Terabithia

Currently listening to:

Airplanes, by the Local Natives

Currently reading:

Conscientious Objections

(I never liked Postman until now)

Currently Appreciating:

this guy

He has been such an encouragement to me, especially lately. From late night bike rides to some of the best and most honest, selfless, advice I have ever received. He surprises me with chocolate on bad days and makes me laugh until I cry. He is my best friend.

I don't know why I always feel a need to blog about change, and growing up...I guess it is just what I like to think about sometimes. And today is a sometime.

Autumn’s popularity seems to be rising in the hearts of college students. My good, best, dear, friend Allison Dowell lives for fall. She just showed me her list of fall activities and events- I love her and her planning. She is going to be a great public relations specialist and a phenomenal mother someday.

I happen to be mackin on fall a lot this year too. It is the one time of year you want to be outside for longer than an hour, just to look around, just to see that the leaves did in fact change to a crisper shade than they were the day before. Fall reminds me a lot of my childhood and all the things I miss about being so young with such a stellar imagination:

1- Playing drive-in movie theater. My good childhood friend Jenny Taylor and I used to ride our bikes around and collect "tickets" off of trees. We would then ride our bikes further up the hill to a clearing where the movie was being shown. After that, we'd find another tree to deposit our -then crumpled up leaves- in front of (or if we were lucky, we would find a hole in the tree and declare it the ticket booth).

2- Build a bridge to Terabithia (after reading the enchanting novel by Katherine Paterson). I found an old door my dad wasn't using anymore, tossed it in my Radio Flyer, and attempted to get it to span the creek bed without falling in. Jenny and I ended up making our clubhouse there. Of course we tidied up the place, planted some flowers, and sang songs that could only be conjured up by our imaginations.

3- Go scooter dancing. Yes, this one is the most special of all. My friends and I would meet up at this random woman's house in our neighborhood (We had never met her, and it was rumored that she had a killer Rottweiler. But we did it at her house because she had the best driveway for scootering). After we arrived at the agreed upon time, we would take turns performing with our awesome Razor scooters. Our performances consisted of tricks (extending one leg over the handlebar was considered advanced), songs about love and friendship (that were the best improvs you may have ever seen), and of course, the judging.

I’m not sure how many of us are stretching our imaginations anymore, or how many children will actually make it outside to jump into a pile of leaves this fall. I do hope kids are still using their imaginations to create, and I hope some are building bridges to Terabithia.