Into the Woods

Looking down my old street "into the woods." I'm pretty sure the trees were thicker back then.

The woods. We never called them anything else. Oh, sometimes we referred to the "sewer factory" (long story) or the frog ponds, and it was a great blessing to grow up where we could go into the woods.

In those days, parents let us wander the woods. Parents are different now. We did let our kids play in the arroyo behind our house in Santa Fe as it was not a dangerous concrete one like in Albuquerque. But I don't think kids play in the woods much on their own anymore.

There were dangers. We once came home from playing up to the left towards the new (then) Jr. High to tell Mom and Dad about a strange man following us and doing inappropriate things. The police came. I guess we weren't total naifs in the woods.

My wife and I just saw the DVD of the new production with Meryl Streep as the witch. She wasn't all bad. And she was right, sort of.

Our woods, as in the show, were full of mystery, darkness (and light), and most of all family and friend. I thank my little brother for all the fun times forgetting as best I can our nearly non-stop fraternal warfare. There were other friends in the neighborhood who shared our woods. I especially thank my friend, D.S. You know who you are. You with the metal detector and dreams of buried gold - and Bigfoot.

Yes, wishes and dreams and sometimes sadness because it doesn't always end as a fairy tale. I even went in those woods alone. That was me - the solitary explorer. And as they sang so sadly after loss in the musical woods, it is true that you are never alone. There is always someone.

This is more like it. Part of a park and preserved as a "Natural Area." Thank you, King County!

We should all play in the Woods more.