Tumblewords

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Saturday, January 17, 2009

Pilgrimage





Recently, I had occasion to drive through the rolling farmland of the Palouse. It wasn't my first trip as I'd driven it any number of times and flown over it a multitude of others but I was blindsided by the feeling of 'homeness' which revealed itself that day.

My parents were born and raised in Kansas which shares a similar landscape and I've had several occasions to return there.

The last trip, untaken, was when my father asked me to accompany him to Kansas for the funeral of a distant family member shortly after my mother's death and not very long before his. Deciding I was too busy, I refused.

Some journeys don't get a second chance and some don't really deserve one. However, this one periodically yearns for another opportunity.

There's no reason for me to return now and yet there is a lonely whisper...


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The original image was created on Bamboo Fun.

Sunday Scribblings offers the prompt Pilgrimage.

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34 comments:

anthonynorth said...

A pilgrimage you should definitely make. When the land speaks, it's important.

Michelle said...

Your comment, "Some journeys don't get a second chance and some don't really deserve one. However, this one periodically yearns for another opportunity." speaks volumes.
I think we all have journeys in our past that don't deserve a revisit, yet our souls yearn for one, at least mine does!
~Michelle
flutterbean :)

Cathy said...

beautiful painting--it complements the yearning you feel for your homeland.

Cathy said...

beautiful painting--it complements the yearning you feel for your homeland.

present said...

"There is no reason for me to return now and yet there is a lonely whisper" is so haunting and beautiful.
Your words remind me to give, as well as hope, for second chances (deserved or not).

RW said...

Very beautiful.

Granny Smith said...

This left a definite ache in my throat. I have pilgrimages that I should have taken, people I have disappointed, promises to myself still unkept. "Yet there is a lonely whisper..."

Thank you for this beautifully written post.

totomai said...

oh now i wanted to listen to the continuation if there is one in the making hehe...

Dave King said...

Yes, sometimes a place calls and demands an answer.

Giggles said...

Wow Sue your Scribble and "Whee all the way home." are so similar, both beautifully written, yet sad. What is it about this word that brings thoughts of death?

Hugs Sherrie

latree said...

some times we wish we could turn back time and do what we didn't. but we know we couldn't....

Tanya Gwen Minnick said...

very nice post, I enjoyed it a great deal, especially the last image..there is a lonely whisper...very much calls out to me.
Be well and I do hope you travel that journey once more- in a new way.

GreenishLady said...

There's such poignancy in this, and I've come to believe that when we hear a call like that, we need to find a way to respond. When the time is right...

Anonymous said...

Oh good lord, T, this got me. Because my parents are getting on in years. Because yes, some journeys don’t get a second chance, and I would have beaten myself up over that whole funeral trip. But I can also do a 180 and say I believe that everything happens as it was meant to happen! LOL! Anyway, all that to say your post today brought out some supremely ponder-worthy emotions and thoughts : )

Tammie Lee said...

It gets my attention how some places places bring up certain strong feelings: blindsided by the feeling of 'homeness'.
May you find peace around the un-taken trip.

Linda Jacobs said...

Oh, the things we regret! They haunt us. I like that "lonely whisper" at the end!

danni said...

this post well and truly stirred me, and of course turned the volume of my own lonely whispers up a few notches - regret always seems to hide awhile, but never leaves me altogether - you poised it so artfully in your post!!!

Michael Serafin-St. John said...

The idea you expressed regarding return visits that aren't really worth the trip is a more delicate and eloquent way of saying "you can't go home again", which to me is a good argument for revisiting some of our hackneyed phraseology and making it live a new life.

anno said...

Oh, you made me feel that lonely whisper. Aren't all pilgrimages a journey home? Beautifully written, and an achingly beautiful watercolor to go along.

Mary said...

I think we all sometimes feel that ache in our heart that becomes a whisper in our mind.

Well written.

Devil Mood said...

A place that begs to be 'pilgrimaged' - interesting! Hope it is as good as it promises to be.

Anonymous said...

I can hear the lonely whisper!

Roan said...

This was a very emotional piece. "What if's" are tough questions. None of us have the answers.

Anonymous said...

haunting "lonely whisper"
lovely paintingg

Patois42 said...

I can relate too well to this. I hear the lonely whispers as well.

Anonymous said...

Follow your whisper. They're rarely wrong!

linda may said...

You have said so much here and painted pictures with a few short words for me. Very nicely done.

Kilauea Poetry said...

Sad but true..it can haunt you huh!

Doe said...

so true; "some journeys don't get a second chance and some don't really deserve one.."
i'm impressed by your "to the point" yet sooooo wise takes on the prompt
and of course your images!!

i'd follow the whisper if i were you ;)



much peace

Marguerite said...

Very poignant piece. I think I would hearken to the lonely whisper. Beautiful painting and beautiful writing.

paisley said...

i just love it when you open up that little window to your world.......

Beek said...

I like the painting.

The older I get, the more I agree with your post. I also like the flow of your writing.

UL said...

What a piligrimage, you struck a chord, I yearn yet I wont, why do we waste our lives pursuing everything but happiness?

UL said...

What a piligrimage, you struck a chord, I yearn yet I wont, why do we waste our lives pursuing everything but happiness?