Jack found this float at the beach about 6 years ago and it was love at first sight. He played with it all afternoon, in and out of the water and when it was time to leave he carried it to the car himself, stopping every few feet to try getting a better grip. Since then it’s become his most prized possession. His favourite game is soccer, but he’s also happy to play hockey, toss, chase, keep-away or any other game you can think up that involves his “ball.” I feel for the poor fisherman who lost it, but that’s Jack’s buoy.

When I was a young girl we lived in the country and there was a small wooded area out behind our house. I didn’t like being in the house very much, so whenever I could I escaped out to the woods. I had a tree there that looked very much like this one. It was tall and wide with big arms that were missing pieces and it had this cozy at the ground that I could clamber into. I loved being there, alone with a book and just the sounds of the forest. I kept small treasures there too. Fossils, pieces of bone, feathers. Sometimes a blanket.

Seeing this tree today has made me sentimental. It is a lovely and inviting tree and maybe there is a way to crawl in and find an adventure story waiting just for you.

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

BY ROBERT FROST

 

 

 

 

This is a trail that Jack and I seldom use. In winter it’s drab and funnels the wind and in summer it’s full of mosquitoes.  Today, though, it was perfect and Jack and I had a slow wander through the unfamiliar landscape. As we approached this section of the trail the trees began reaching out from either side to meet in the middle and close us in overhead. It felt as if we were stepping into a magical tunnel that would lead us to the secret forest places where fairies and pixies live. Of course today all the magical creatures were hiding, but the sense of possibility stayed with me. It isn’t often that Jack and I go to unfamiliar places and I think we both felt a sense of wonder at this special something new.

The cows are out in the fields again and today Jack and I met this trio of beauties on our walk. Too bad the fence was electrified. It would have been fun to scratch their noses and feel those big, soft ears.