Green (snow) man
The freak storm outside didn’t stop us from going to the botanical garden that day. Much of what we had planned to see would be housed in the conservatory, but without a wrench or Professor Plum. Well I suppose the snow put a bit of a wrench in our plans. We couldn’t explore outside as long as we might have otherwise, opting for the safety of leaving over the potential dangers signaled by groans and snaps of branches bearing the weight of white mud on their boughs in full leaf.
Professor Plum wasn’t there but is a memory of my childhood full of board games like Clue. I was always Miss Scarlet. Red is my favorite color. I was always red in all the games. Except Monopoly, with it’s pewter tokens. Then I was the doggy. Always the same. Every game.
But as the snow collected and slid along the glass panels of the conservatory skylights, I was transported back to another childhood toy. I had this amusement composed of two pieces of oval shaped plastic sandwiching blue and white sand. I would spend hours … ok … maybe long minutes … rotating the oval and watching the sand mix and slide and form different patterns. It was soothing yet stimulating.
I had forgotten about that toy for many years. Tucked into the toybox of memories that we leave behind as we pursue grown-up things. But sometimes we go and peek into the box and remember and smile and for that moment, I was playing with that old toy from the inside out.
