Simple Childhood Pleasures

I've been feeling a bit of spring fever. I want to get out and enjoy nature again. I can remember being a kid when spring came and feeling trapped in school, just wanting to be outside. Even back then I could completely relate to the term spring fever. I got it every year and I still do.

Heading out onto my walk this week I was unable to find much in the way of spring beauty. Most of the trees are still bare and there are few blooming things to be found.

It's funny though, the two things I ended up taking pictures of have a direct link back to my childhood. They brought back such great memories.


I have always had a love affair with willow trees. It's just something about the fluidity of the branches and the way they hang down, swaying in the wind. It always seems like they are doing their own dance.

Standing beneath one and looking up makes me feel like I'm in a waterfall of leaves. I remember going underneath the trees with the really long branches and feeling like I was in a special fort. Who didn't love forts when they were a kid?

I wasn't expecting to have a strong memory of the dried up milkweed pod I found but I guess you just never know what will trigger those darn memories.

I can remember playing in these empty fields behind my parent's restaurants and finding milkweed pods. They were the most interesting shape and they seemed so plump and soft. There was something special about opening up the pod to reveal the fibers and milky center that made my heart skip a beat.

Isn't it great that when you were a kid, it didn't really take much to excite you. In childhood, simple pleasures were all the pleasures we needed.

I have to say that allowing myself some time to be excited about these simple things brought a bit of joy to my adult life.

What were some of your simple, childhood pleasures? I invite you to take a moment out of your busy, adult life to immerse yourself in them once again. Remember what it's like to be a kid again.

Be sure to tell me how it goes.