Everybody Needs a Lane
That quarter mile walk
When we were kids, we walked our long lane out to town. Continuing up the sidewalk to a school, that quarter mile trek on foot brought us to a school bus which took us to Yoder School. At the end of the day, we reversed course and walked down the sidewalk and back the dirt road to our home.
The conversations we had, the flowers we picked, the stones we threw, the leaves we gathered, and the snow we trampled were part of walking that lane. In spring and autumn, we watched trees change from barren to green, and then to scarlet and orange. In winter, we hurried along the last stretch where no trees provided shelter from blowing snow. The cycle of life changed as we walked that lane, every year.
Each year the conversations changed because we changed. Each year we were a year older and in a higher grade. The day came when we quit walking the lane because the last one of us had graduated.
Growing up walking the lane
We grew up walking that lane. Sometimes we walked together and other times we walked apart. Conversations changed as we grew older. We sorted through things that happened that day at school: friendships made and friendships scorned, games won and games lost, report card grades and competitions, frustrations with classmates or teachers. We sorted it all out while walking that lane. By the time we got home, we were ready to do what needed to be done.
It was on this very lane that my younger sister told me the story of May Day that her teacher told them, that April 30. We sorted it all out walking that lane. By the time we reached our home, we had dreamed of our own May Day celebration.
Learning by playing
Throughout the summer, we pedaled out bicycles in and out that lane. When we managed to gain enough speed to climb the small hill without pedaling, we felt quite accomplished. An even greater feat was making it all the way to top of the big hill without needing to stop. Granted, we had to pedal standing up, but sometimes we succeeded.
Winter snowfall provided opportunities for making trains out of sleds and spinning our way to the bottom of the hill. If we were lucky, our momentum at the top of the hill took us all the way through the level part between the “big hill” and the “little hill.” Shaded by trees on either side, winter winds couldn’t hurt us as we barrelled down the hill. How many times we trudged up that hill during those winter months!
Everybody needs a lane, today
We still need that dirt path or dirt road. It’s a place to sort out things that matter from the things that don’t. It is a place to ponder a next move or question a prior move. This out-of-sight dirt or gravel road gives a buffer and space to move from one event or emotion to another.
Our lives are filled with going from one event to another. We need that time – and space – to wind down and sort things out in our mind. We need the space to leave a previous event behind and prepare for the next event.
That’s what our lane provided my sisters and me when we walked that quarter-mile from our country home to town and back. It provided solace and space to filter out the world’s pressures and arrive safely at home.
Everybody needs a lane. No matter how old or how young we are, we need a lane.
Photo credit: Rachel N. Miller – “our lane”.
