a lot as a kid. I don't feel emotionally distraught by it, but when we finally stayed in Beaverton for 10 years I finally had a place to call home. I hated it. I hated country music, and fat men drinking beer on their porches at 11am and the fact there was nothing to do, especially for an artistically driven girl. I couldn't wait to get out of high school and escaped this place I called home. I always thought I was bigger and better than it.

My parents since the summer of 2008 have moved and I no longer have that little stone home to call my own. Now that summer is in full swing I miss it. A lot of major events happened when I was living there. I walked to my grade 8 graduation with all the girls from my class dressed up feeling like movie stars, practiced dance on the front porch of our 200 year old house, and fell in love for the first time. These are just a few of the great memories I associate with Beaverton.

I came to Toronto to escape it all and what I'm starting to realize is that I will never be able to travel far enough, because it will always be apart of me. As much as I don't want to admit it, I'm a country girl at heart. I love the music, the smells (not cow manure haha), the sites and the summer air.

To all reading this, don't run away from who you were, because it's going to be who you are forever. It's a part of you. Don't forget your roots.

I heard this song while driving down a dirt road this morning and it sums it all up. I hope you enjoy this little piece of country.

The House That Built Me

by: Miranda Lambert

I know they say you cant go home again.
I just had to come back one last time.
Ma'am I know you don't know me from Adam.
But these handprints on the front steps are mine.
And up those stairs, in that little back bedroom
is where I did my homework and I learned to play guitar.
And I bet you didn't know under that live oak
my favorite dog is buried in the yard.

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
this brokenness inside me might start healing.
Out here its like I'm someone else,
I thought that maybe I could find myself
if I could just come in I swear I'll leave.
Won't take nothing but a memory
from the house that built me.

Mama cut out pictures of houses for years.
From 'Better Homes and Garden' magazines.
Plans were drawn, concrete poured,
and nail by nail and board by board
Daddy gave life to mama's dream.

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
this brokenness inside me might start healing.
Out here its like I'm someone else,
I thought that maybe I could find myself.
If I could just come in I swear I'll leave.
Won't take nothing but a memory
from the house that built me.

You leave home, you move on and you do the best you can.
I got lost in this whole world and forgot who I am.

I thought if I could touch this place or feel it
this brokenness inside me might start healing.
Out here its like I'm someone else,
I thought that maybe I could find myself.
If I could walk around I swear I'll leave.
Won't take nothing but a memory
from the house that built me.