Wonder

Woodland adventures

Being lucky enough to spend most of my days outside in beautiful countryside, you would expect wonder to be an everyday occurrence - some how it’s not and it’s funny where you find it!

Waiting to go through the checkout in Sainsbury's on Tuesday evening was where I was reminded of the power of wonder, the type of wonder that only a small child can have with their lack of knowledge of the world.

A beautiful little boy of about 7 months was sat in a trolley waiting to pass though the checkout in front of me.  His Dad was full of wonder for his son and was simply wiggling his fingers near the handle of the trolley.  The boy’s eyes were wide and intent, full of wonder, as he followed the finger with his eyes and kept trying the reach out and grab this amazing wiggling thing - it was beautiful.  I too had found wonder in what was happening and the realisation that as grown ups’ wonder is less frequent in our lives and that the ‘wondrous’ thing has to be pretty monumental for us to take notice.

With a team of Woodland Adventurers with us on Wednesday for Holiday Club we went out over the countryside to visit a favourite spot of ours - the caves of doom!  It’s quite a stomp for the smaller of the adventurers and I was at the back meandering across the fields with the ‘little legs’ when I realised our problem - speed.  It was nearly lunch time, the weather wasn’t great and as grown ups, our focus was on getting back, not on the journey.

By slowing down wonder was everywhere - greatly enhanced by a child’s eyes.  The way a wet blade of grass feels when you slide it through your fingers - try it, it’s amazing!  Small stones littering the wheat field; quite obviously a trail left by the other children who were in front so that we would find our way back!  A stick which had been left by an imaginary friend who knew we would be in the field and would want to stir mud when we got back to the wood, where we would see popcorn popping over the campfire and the slightly charred, but deliciously sweet toasted marshmallow.  

The list was endless, wonder was truly everywhere we went - my walk was back was magical, like I had never walked it before.

We all know we need to slow our lives down but it’s so much easier said than done but having some wonder back in my life is enough to make me walk slower, listen more and drink in whatever I see - life really is beautiful.


Debbie

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