childhood – Ain't Mine No More

Doodlemum has done it again – capturing a childhood memory of mine in one of her drawings:

Can you hear the sea?

Holidays by the sea. Putting a shell to my ear. The magic of hearing the ocean. Where have these waves been? What shores have they touched?

Fernweh. My young mind didn’t know about the cost of travelling, the difficulties in obtaining visas, the sheer tediousness of hanging around in airports. All I knew was that there was a world out there that was waiting to be explored. That was calling me. Butterflies in my stomach. No real idea what there was but longing to find out.
There is still so much I haven’t seen. Yet I’m thankful for all the places I’ve had the privilege of exploring. And I still hear the call.

Can YOU hear the sea?

PS No, I’m not the least bit interested in scientific explanations! To me, the magic is real!

This is today’s post from one of my very favourite blogs:

Spider Alley, the place only the bravest children dare enter.

Brave the sticky webs and wrapped bundles of mummified bugs, spun and wrapped, ready to stick in your hair.

Run, run, run!

(To look at the real thing, click here: Spider Alley)

One of my earliest childhood memories is of being stuck in the little play area in our garden, which had a fence around it to stop us running off. However, there was a little gap between the fence post and the wall that I was able to squeeze through. On this particular day, though, there was a big fat spider sitting just where I needed to get through. Why I wanted to get out, I have no idea. Maybe I was just bored. What I do remember is the battle going on inside me. I was scared of the spider. Yet I didn’t want to stay in there any longer. Should I be brave? Could I somehow avoid the spider? Should I try calling my Mum?

No idea what I did in the end. Maybe the spider just left. Or maybe my Mum came and I no longer needed to squeeze through the gap to get out. Either way, I lived to tell the tale. Still don’t much like spiders, though!