Our sense of the world is shaped by what we experience. A child's first sense of place is the home. Memory is formed in the landscape of home. What must it be like to have no home, no safe place? What must it be like to have to leave a beloved home because of war or persecution or poverty?
I have deliberately created a place my children can rest. All children will come to know the inevitable ugliness that exists in the world. Memory of rest and beauty and play can be a lifelong balm to adult angst. Is this where optimism rises from?
Clearing blue sky, a promise in bare branches. In winter, there are sunny days. In adulthood, childhood can return.