Tuesday, November 11, 2008

from the childhood shelf

Have you ever wanted to run away from home?

No, not now, because your spouse and kids are driving you crazy. I mean, when you were little, did you want to pack up a suitcase with the essentials (teddy bear, crackers, and Things With Which to Survive) and head off to somewhere "better?"

I used to dream of going someplace exotic like the seashore or better yet, a tree house. These fantasies were no doubt fueled by this book, one of my childhood favorites.

My boys have the day off from school today, and Luke just packed up a suitcase and announced he's "walking and swimming to Hawaii." I'm with ya, son.

It made me think of this book, which survived my many readings to land on my kids' shelf. How I love it.

"So we packed our bag with sweaters and socks
and scarlet leaves and gold
and a frog who was a particular friend
and precious stones that caught and held the sun."

Pure poetry.

Makes me want to pack a suitcase and go exploring.

Don't worry. I'll be back in time for dinner.

2 comments:

Kim H. said...

I always thought it would be awesome to pack some stuff in a little bandana thingy, tie it to the end of a stick and "run away" some place cool....like a Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. How sweet would that be?.....

I'm going to check out that book. I'll bet my adventurous boys would love it.

Laura said...

Beautiful little drawings like those make me want to cry....weird right?
So innocent and cute.
Like we all once were.