Cheese sticks, Thoreau, and wonder

The writer is reminiscing about simple joys and innocence through a letter to their friend, Hildegard. They mention various delightful things like lime popsicles, rabbits, mulberries, and rain boots. The writer observes Hildegard's childlike imagination, comparing her to a woodland fairy. They reflect on Henry David Thoreau's idea of living deeply and appreciating life's goodness, contrasting it with the negativity that adults often focus on. The writer believes that if adults took a moment to observe the wonder and joy that children experience, they could regain a sense of wonder themselves. Cheese Sticks, Thoreau, and Wonder Dear Hildegard, Lime popsicles, cottontail rabbits, fallen mulberries, and rain boots. Outside, where I used to have a plastic garden owl to ward off raccoons and birds from my melons now sits, nothing, because you took it inside and pretended to feed it a stick of cheese. I write this poem while you flutter around the room like a woodland fairy, blooming with imagination. You make your pink horse ride a yellow bus and hug your stuffed bear like he is your best friend, because, well, he is. Is this what Thoreau meant when he decided to live deep and suck all the marrow out of life? Supposedly, he was just eating cherry pie on Emerson's land, but isn't that living deep? Isn't that soaking up the good of life? We adults have forgotten too many things. We have seen the worst, and now the worst is all we can see. Too many other shoes have dropped, and there are ghosts living in our attics. But if we would just pause for a moment to watch a toddler like you hold a crayon in her fist as if it were a magic wand, or eat a chocolate ice cream cone exclaiming, with every single lick, we might remember more than just the disasters and torrents. And maybe, just maybe, our banks would be flooded once again with wonder.