I hit the decade mark here this past May. I grew up convinced that the last thing I would ever do is move back to Morse Bluff, I’ve been back for 10 years now and I have no regrets. People ask me constantly, when they find out that I’ve lived in other places, “Why’d you move back?” This is what I tell them, which happens to be some of the same enticements I use when attempting to bribe my brother and sister to make their journeys back home to Morse:

If every year, when your vacation days are replenished at work and you sit down to plan where you are going to spend this precious time off, if the first thing you do before anything else, is figure out when you are going to sneak back to Morse Bluff… you should probably throw in the towel and move back. That way, you could spend your vacation days on real vacations.

If you long to drive a gravel road with roller coaster hills and scenery that changes daily as the crops mature in their patchwork plots and the season’s colors transform your view with every trip through… you should probably give in and start pricing a good piece of land with a scenic view in all directions. I recommend you tell the architect to include a wrap-around porch in the house plans.

If you haven’t seen a rain gauge in more than a week and you are going through serious withdrawals… it’s time to consider that you just aren’t where you are supposed to be.

If a town with a population of 10,000 seems like a big city….Morse Bluff is a perfect fit for you.

If you like to shop in the “big city” but you don’t want to have anything to do with living in or near one…consider Morse Bluff ….it’s there if you need to go, but who wants to drive by a Target or Walmart parking lot more than a few times a year or so?

Sick of stop lights?…it’s a non-issue.

If you desire ample opportunity to become “involved” and have an open invitation to live out your political dreams… you can do that if you move back to Morse Bluff, we are always looking for a breath of fresh air in our government machine.

If you want to raise livestock in your back yard…we can work that out too.

If you love your family enough to actually want them within close proximity of you…you should probably move home.

If you are an exercise enthusiast who doesn’t mind that every once in a while a truck will slow down as it approaches you and the driver innocently, leans out the window and asks you if you need a ride somewhere…this is definitely the place. Along that line: if you prefer encountering deer, opossum, raccoon, and stray dogs instead of muggers while you are on your early morning run….we’d welcome you with open arms, just switch out your mace for some non-toxic pepper spray…Fido is vicious toward strangers but he’s still a member of someone’s family.

The most dear to my heart, quite possibly the turning factor in my personal decision to defy all of my rebellious-youth-ideals and move back to the small town which I fought so hard to run away from: the drive between North Bend and Morse Bluff.

If you want the complete Nebraska experience in one ½ mile of nature’s best, 2-3 times per day, every day of your existence… you need to strongly consider putting in a serious bid on one of the several houses, lakeside lots, or acreages for sale in our fine village and surrounding rolling hills of farm country.

The “commute” between North Bend and Morse Bluff has to be the most enriched path of highway I have driven and I’ve been a few places. Still some may argue but come on, at the very least it’s in the top 10. This drive would stop my heart no matter what time of day I arrived or what time of year I returned for a visit. It still does, no matter how exhausting or frustrating a day I’ve had, once I turn south and cross those tracks, it all melts away and I become so very thankful for this life I have been blessed with.

If you haven’t done it recently, stop on the south side of the river bridge and make your way down to the edge to watch the sun set on the river…just astounding! Right now, the geese are teaching their young to fly, I can guarrantee they will make their way through your picturesque view extra low over the flowing water’s surface, with the twilight as their backdrop. There will probably be some boys fishing off the edge somewhere or on a sandbar with their dog frolicking as they try to cast out their lines near the campfire they’ve built in preparation for their overnight camp out, literally “on the river”. You might get an enthusiastic, hefty wave and a near-deafening burst of motor and laughter as the “cool people” on their air boats, fly past you, obviously enjoying every ounce of what Nebraska has to offer. The sky is full of color at dusk with just the right amount of tassel pollen, country road dust and humidity to bring out the deep fuschias, an array of oranges, and shades of purple, the likes of which you never knew existed….just think, you could share this wonder with your kids every single day.

As you make your way south through the over-reaching trees, it’s like a beautiful, natural, heaven’s gate. You’ve got quaint and ornate lake houses on either side with beautifully kept grounds that aren’t landscaped into plastic, cookie-cutter perfection, instead they blend in with their Nebraskan surroundings. Mixed in between you’ll come across a colorful heard of lazily grazing cattle on the east side of 79 and a taste of industry with the Dolezal operation on the West which it isn’t distracting or destructive looking, it just enforces our ideal that, in Morse Bluff, we strive to cooperate with nature without destroying it.

Then before you know it; there she is, our Morse Bluff: nestled in among the trees on the side of the hill like a cozy, safe harbor welcoming all who approach….like a fleeting gift you will unfortunately miss, if you are rushing by too quickly. My heart used to seriously race as I turned off the interstate in York and made my way home through Columbus on Highway 30, sometimes I’d turn off at Seward and make my approach from the South but other times I would come in from the North. I remember finally reaching the Platte river bridge after driving for 10 hours or so and I would always, always, always slow down to 40 or 50 mph even though all I wanted to do was get home and get out of that darn car. People would wonder why this strange Texan was driving at a snail’s pace; they don’t wonder anymore, I’ve got 6 county plates now and it’s an expectation. You just can’t help yourself, it’s a vision that takes you off guard and you’ve got to decelerate for a moment so you can take it all in after you’ve been away for a while, or just gone for the day, kind of like catching up with an old friend you haven’t seen in ages.

If this sort of syndrome comes over you as you visit your family, or as you’re dropping by for a visit in Morse Bluff…..it’s definitely time for you… Morse Bluff will always welcome you back, even if it’s just for a few of those oh-so-precious vacation days.