A Tail to Tell.

It was dark by the time we'd finished shopping

on that cold and bitter night last winter.

My mom had taken the older two kids out to the car with her groceries

while I was going through the check-out.

When I got outside with Lillie,

I didn't know where the car was parked

as Mom had dropped me and the kids off when we came,

trying to avoid the tenacious wind;

and, of course, my mind had been too preoccupied to ask her.

Her car is terribly similar to about every fourth car in the United States.

I proceeded down a lane,

chattering loudly to my daughter,

"Where, oh where did Grandma go?!"

She usually parks at least 20 cars away from the store

so "we can get some exercise"

so I headed to the back area and proceeded to wander

with my pace turning to a trot,

my chattering song increasing in volume til it was rather a call than a chatter

in an effort to keep the cold out of my mind.

After racing around the parking lot,

I noticed her

parked by the entrance to the store.

She had gone up the lane

while I had gone down another.

Needless to say,

my bulging-eye'd response when her door swung open as she sprung to get Lillie into her car seat

while I packed my groceries into the trunk was,

"Where were you?"

and hers,

"Right here.  Where were you?"

When my Farmer and kids and I went to the Mud Sale Auction

a few weeks back to look for a chicken house,

I saw this:

 and wondered what it is like

when an Amish person gets a new driving horse

and parks at an event like this.

Do they ever have a moment of panic?

 (I think I'd have to sneak a braid into my horse's tail.)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I hope you won't lose your way today.

Remember where you are and why you are here.

And when you do feel alone or lost,

God is but a prayer away.

His faithfulness can calm the troubled heart.

And by all means, 

 try to learn from it.

I shan't go mid-winter parking-lot singing again.

Linking to:
Theprairiehomestead.com: Homestead-barn-hop