I’m not quite at liberty to say anything yet, but someone I know is moving to a new home, provided that all the paperwork goes through. Going somewhere new is not always an easy thing to do – especially if you have never known anything else. Sometimes, a little preparation is necessary.
I took my girls to the new house, and even though we couldn’t go inside, we could explore. The day was my kind of day, in other words, it was nasty out. The wind was blustery. The rain was cold and prickly. And we weren’t quite dressed appropriately. Probably should have brought galoshes… if we had them… and an umbrella.
The yard was soaked, slippery, squelching, but the treasures were abundant. The side yard is comprised of a steep descent followed by a long decline. We think – snow and sledding! The yard ends at a meandering “crik”. I’m calling it that and you cannot stop me. :P To the west is a “forest” of trees dressed for autumn. Someone else might see a difficult yard to mow. We see Terabithia.
Something had caught my eye at the top of the hill. I was just as excited as the girls. There was a branch hanging down, and if you went under it there was a path – definitely a path! – leading down the tree-covered hill. What would we discover at the end? We had to be careful. And we weren’t sure if we were allowed to be there. Were we trespassing? It was as if we had found Narnia and we were already making plans for the future. What’s at the end of the path? Friends or foes?
When I was little, I had the pasture lane on my grandparents’ farm. I even had the secret tunnels at church and later at the library. I should mention that the library tunnels were treasured when I was a young adult. I’ve never grown out of the need for a special, secret place to claim for my own. A new world to enter to escape the trials of this one.
This Newbery Honor book from the 1950s captures the classic longing children, (and apparently some adults,) have for a place of their own free of grownups. Portia and her little brother, Foster, spend their summers at their cousin’s farm. Portia and her cousin, Julian, are best friends and they always have plans for adventure, but this year is different.
Portia and Julian set off in a direction and, walking all day, cover more distance than they ever have before. They happen upon Gone-Away Lake – or rather, what’s left of it. And meet two elderly hermits who are living off of the spoils of the land. It is not a hardship. There used to be a well-to-do summer community that lived on the lake and Pindar and Minnehaha were once children who lived in these mansions that are now left vacant and decrepit. What they need, they take.
Uncle Pin and Aunt Min decide that the kids need a place of their own. The four of them pick out one of the safer houses still standing and the kids choose to clean up and decorate its attic. All that is left is to invite some friends and start a club. Up until then, Portia and Julian have kept everything a secret. Foster decides he wants in on the secret. Like a spy he follows them one day and nearly drowns in the swamp. He claims an island for his troubles.
Oh, the good old days. And the better, older days. There is action, adventure, wild stories, danger, freedom and even ghosts. The only fantasy is what the kids make in their own minds. If your child was born to the wrong time period, like I was, try this one from a quieter, safer time.
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