The Kleinheintz family was all made up of Lutherans, insofar as I could tell, as I suppose were we also.  That of course meant that we all had a good reason to join them in the singing and preaching and fellowship from time to time with those of our own kind.  But until Catherine and I had become friends; at least of a sort, though, I must admit that I truly had little or no interest in such Godly-like pursuits.  Truth be known, I would have been better suited myself to go on with my work in the fields than to gather myself up only to stand in the company of so many other people I did not really know.  That was almost always true for me, that is, unless I knew with full certainty that Catherine was going to be present at the next scheduled gathering.

           In good time the spring rains stopped filling the furrows with their fertile tears and the hot sun began baking the rich soil into a fine, grey powder that somewhat filtered the harsh afternoon sun.  The long days suddenly turned blindingly radiant and difficult to behold with wide open eyes.  And I thought to myself that I must have known what it must be like to gaze upon the face of God.  The rich grassy smells drifted about everywhere; the clear fragrant air filled with endless waves of busy, buzzing insects.  The now over-ripe flowers; particularly those nearest the river bed sagged on their too small stems and all the while the soft winds seemed intent on brushing the colors of the rainbow up from the stilled waters across the entirety of the wide valley floor.

           But I would scarcely take note of any of this impossible beauty that God had all-too-kindly placed before me.  For it would be that summer which would be the summer  I would choose instead to take more proper notice of yet another of God’s handsome and marvelous creations.  For the first time in the almost ten years that I had spent upon this earth, I would clearly some to understand that my friend Catherine was becoming a woman.