I have this friend named Emily. We love to dream, adventure, and mostly just laugh together.
Over the past weeks, we've been planning a little adventure, which ended up taking place in my back yard. We made preparations in the morning so everything could be just right.
Skipping around the yard, we picked dandelions and little yellow buttercups, somehow passing through the mysterious wall between childhood and whatever we're in now. Then the reminiscing began... the stews we'd make, full of dandelions and fresh-cut grass. The way they never got dumped out, and ended up rotting and breeding mosquitoes. Memories so sweet they almost made me homesick for childhood.
We labored over a pile of newspaper and cedar wood, trying our best to start a fire-- eventually succeeding with the help of my dad. And then dinner preparations began. Each of the pots, pans, and plates I had used in my fort as a child were brought out (in addition to our new tin mugs) as we chopped up potatoes and carrots, which flew everywhere. Giddy with excitement, we assembled our hobos, (tin foil packets of hamburger and veggies cooked on the open fire)... our stomachs were not disappointed.
Following dinner, we took a break for stargazing... which was more like cloud gazing. Laughing out loud and discussing our dreams, we soaked it in, relishing each moment. Next, because you can't have a fire without s'mores, we threw some marshmallows onto skewers and roasted our dessert. The sticky, sugary stuff smeared across our faces and we just laughed at ourselves, then returned to more cloud gazing, dreaming and laughing.
After cinnamon hot chocolate and some actual stargazing (the stars came out!) it was time to crawl into our tent. Then the real flashback to childhood began. I pulled out my favorite childhood book that my mom read to me when I was only five, bright pictures of the stories still painted vividly in my mind, nearly 11 years later. I opened the book and began reading. A smile was spread across my face from ear to ear, which I had a hard time of wiping off. We read and read, as scattered giggles popped out here and there. We read about Betsy meeting Tacy and about the way they hated each other first. We read about the little five-year-olds walking up the hill to eat their supper. And we read about the giant pink feather they rode across the skyline. And all the time, it only made me wish I could live a little more childhood.
After we had finished the day, and were perfectly happy, we climbed into our tent and drifted off to sleep.
In the morning came the pancakes and eggs, cooked in our little iron skillets right over the fire... which would have been utterly perfect if I had not burned my finger on one of the little iron skillets. :)
All in all, at the end of the day, I am just so utterly thankful for how blessed I am. For amazing friends and family, fun times, stars to gaze at, and a Creator who made them-- and loves me!
If you could do one childhood-ish thing today, what would it be?
xo.
Lindsey
