grandie j heads out
mohawk helmet on
backpack filled
with pokemon cards, water, hope
off on his bike to meet friends
at their ‘secret fort’
in the neighborhood.
after he makes his grand exit
grandie b, left behind, shares –
“we all have the same secret fort, but no one knows it.”
—
“well i know the secret places. and the nests in hedge and tree;
at what doors are friendly faces, in what hearts are thoughts of me.”
-henry wadsworth longfellow
on the shores of lake michigan
at dusk
sunset coming
j keeps trying
imagining his kite
flying high in the wind
and then –
it does.
—
“imagination is the highest kite one can fly.”
lauren bacall
—
holland state park, lake michigan, july 2020
back in the day
when my girls were little
if there was a power outage
I would tell them
we were just like the family
in ‘the little house on the prairie’
we could pretend we were them
have lots of fun
it was okay for a while
until it got old
the novelty wore off
when there was
no pa playin’ the fiddle
no butter to churn
no humming and singing
no stitchin’ to be done
no cows to milk
then we just had to wait it out
and it was not fun.
—
“where a light can’t live, i know i can’t.”
-Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie
—
image credit: nbc tv
on a
quick stop
to say hi
to the grandies and friends
I was lucky enough to enjoy
their indoor flying and blow-up forts created with fans.
life is good at the end of summer. 
“the end-of-summer winds make people restless.”
-sebastian faulks
I spent some time this morning
creating the beginnings of a fairy village
in the front garden
of a friend’s little girl
who liked to come and visit my garden
when she got home
she discovered the surprise
saw the fairies had moved in
right in her very own front yard
and gave it her full endorsement
—
“the whole point of life was you couldn’t ever be sure what would happen next.
sometimes what happened was good, sometimes not,
but there were always surprises.”
― veronica henry, author
a sword at rest found among the garden
—
“i believe in everything until it’s disproved.
so i believe in fairies, the myths, dragons.
it all exists, even if it’s in your mind.
who’s to say that dreams and nightmares
aren’t as real as the here and now?”
― john lennon
“the world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.”
-jean-jacques rousseau
—
the kinders know this to be true.
the kinders made a wonderful house for rocket the turtle,
with many rooms and spaces,
including his very own garden and library.
—
“until he extends his circle of compassion to include all living things,
man will not himself find peace.”
-albert schweitzer
“the man who has no imagination has no wings.”
-muhammad ali
I didn't have my glasses on.... 