We've been reading a great book "The Phantom Tollbooth" by Norton Juster. It's a modern day fairytale full of all kinds of adventures. It's one of those children's books..I'm not sure children really appreciate or completely understand until they aren't so little anymore.
Most of the book takes place in the "Kingdom of Wisdom," there you will find Dictionopolis, Digitolpolis, The Forest of Sight, Mtns of Ignorance & much more. So far one of my favorite chapters is "A Colorful Symphony" when Milo gets lost in the forest with Alec, a boy who grows downward:0. Milo wonders if people live in this forest & Alec explains that some people live in a wonderful city called "Reality." he sees a majestic city off in the distance & assumes this is "Reality", but soon is told it is only "Illusions." He is standing in "Reality"... a city he can't see. Reality was once a city with beauty where people often stopped to look around & enjoy the scenery. A place where people were never in a hurry. Alec also explains that "the most important reason for going from one place to another is to see what's in between." Later someone realized you could get places much faster if you walked as fast as you could & looked at only your shoes. It wasn't long before everyone was doing this & all the beauty that was around them went unnoticed. Things in "Reality" started changing..the beauty faded, slowly disappearing & then becoming invisible. Life went on in "reality" even without a visible city & that's the way reality remained.
This little piece of the book stuck with me & I soaked it in thinking I should pay more attention to my "reality." it's amazing what you miss when you aren't fully present...do you know what I mean? It's easy to find a rhythm to your days, weeks & slowly the special things don't seem so special or beautiful. I decided to take my camera with me on a walk & capture a few moments from my reality yesterday. This is what I caught.
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