Little Ranch by the Lake

My favorite place is unique

To you, it might seem plain, simple

And quite boring

There is not much there

Just prairie and dirt roads

And a large, calm lake

That sits quietly behind the ranch house

But to me, it’s everything

It’s the place I once called home

My grandparents owned a ranch up in a little town called Ericson

Ericson is small, peaceful, and full of dirt roads and rich wildlife

I loved the town, but the ranch was my home

It was a place full of comfort, happiness, and endless memories

So many family holidays were spent there

Where endless dishes of food were sprawled out on the table

And the kids tore open their colorful Christmas gifts

The basement was huge

That’s where my cousins and I would hang out

We would play with all sorts of toys and have intense video game competitions

Or just relax, pop some popcorn, and watch a movie

Inside was great, but outside was where I grew up

I’ll never forget the things like

Role playing animals with my cousins back in the trees 

Or locking ourselves in the enormous dog cage 

To pretend we were in jail

Sometimes we would play baseball or football

Just to see who was the toughest and most competitive

During winter my brother and I would take a sled

And slide down a little hill right outside of the house

The family and I would race four wheelers across the land

Or go for rides in the noisy jitney

Watching the sun sparkle on the cool, blue lake

As I swam or went fishing with the family

Brought me so much peace

My grandma and I spent a lot of time together

We would make my favorite sugar cookies with frosting and sprinkles

Or take a nature walk around the Ericson land

My grandpa and I made a swing out of a slab of wood

And hung it from a tree near the house

I loved that swing so much

At the end of the day when we had all of our crazy adventures

We would gather together close to the bonfire

Roasting marshmallows and making sticky smores

And trying to scare one another with thrilling ghost stories

Or playing an intense game of flashlight tag 

Then we would go inside, take a warm bubble bath, dress in our pjs

And drink chocolate malts that grandma made for us

As the years went by and we got older

The time spent at the ranch was limited

My grandparents decided to move

Since it was getting too stressful for them to take care of

That was almost five years ago

I recently decided to drive up to Ericson

To see the ranch I had called home for so long

I was shocked to see the overgrowth of the vegetation

Bushes were overgrown and shaggy

And the trees were old and rotten

The green grass had turned to tall, golden prairie stalks

The house that I remembered as warm and lively now looked old and lifeless

In the distance I spotted that old slab of wood that I had loved so much

Rocking back and forth softly in the breeze

The land is returning back to the prairie it once was before

But the memories made there will remain forever

- NK