We spent a wonderful evening with our friends last night and as we all are from overseas, we sometimes talk about our “motherland” and how we spent our childhood. Moments like those bring up memories and one of them is about a special place I used to spend time at.
I’d like to share a post about it as a Blast From The Past today. Do you have a place like this as well?
Not my spot, but pretty similar to it…
You’re gone. It will never be the same again. The magic I found in you will not return. The timing though could not be better. I wonder why it happened at that moment. Maybe it was meant to be. Maybe it happened so I could let go of you for good as everything was about to change anyway…
I’ve spent many hours sitting with you admiring the moss growing on your roots and imagining that little fairies would live inside and under you. The little creek that was softly flowing past you took my imagination even further. Maybe there would be water fairies too? Would the fairies get along? Would they need little boats too? How would they build their houses? Was the moss enough for them to keep warm? Were they hiding in pine cones?
I was a child. A child that took her horse for a ride and stopped on a regular base next to you to let the horse have a drink. Then I decided to actually stop and have a snack and let my imagination run wild. I child that picked up pine cones, pretending they were little forest people. A child that collected sticks to build little shelters for the pine cone people. A child that was looking forward to return, smell the fresh forest air, listen to the splish splash of the creek, watching sticks float by, caressing her horse while telling the forest people story to the beautiful mare. A child that eventually turned into a teenager, who still loved to escape the real world on her rides and take a breather, sitting on the cool moss, smelling the moss, the soil, the forest. A teenager that turned into a young adult, enjoying to take a break at that very spot and let the mind wander.
You provided me with many beautiful days. Hot summer days were spent in the shade of your branches. Crisp fall days were equally enjoyed. In winter though you were off limits as there was just no way to get to you. Every spring I was wondering if you would still look the same or if nature would have changed something. Of course you changed slightly. The loss of a branch, a new created little arm of the creek. They were small changes. What didn’t change was the calm you gave me. The little escape from whatever was going on in my life. The energy I found back to after taking a break under the branches.
I still visited you after growing up, even after losing my horse. And I was hoping for many moments spent admiring you with my children. But it was not meant to be.
We decided to move to Australia but that was not the biggest change. Nature changed. It changed everything.
It was a huge storm. A lot of rain. And the river that fed the creek carried too much water and too much debris to be handled. There was a massive flood that changed the entire area you grew in. Months after the storm, when it was safe to return and things were kind of cleaned up everything looked different. Gone was the creek. Gone was the gentle river bank. Gone were you.
Gone was my childhood.
It seemed like a clear end to a chapter of my life. It seemed like a sign that it was time to move on.
The interesting thing is that this area was what I would have missed the most. Now it’s no longer there. As much as I felt sad for it to be gone, it helped me to let go of what would no longer be there. My childhood, my horse and my life in Switzerland.
The memories though will stay with me forever.
Inspired by the Daily Post Daily Prompt – Ode To A Playground
A Momma's View 