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I confess! I don't like her .. that woman I am becoming. She is clearly taking over irrespective of my wishes. My inner child was a different story. She was cute. She had boundless energy. She was curious .. and YOUNG. She liked nature: hunting for jack-in-the-pulpit in the woods; finding frogs, lady bugs, blueberries and buttercups. She enjoyed picking milk pods and blowing the fluffy winged seeds to the wind. Where did that child go? Perhaps I kept her around longer than I ought, going on camping trips into my fifties, being overjoyed at sunrises on the beach, etc. Psychologists seem to approve. It did no harm and when I had kids .. many kids. I felt like I was one of them. They became my best friends. Recently, I took a little road trip with my first daughter, Laura, up to New Hampshire's White Mountains and along the Kancamagus. We stayed overnight at the old Eastern Slopes Inn in North Conway and took a lovely walk through the woods to Diana's Bath, collecting pine cones, acorns and fallen pine branches. The path through the woods makes it easy and accessable. There's a little bridge over the stream and at the end of the trail is a cascade of water spilling over rocks that my inner child would have enjoyed climbing. But we don't have to travel that far to enjoy nature. Melrose is blessed with it's wonderful "green belt". There is a beautiful place to walk through the woods without too much difficulty called Breakheart Reservation, near Rt. 1 in Saugus. The road is paved and without too much effort one can arrive at the pond and beach area admiring the beautiful pines soon to be dusted with snow. Photos by Laura DeMattia
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