Today I miss Nebraska

I miss the way the cool blows in every night when the sun goes down. I miss the sounds of chewing and chirping bugs and the way those bugs sit atop corn as it waves back and forth. I miss the openness and the color of the prairie from Lincoln to McCook, passing under the Kearney Bridge and stopping to take a picture with the bison.

I miss driving out to Branched Oak Lake to watch sun set, or skipping to Hayward Park to try to swing the monkey bars. I miss watching fireworks from Haymarket Park field, and I miss barreling down Holdrege Street to avoid a tornado that snuck up on us while we watched a movie at The Ross. 

I miss virgin daquiris at Hayward, the rainy summer, spending forever at work and getting home and turning on the air conditioning. 

I miss Pepsi and Mountain Dew slushies and road trips across the country. I miss landlocked country and the people in all corners of it. I miss vacations with my family and my new family and driving to see "our church" on the side of the interstate. 

I miss I-80 and 'O' Street and 16th and 17th and Village and Courtyards and Omaha and Holdrege. 

Today, I miss Nebraska.