Sometimes I wonder what keeps the stars apart, what keeps the moon from crashing into the ocean, what keeps the world rotating. I don't want someone to give me a textbook answer. That I can find for myself. I don't want anyone to give me an answer at all. I just want to wonder about it, to think about all the possibilities for magic there are in the world. Not hocus pocus, alakazam magic; just small occurrences of everyday magic like falling in love and learning something new but unimportant and tasting all the flavors of the rainbow in one drop of snow on the tongue. Does anyone do that anymore? There's a lot of people on earth, but are they in it? Do they see the tiny purple blooms at the side of the road from behind the wheel of whatever vehicle they have to work 50+ hours a week just to afford the monthly payment? Do they see the baby in its mother's arms in the checkout lane at the grocery store and realize how amazing new life is? Do they see the rain and marvel at the length of its journey before it falls on their shoulders? Or are they just going the shortest, fastest route possible to their workplaces, closed off from the world they live in because their lives are filled with orthodontist appointments and court dates and soccer practice and fast food lanes? Sometimes I just want to blow a big whistle and stop all the to-ing and fro-ing. I want people to take off their shoes and walk barefoot in the park grass and stand in the wind and wade in the ocean waves and remember a time not so far distant when we played hopscotch on the sidewalks in front of our houses and knew our neighbor's names and what they were having for dinner and stood on our father's boots while he danced us in circles and loved our third-grade teachers and only watched television on Ed Sullivan night and Disney Sunday Movie night. Sometimes I think I'm the only one alive who still remembers Sing Along With Mitch and having crushes on boys without even thinking about sex and food that doesn't come in boxes or bags marked No Fat, Low Fat, Low Carb, No Carb, Lite, and Virtually Inedible. The stars are closing in. The moon is dipping low. The world is spinning without purpose. Sometimes I think the castaways didn't know how lucky they were to be isolated on Gilligan's Island.
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win at hopscotch.....and a skate key on a chain I wore around my neck.....fireflies in a jar......a "fresh" necklace made from clover
and Saturday morning cartoons. After a couple of hours of watching
Sky King and Mighty Mouse, Momma would chastise us kids for laying
around in the house, so off we would go...outside to have bike races
and play croquet, and kick the can.....often staying out till dark,
with no fear of being abducted, molested or mugged.
Yes, I remember, and at times I weep....my grandchildren will never know of these peaceful times....they will never understand that once childhood lasted a long time....and that wearing heels or makeup was
something young girls looked forward to when they became young ladies.....not when they were 7-8 years old.
I'm afraid that a lot of children don't even understand the concept of sharing, nor do they comprehend "waiting" till Christmas to get
that "special" toy!
Excellent post...good memories of the "time that we forgot"
Blessings,
Older and wiser....(sometimes!)