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Simple Beauties
by Taylor Lutz

Nebraska memories. Snapshots in my head — recollections of lying on the trampoline outside my house with my brother and sister, gazing into the canvas of space and God’s masterpiece of stars above, remembering the sensation that, compared to the immensity around you, you aren’t so big after all. Reminiscing of moments that made your heart sing, like the twinkling of time when everything stood still as the remaining sun said a final goodbye and you stopped to listen to the locusts belt their summer assonance across the warm air. Remembering walking barefoot on a hot summer day, grass tickling between your toes; walking through a cornfield, total green towering around you, enclosed in its simple enchantment; cruising down the road with the full moon casting shadows along the landscape of a Saturday night, the feel of the warm air coming in from your windows, and the taste of ice cream and fruit by the foot still on your breath.

Then your mind’s eye is thrown to another place — the smell of dirt and the nip of cold wind at your cheek. You take a flying leap and land on a pickup seat next to your dad. Driving through the fields, the truck throwing your body in from side to side, you see mothers and their calves lying contently in the blanket of snow thrown upon the ground. As you watch the brave man sitting beside you a smile of pure admiration washes over your face. You gaze up into eyes twinkled with a smile; see rough hands callused from long days of hard work and stubborn determination. A stranger to relaxation, yet humble in his accomplishments.

You’re older now, but you remember that same kind of relief, of contentment, as you enter the house after a long day of school and practice. You’re greeted with the warmth of your kitchen and a hug from your mom. As she sees the exhausted expression on your face, she gets the chocolate chip cookies out, and your insides beam. Suddenly the day doesn’t seem so heavy.

Now it’s now — finally snapped back into the present. I sit on a windbreak as these reels of film spin on like a motion picture in my head. Something about the air and the silence of this place is embedded in me. Something inside me feels at home under a forever rolling landscape of simple beauties. Maybe in this simplicity and silence, a true silhouette of words is found. From an outsider’s eye these memories might seem only small in stature, but to me, they’re overpowering with emotion. Compelling enough to leave an undeniable urge to always stay residing in the area from which memories spring — inspired with only a breath of the air.

Taylor Lutz is a junior at Dundy County-Stratton High School in southwest Nebraska. She enjoys all aspects of living in a small town, including being able to be involved in all sports, speech, and mock trial.

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