Portal to Childhood

I often run across certain objects
Certain settings or places
That bring me back to
Those special years
Those years as a child
Maybe from a walk on a nearby beach
Waves crashing to shore on a sunny day
Before I know it I am seeing
How close I can get to the wave
Without getting wet
Being chased by waves was, and is
The best
Heck I am well over sixty years old
Yet I am at that moment
The 5 year old on the Mendicino Coast
Running with my brothers
Being chased by waves

Passed by a big pile of fresh dirt lately?
Last week I did
ANd actually what made it even better
Was the bright yellow
Tonka Truck on the backside
I wanted to stop and dig some roads
A bridge maybe
From the bottom of that hill of dirt
Clear to the top.
The time would stop
In my mind
The child in me would dig and move
That dirt.

I was a "big things" kid back in the day
Although I did like collecting rolly-pollies and lizards
I did not notice the tiny specks on the flowers

My grand daughter sure does though
I came home one day and she was collecting ... guess what?
"Aphids"
Later that evening it was slugs
Not your common pets a kid brings inside.

Being around her and living life through her eyes
I am transpoted into a new world of a child
She sees the world differently
As she should
Because she is "Eleanor"
She is "micro"
Does not miss a thing

Still, explores, chases, splashes, collects, builds
All the while living in the moment.

Maybe that is what is so important about thje Portal to Childhood.
Being brought into the moment, current.
How fleeting those moments are
But children can squeeze every little bit of wonder
Out of those moments.

Go chase a wave
Search for a slug tonight, or aphid
See if there are any owl-droppings under the pine trees in
Cuz I am mhgoing to go line up the rusty tin cans
In the backyard
And get out my bb-gun.