Sitting on a log in the woods behind Grandma’s house,
I listen to the birds chip and squirrels bark;
I’ve been thinking of my childhood memories,
And the day has turned till it’s almost dark!
I thought back to those carefree adventures,
When we would picnic to the ‘Devil’s Backbone’ rock;
Where there were names from many ancestors,
Scratched deep into a patterned block.
Some names we did not know who they were,
Many were family, neighbors, and friends;
It was neat to see them and know that,
We were still keeping up with signature trends!
Now that rock has been destroyed,
For a developer years ago cleared the knobs;
It saddens me how things have changed,
And how money and building robs!
When we would leave that stone and head back,
We would venture to our Aunt’s ‘Limestone’;
Sometimes encountering a copperhead,
Sometimes collecting a smelly pinecone.
This formation of this limestone was huge,
It was a partial moon- shaped open sphere;
There was a path you had to follow,
Less you fell to your death in fear!
You had to walk away from the edge a bit,
Because the path was right on its top;
Then you’d bend around to the opening side,
And head down around to a curving stop.
The sight you’d see was so amazing,
You could run on down in its base with awe;
You could see out into the open knob’s valley,
And it beat anything you ever saw!
We would eat or lunch of peanut butter sandwiches,
Within the curve of its wide open view;
Spend time hollering to echo voices,
And anything else our voices could spew!
It seemed this limestone was a 150 or so feet long,
As it curved around the top of this valley;
I smile as I remember those places,
And spending time with family to dilly dally.
I stand from reminiscing and think out loud,
How time flies and those days have long since passed;
Time flies and you can never get it back,
And this world that is so fast paced and vast!