And fields in my heart. No ocean can compare to the way waves of corn fields calm me. I suddenly feel whole watching the sun break through clouds over hay bales and white farm houses. I can finally take deep breaths of clean air again. There is no serenity like that of home.

I love being able to look out the window and see something besides a wall of trees covered in kudzu. Here there are trees among gravel roads, lining property lines and lawns. Brown fields even look lovely to me. It is the scenic view of my childhood, of my adolescence, and the openness my adulthood craves.

“Please pray for peace and rain” a sign we drive by says. Peace and rain. That’s all my soul needs. Rain over a field, peace over my heart.