Enchanted, I escaped into a poem of childhood memories. A writing retreat on Lopez Island cast a writing sister back into reminiscences about her summers at her grandparents’ home on Camano Island. The writing recalled a child’s world of delight: picking raspberries, collecting eggs, making pies and jam, learning embroidery, and clearing out a woodsy hideaway named “Nature’s Nook.” Daily she walked down to the beach looking for treasures and skipping stones. Often, she’d fetch a pail of salt water from Puget Sound and walk back up the steep hill to provide her grandma a healing bath in which to soak her tired feet. |
Now, aware of the relentless march of time, my writing sister and I are left with treasured vignettes: fetching pails of salt water and sipping chamomile tea.