See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land. Song of Songs 2:11-12
When I was in high school I was in the band, I also played the piano, and various other instruments. I wasn’t the best student…I really didn’t like to practice, but I loved the music and the friendships I made there. One of my friends was a beautiful blonde that played the clarinet. Susan also played the piano and loved to practice! She is now a piano teacher, a composer, and a performer. I knew I should have practiced more!!!
Recently I asked Susan to compose a song for my blog. A song to celebrate one of the most beautiful places we have lived. Brock, Texas, and more specifically the land we lived on and the beautiful meadow that surrounded our home. We named it Lucy’s Meadow.
by Susan Staples Bell
Lucy’s Meadow was named after a character in E. M. Forster’s book, A Room With a View. In the Merchant Ivory movie version, Lucy was played by a beautiful, young Helena Bonham Carter. Her long curly locks reminded me of my daughter’s hair. The story takes place mainly in Italy and the landscapes are gorgeous! My daughters and I are planning a getaway to Florence to visit the Italian countryside. We still love to have movie nights where we watch this movie again and again…our boys don’t love it, but we do it anyway!
I loved the wildlife that lived in the meadow. We saw so many different types of birds, rabbits, skunks, armadillo, and even snakes! I didn’t take any pictures of the snakes. I just shooed them away. Hopefully they ended up in another equally beautiful meadow.
running around when the weather was warm.
What is a meadow without trees? We planted peach trees the minute we moved into out house. My husband and I always plant a peach tree wherever we go. I love fresh peaches! Peach ice cream, peach cobbler, peach jam, you name it, I’ve made it! But my favorite is sitting on the back porch eating peaches right off of the tree. They make summertime so magical!
A water element in the meadow was a must. It gets very hot in West Texas during the summer months. Providing water for the wildlife, including bees and dragonflies, is so important. Plus, I love watching the beautiful orange and white fish peek out from under the water lilies! It is a perfect way to spend the afternoon.
Not all of Lucy’s Meadow was filled with lush green grass and flowers. The front pasture was mainly filled with rocks. The rocks have been there forever, a neighbor told me that he would dig up the rocks in his yard and more would pop up. Big rocks in this part of Texas can be dangerous because snakes like copperheads and rattlesnakes like to live in the crevices. Fortunately we never saw any of those on our land…Lucy wouldn’t allow it!
Jesus tells us that the wise man built his house on a rock. The rains can come down, the streams can rise, and the winds can blow and the house will not fall because of its firm foundation. (Matthew 7:24-27). Jesus meant for us to build our lives on the solid rock of his teachings and God’s love. Our house was definitely built on solid rock. The hill our house sits on is full of West Texas rocks! The view was absolutely amazing, you could see for miles and miles from our porch. One of our neighbors…a few miles away…would leave the lights on outside during the Christmas season. They were all white and only showed up during December. My husband and I thought it looked like the little town of Bethlehem in the distance. We would often stop and say a little prayer while looking at those peaceful lights.
Sunset was another magical time at Lucy’s Meadow. You could hear the birds sing with the frogs and crickets joining in. The sunset seemed to take up the whole horizon with beautiful colors streaking across the meadow. So much beauty on one little hilltop!
I know that this picture doesn’t do the nighttime sky justice, but it was truly beautiful. The stars at night were really big and bright, even though we were to the west of Deep in the Heart of Texas! The sky seemed to go on forever and you could see thousands of stars at night. The children loved to lay on a blanket and look at the stars…honestly, so did I! It was such a blessing to share this little part of God’s beautiful world with my family.
In my life, I know there is always a new beginning around every corner. My husband’s job moved us to the big city and we had to leave Lucy’s Meadow for another family to enjoy. I will always treasure the memories we made there and am so thankful to Susan for putting my vision of Lucy’s Meadow to music.
youtube.com/c/SusanBellCompositions(opens in a new tab)
You can find Susan on YouTube at Susan Bell, Susan Staples Bell Compositions. She has another song that I love, “Funky Gecko”! I’m definitely going to have her compose a song for me about another magical place my family has lived!!!
Thank you for visiting Lucy’s Meadow with me! I have so many magical memories of this beautiful home. I’m so glad I got to share them with you!