But something happened...as children we still sought out that special place filled with trees, water, wildlife and the opportunity for manipulation. What we (the neighborhood kids) all discovered was a woodland. A place where suburban houses had yet to grow. It was a block long and about two blocks deep.
"The woods" as we called it, provided that sense of adventure, discovery and connection to living things. When we were not playing baseball in our backyard, we were in the woods creating forts, blazing trails, and swinging across creeks.
Oh Lisa, I so relate to this blog. I was a lucky kid--growing up in a rented farm house that gave me lots of places to explore with my siblings. A pine and arbor vitae windbreak, alfalfa and corn fields, livestock and hay barns. It was a world for of bugs, dirt, Spiraea x vanhouttei flowers made into confetti and lots of sappy hands and butts with tree climbing. I wish for many children today to be returned to this wonderland where they can connect with the land.
ReplyDeleteAnne - It was your landscape that I dreamed about as a kid. I always thought farms were so neat and were always enamored by them. :)
ReplyDeleteI lived in the woods and always wanted someplace to roller skate. Really, though I had a great time among the trees and I think in the end I'd have liked the woods better.
ReplyDeleteAnd I LOVE this photo.
fabulous, Lisa! I remember the woods as a fascinating thing. Horseback riding with friends once, I remember as we went through the woods that in my imagination I was pretending I was on a quest with hobbits ;)
ReplyDeletethank you :)