The last time I rode my bike from Manteno to my house, I stopped briefly at the state park. Next to the suspension bridge, I stood for a while looking at the stone memorial commemorating Rockville, a settlement established there in the 1830s. I looked down a path that leads to the bike trail, and something made me think about how exciting the sight would have been to me when I was eight years old.
When I was a kid, simple things like an over-grown path surrounded by trees and leading down a hill inspired me. The trees were filled with Indians and I was a cowboy. The trees were filled with dinosaurs and I was a Jurassic Park ranger. Things in nature were bigger and grander when I was a kid.
I remember getting stung by a bee down the gravel road from my house when my mom and grandma were picking some kind of flowers that used to grow there. There’s just a little hill where the flowers grew, but back then it seemed huge.
I remember building a fort in the woods between my grandparent’s house and ours. The thrill of constructing a shelter in a wild, unsettled place nearly overwhelmed me.
Now, the woods is just a dinky splotch of dying trees, cut in half by ComEd’s power lines that stretch overhead. The state park is just an over-trodden patch of land, full of people seeking leisure next to the river.
But as I’ve learned about my town’s history and what the land held for the Indians and the early settlers after them, I wonder which perspective is more accurate. Perhaps it takes a child-like imagination to see the beauty and wonder that time and development have slowly covered up. With that understanding, what remains of the natural order still offers a wealth of resources and lessons.
It was Bittersweet that grew on the "hill." I still watch out for it where ever I am each fall. I remember when you got stung. Grandma took her shirt off to protect you. I still think about what a loving act that was. At the time I was just shocked, but it left an impression on me. It's turned into one of my favorite memories of Grandma.
ReplyDeleteAnd I spend a lot of time thinking about what the world looks like through [my] child's eyes. It's hard not to with Adele around. On a walk awhile back we passed a clearing in the middle of some overgrowth of trees. Adele *gasped* and said "There's a HOLE in the forest!"
And how 'bout that tree house Dad's building for you-- uh, I mean the kids? I bet that's helping with your childlike perspective? :)
Love you, Carra
You're right, the treehouse is very inspiring. The timing of its construction happens to be working out nicely :)
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