M. Suzanne Terry

This is my favorite place in the world to watch the sunrise. The west Texas sky is so broad and vast. I imagine the sky is like that everywhere, but on the Texas plains, you can see actually see it.

I was home to check in on the folks at Thanksgiving. After a few weeks of more intense isolation than usual and an intense COVID-19 test (negative), I got to see Mom and Dad in 3D. We ate a lot of good food, watched a lot of westerns and football, and spent some time outside.

I grew up in a house next to 100+ acres of farmland and a small canyon behind it. We didn’t explore much without Dad close by (wild hogs are not to be trifled with), but we would venture down often enough to know our way around.

I am fond of the indoors. I like air conditioning and being able to sit without my hair constantly blowing into my face and breathing air relatively free of allergens. I am hyper-sensitive to touch and sound and there’s a lot of both outside. Playing outside is good for children, though, so we spent a lot of our childhood in the backyard. Sometimes, Mom would actually lock us out (which is something you can do when you have a huge back window where you can see everything and you live in the middle of nowhere with dogs that are happy to alert you if anything or anyone approaches).

I staged my silent protest by sneaking a book out and reading it on the swing.

Tactile and auditory irritants aside, sometimes I miss being able to walk outside and automatically be in nature in my backyard. To watch a sunrise in peace. To listen to the windchimes sing. To stare at the moon and stars without having to maneuver around buildings.

Any time I need a little touch of joy, I go find some sky.

I’m writing about chasing joy for the 31 days of December. Click here to see the whole list.