Based on the past few days it seems that Utah has decided once again to skip Spring and launch straight into the summer. For many people, summer is the best time to have a backyard. It means firing up the grill, eating outside, chilling on the porch, maybe playing in the pool, and enjoying warm summer nights. For kids, it could mean running through the sprinklers, spraying each other with the hose, playing with bubbles, jumping on the trampoline, or even just sitting in a nice puddle of mud.
However, I have lived in Utah long enough to know that it could snow next week. If/when that happens, does that signal an end to backyard fun? Of course not! When life gives you snow, you make a snow man! Or a snow fort. Or a snow angel. Or anything you want to. That, I think, is part of the magic of childhood. You do some exploring, take a look at what's around you, and have fun with it. It's something that kids are good at; something that comes naturally, and yet, it's something that we sometimes tend to become worse at as we grow older.
In a lot of ways, I still consider myself a kid. While we all have to grow up sometime, I think there are a lot of childlike qualities that we would do well to hold on to. After all, if you lose it completely, how are you going to teach your children how to build a snow man?
This is a great multimedia exploration of a topic that is at once both personal and universal--the experience of a well-remembered place from childhood. The nostalgia is palpable, for both the pleasures and some frustrations (lawn mowing) of being in such a space. The connections you make to other literature and to the present make this an enjoyable and relevant reflection.
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