I grew up in a small town, in a house with a large yard. My dad had 2 huge gardens that he worked diligently on, growing lettuce and cucumbers and tomatoes. We had a shed full of bunnies for a while, and the property was backed against a marsh reserve with a stream going through it. Once, in grade 3, I collected snails from around the stream and brought them to school. The teacher let us keep them in open jars on our desks and we spent the day watching them slide their way up and down while doing our math and compositions.
But I wasn’t really “into” all the outdoors and nature and small-townness growing up. I was curious about the world. I wanted to know what was “out there.” My parents weren’t travellers, but my spirit was. I was curious about life outside our little world.
I moved away from home at 17 and it was one level of city after another for a long while. I had experiences, I saw life.
And now the years have gone by, and I find myself back in a very small town, in a house with a big yard, planting gardens and watching the snails go by.
It’s just funny how life moves in circles, and all the things we think we want and need in youth don’t end up being that important. And I wonder whether life would have been any different had I realized in grade 3 that having the time to sit and watch snails would end up being the definition of happy.
-mtg
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