Second Childhood?

 

 

 

We crept sheepishly past the ticket office,  trailing fronds of coloured leaves at our sides, hoping the nice lady who had greeted us on our way into the grounds of Powis Castle and wished us 'happy wandering' would fail to notice the spoils we carried with us on our way out. The rucksack overflowed with leaves of all shapes and sizes, twigs, tantalising pieces of bark, mossed over in soft green and sporting growths of lichens in pale sea-green, reminding me of a beautifully fashioned piece of coral reef. Do you remember those primary school collages: coloured leaves stuck with PVC glue to limp pieces of coloured sugar paper, bright and vibrant for a day, then curling up at the edges and all the precious leaves dried and crumbling on the paper?

 

We strolled nonchalantly back to the car, relieved to have passed the guard without being asked to put it all back and accused of denuding the forest floor to the detriment of other garden visitors' enjoyment. Glancing around us, we expected to be encouraged in our theft by seeing children  spilling out of the gardens carrying armfuls of leaves like us, competing with each other to pick up the brightest and best. Families there were, in abundance, obviously enjoying to the full this last of the autumn days before the cold of winter set in for good, but no leaf-waving children. Don't they do it anymore?

 

We had plans for grown-up pursuits of artistry at home in our dual purpose guest room/hobbies room, using our collection of nature's best but what about those children? Had they never had the joy of sticking and glueing, choosing colours and shapes to delight their own innate sense of creativity at this time of year? Was there no time any more for such innocent pleasures? Maybe David Hockney will spark them into action again with his inspired use of I-pad painting apps. Perhaps today's generation will find it preferable to record their own experiences of the season's exploits on screen and text it to their friends. Whatever the chosen medium, the creativity remains dormant in each of us and will hopefully burst out in response to nature's prodding. I hope so.