timeless |ˈtīmlis|

adjective

not affected by the passage of time 

 I am unconsciously drawn to images, moments and people who are not affected by the passage of time. Which, I think,  explains my attraction to this old home and these surrounding hills and valleys. 

Driving through through the hills of East Otto it could be now, or 100 years ago. A car or telephone line will give away the true date - but look closer and you will see the valleys unchanged by time; the slow and deeply etched lives that resonate here. 

 Being a child of the 1980's it seems impossible, this attraction - seeing as I was culturally inundated by the materialistic confection of the 80's.  But I was fortunate enough to have a place to go with my family that was the essence of timelessness.  An old farmhouse my Grandpa bought when my father was a boy.  Each weekend I would step out of suburbia, and the leave the plastic, flash and glitter of the 1980's, and let my soul drink in the essence of the old wooden house and surrounding hills.  Oh - I wasn't an enthusiastic participator at the time! And I was known to smuggle some of that flash and glitter with me if I could.  But the hills eventually worked their magic on me - and now I am deeply grateful for the times spent there with my dad, mom and brother; cousins, aunts and uncles, grandma and grandpa.  How precious that experience, and how it has shaped me into who I am today.

Things of fad, media, pop culture hold no allure to me - no value. My heart sings at the lo' of a cow in the pasture down the road - the slow walk to the barn to gather the smooth warm eggs - the low light in the evening untouched by the flashing blue lights of a TV.  And the deep sense of calm in knowing that as time goes on - some things will always remain. 

~ j