Life as a dream and dreams as life

"Row row row your boat, gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream...”

A creek ran through the middle of my friends hay farm, which happened to be in the middle of residential development in our small hometown. It was our dreamland, a special place that set stage for our imaginations to grow as fast as the hay, as tall as the Cottonwood trees and to run wild with the wind.

This is where my deep connection to nature grew. The creek side was a place where we noticed the passage of the seasons. We had private swimming and fishing holes, and skating in the winter. Most importantly, we learned to respect the risky dangers of thin ice and high waters. Our special place had not changed, like the subdivisions that surrounded it.

However, I remember the conscious awareness that something in the creek was changing. Not only were there less fish to catch, but there appeared to be more water moss growing, making the creek more slippery to walk in. As young children, we analysed why this was happening, as we had learned about Pollution in school. We wondered if perhaps it was the housing development up the creek and across from our school. Sadly, one spring, I also remember the shock of seeing a large Turtle shell the size of a platter, as well as garbage in and along the creek. The emotional awareness of pollution in my environment settled into my life.

One spring we enthusiastically worked to free a pallet that was stuck along the creek side, due to the high waters from the early spring melt. We had a dream to build a raft and sail away to float down the creek, maybe even right out of town! We gathered nails, hammers and more scrap wood. All the while, we imagined the story, developed our characters, and played out the variations within the storyline. Unknowingly, the pallet was water sodden and no matter how much wood we hammered on top, we could not get the structure to float. We worked on this for possibly days, if not a few weeks. The dream was only surrendered after trial and error. That was okay, because there were always other adventures to take its place.

I took my boys back to my special place and shared with them, some stories of the place where I grew up and played. The old Victorian house was gone. All that was left of my friends’ property was the outline of the circular driveway with the hedge and Cottonwood trees still present in the middle. New houses lined up on what was once the hay field. As my boys ran ahead, my mind was swept away to visions of the past, sensing 2 young girls riding rickety saw horses at sunset, pretending we were galloping over the field far, far, away.
~
This weekend my Grandfather passed away independently in his home, while I was writing this story in rough draft. I found myself crying as my memories had ventured off to the stories he told about himself and my Grandma growing up along the same creek. In their childhood, the creek water level was much higher. Once he skipped out from school with his friends and went skinny-dipping in the creek. They were surprised the schoolteacher found and caught them! My Grandpa's stories told me it really was possible to float away down the creek and out of town! The fish were bigger too!

My point in sharing his passing, is to acknowledge we are all inter-connected in universal consciousness. Therefore, it does not surprise me that I was reviewing life, near the same time as he probably was this weekend. He has been waiting for this opportunity for a few years now, since Grandma passed on. I am glad he was in my thoughts, as he floated away in the stream of consciousness beyond what we know to be certain.
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One of the newest parenting books to be out in the limelight is Richard Louv's,

'Last Child in the Woods -Saving Our Children from Nature -Deficit Disorder'

He states,

“ Children need nature for the healthy development of their senses, and, therefore, for learning and creativity. This need is revealed in two ways: by an examination of what happens to the senses of the young when they lose connection with nature; and by witnessing the sensory magic that occurs when young people- even those beyond childhood- are exposed to even the smallest direct experience of a natural setting.” 3. Pg 54

Refill your coffee mug and sit down to watch these brief videos.

Then get outside and play!!

No Child Left Inside Coalition 2008-11-25

Nature Deficit Disorder

The discovery of the last child in the woods-Netherlands2007

Cat Stevens singing,’Where Do The Children Play’
and scenes from , ‘The Lorax’, Dr Suess

What did you dream of doing in your childhood?

In what ways have you fulfilled or explored those ideas,

dreams or aspirations in your lifetime?

"Reality consists of the experiences we believe are real.

What is real may or may not be the same for everyone."

- Harry Palmer