Imagination Station -ary

Last night in our small group we talk about when we once lived "below time" a phrase coined by the poet, Dylan Thomas in his poem, "Fern Hill".

Time let me hail and climb

Golden in the heydeys of his eyes

And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns

And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves

Trail with barley

Down the rivers of the windfall light.

"Once below a tine", remember those days?  That time in life when we were young and carefree, the time before we were even conscious of time?  We lived in the here and now, existed only for the moment.  It was a time filled with innocence, mystery, wonder and awe--before the pressures of life found us.

I can remember my carefree days once upon a time on Centre St.  I roamed the neighbourhood barefoot without concern of getting hurt or dirty.  It was the days before sidewalk chalk existed in the stores, the days when we made our own chalk with spit and rocks.

It was the days of gathering dandelions, examining the wonder of their make-up.  Discovering their heads made a wonderful yellow paint on the curb, their stems milky white inside.  After peeling apart the stems and soaking them in water in our old maragrine tubs, we discovered the wonderful spirals they made!  Then the fantastic fluff that formed as the dandelion aged.  That was the most thrilling thing, being able to make a wish and watch the fluff fly around with one quick breath.  Those were the days before we had any clue that dandelions were weeds and despised among the less-imaginative adults.

I used to have a vivid imagination.  So much so, I almost lost an eye to it.  While growing up on Centre st., our landlord (who lived on the other side of the duplex) kept a hound dog on a chain in the back yard.  His name was Gus.  Gus was not a pet and did not go inside, he was old Mr. Baileys' hunting dog. 

I liked Gus, as I do all animals, even though he smelled funny and had a greasy coat.  The thing that intrigued me the most about Gus was that he had his very own house.  How cool is that?  As a child I would look at this house with great imagination.  I wondered what it looked like inside.  I wanted to know all about this house, the floor plan, the room decor, you know, that stuff.  I wondered if he had his very own kitchen and living room. 

One day my imagination got the better of me and I decided I had to see what his house was like.  So I went for a visit.  A visit that went very bad.  When Gus finally decided to go in his house for the day, I got on my hands and knees and followed right behind him.  I was so excited!  I was coming over to play in the cutest little play house ever!  As it turns out, he was not a very welcoming host.  Not at all!  Before I even turned the corner, he turned around and bit me right in the eye.  All I remember after that was sitting on a Doctors bench and being told if it had been a millimeter closer, I would have lost my eye.  It wasn't all bad though, I did get a wonderful butterfly bandage to sport for a while after.

That was the day my eyes were suddenly open to the real world.  The day my imagination tank started to leak.  The day I no longer lived, 'below time'.  All of a sudden I became  cautious and aware.  That painful encounter changed something in me, I had lost a small measure of innocence.  No longer so naive and trusting. 

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to live 'below time' again?  I wonder if it's even possible to live so freely in this harsh-real world?  Is it possible to live only for the moment without the weight of concern for the future or the burden of hurt over our past?  Could we live so trusting in God that we aren't worried about the bills looming overhead or the poor choices our children might make or whatever else worries us?  Not sure.

**footnote:  You would think that after that experience I would be afraid of and dislike dogs, but I don't.  I love dogs.  I forgave Gus and was very sad when they put him down.  His replacement, George, I never got to know really.  Too cautious I guess.  Even though he was bigger dog and got a bigger more elaborate house, I knew better than to show up uninvited.  My imagination still ran wild though, I  just kept the thoughts to myself.  Then one day I noticed they had the roof off to clean inside.  I was invited to see the ariel view.  What a disappointment!  I should not have looked.  All of those beautiful thoughts in my mind were crushed, wiped out clean, when I saw nothing more than a square frame and a floor made of plywood.  So much for that.