Blogs by Edie M. Batstone
Still Climbing!
2/13/2012 12:13:16 PM
Emptying the fears in my backpack and revisiting some childhood 'fun'!
Still Climbing!
"I love that tree, Nan – I’m going to climb it as soon as the snow is gone!"
How I envy him - I love trees too, Freddy, but I’m not sure about the climbing part – I haven’t climbed anything since the fort that we built in the back corner of the school yard at SSS No.1, Osgoode, on the River Road. Somewhere between then and now, I developed a nasty phobia called ‘vertigo’. I can remember sitting up on the top log of the fort, with a small group of playmates, and feeling giddy with ‘fun’. There were a couple of sturdy old maples along the back of the fence that provided us with a feeling of being protected. The scenarios changed with the weather - climbing and exploring our limits, when it was hot; huddling and sharing laughter and secrets when it was windy or cold, and throughout it all, building and creating our own play structure – learning the lessons of leadership, sharing work, and contributing to the delicious kettle of imagination that we were cooking up! Further along my journey from childhood, somewhere on the various side roads that I ventured down, I picked up a whole backpack of heavy fears and uncertainties, and dragged them along. I wish now that I had stopped more often – emptied out the spoiled contents, and made room for more of the treasures along the way. My load was weighing my feet and mind down, allowing room for only small bits of bright possibility to be added. Lucky for me, a second childhood seems to have kicked in – Bonus! I have laid the backpack aside, and have swapped it for a notebook and a pair of binoculars! They’re much lighter, and have redirected my gaze upwards; and they allow me to keep climbing trees, but without any sense of vertigo – only a relaxed appreciation of their intricate beauty, and the amazing life forms that they give shelter to – multitudes of birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and
………… is that you, Freddy? Gulp!
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