The tall tree in front of my white house with red accents was always full of green leaves that always sprouted in the beginning of spring, bringing an ecstatic energy to the whole neighborhood. Even though the grass didn't really grow much under the tree it was still a nice spot to sit under with a nice shade at reach. The dirt was always dry and never damp, so i could always feel the grains of dirt get stuck between my bare toes. The sound of the wind and the tree branches swaying back and forth sort of languid and mystical all at once made it all seem very peaceful. The colors around were bright with the sight of cars parked on the side of the street and the dust they have accumulated over the months. This has always been my home where the sounds of dogs barking and cats meowing was a 24/7 thing. Everywhere I turned i saw my people, my friendly neighbour who'd say hello and goodbye each time we came face to face.
But what seemed to always be under the tree were several plastic spoons and a handful of translucent cups. They were always filled up with dirt and had a rough texture to them since they were always muddy and never really washed. Those were in my eyes a set of toys that led to using your imagination to create whatever you desired to. Not only did these items seem old, but they had cracks in them yet they seemed to never get replaced. We had clear cups of all different shapes some were round and some were square, others were tall other swere short. But the spoons were all the same all started off white but now they have a different kind of hue a dusty brown color.
My sister and I took so much pride in these items since they were an escape from the real world and into a fantasy world where you can make up anything you want. Our mom would let us go outside each day and have some fun under the big tree that had a lot of shade to give to our advantage. We would dig profound holes in the ground that would lead us to little creatures like rollie pollies. And with them we would let them crawl around our hand then just gently put them back where we found them. We would always host competitions to see who had the best castle or the best fort and that's how we would entertain ourselves as children. We don't need anything more than just plastic silverware. In those moments our minds were in deliverance and anything that we thought was possible was in our eyes. It filled us up with collywobbles each time my mom said that our cousins would be coming over since we had an experience for them to feel and felt so happy to share it with them. As time passed on our routines changed, we stopped playing with dirt but we have never been afraid to get down and dirty since that was our childhood. But sometimes we have to let go of our prized possessions and let those next discover it for themselves.