Off the farm: My son in the big city

My son, the country boy, is suddenly a city boy. Plucked from our farm situated near a tiny town, he is now in a city that seems to never sleep. What an adjustment!
We went to visit him recently and he showed us around his neighborhood. We took a walk through the pretty park nearby.
Library tour. He showed us through his new favorite place to study – the Columbus Metropolitan Library. It makes our hometown library, of which I have always felt so proud, look like a drop of sand on the beach in comparison. This library went on and on, and offered every possible thing anyone could ever want to read or see or listen to, and then some!
Even for those who are not library lovers, the architecture of this massive building was worth admiring. The security in place at this library was a reminder that we weren’t in Kansas anymore, so to speak.
We each had to walk separately through a scanning device. That alone is a wake-up call to those of us who wouldn’t even consider taking something, either in to the library or out of it, that we shouldn’t.
From there, we took a return trip walk through the park. I couldn’t help but notice the homeless sleeping under trees and on park benches at the back of the park.
Cort lives on a beautiful, historic street in old Bexley. It is admirable to see how the brick buildings, once mansions, have been maintained.
The building in which Cort lives was once a family mansion, now converted into many efficiency apartments. No one can walk up and knock on Cort’s apartment door unless they have a key to get in the main door. It serves as yet another reminder that we are no longer on the farm.
This weekend, Cort came home for a long weekend. It is great to be home, he said, and yet it reminds him how much he misses being here. He will leave later today, and I’ll have to get used to it all over again. So will he.
Best friend. It has been interesting to see how Cort’s dog, Spanky, has reacted to all of this. He does not like it one bit.
Several nights in a row, Spanky came to wake me up in the middle of the night to let me know his boy was nowhere to be found. He stands up on his back haunches, attempting to peer up into our king-size bed, whining and crying, trying desperately to talk to me.
Spanky was particularly upset when a thunderstorm rolled in, roaring in its intensity. I couldn’t help but wonder if he feared his boy was lost somewhere in that great storm, because no amount of reassuring seemed to help settle down that sweet dog.
When Cort came in the door Thursday afternoon, Spanky was one happy dog.
The weekend has been filled with friends, good food, lots of fun, a Sunday family reunion at the park. The hours fly by way too fast, as life rolls on, and another week begins.