Willow Way

You may already know how much I am inspired by The Wind in the Willows.

I had never read the book before I offered it up to my own children. I assumed that it was a children's story, since I found it in the child classics section.

And children do love to hear it read, the way an infant enjoys the rhythmic cadences of it's mothers voice. But it is a sophisticated read for young kids.

Foremost, The Wind in the Willows is a book about the sounds of nature and of beautiful language. Secondly, it is about friendship, longing, home and hearth, and joy and reunion.

Though the river is a major character, it's the sound that the wind makes that the author wants us to stop and take note of. If we can do that, we are a little more prepared for the nuances of shared human experience.

Kenneth Grahame lived a troubled life. But his escape into the natural world pulls us along with him into a gentle imagined world of wonder and childlike exploration.

It's a world that we might benefit from entering regularly. A book more about the appreciation for relationships and nature than anything, and one that I never get tired of from season to season.

During the next month, my husband and I will be retreating as much as we can manage, to a woodsy place along the Pecos River north of Santa Fe. We can hear the sound of running water outside our windows at night, and the wind in the willows in the day.

September is the quiet season when everyone else has mostly gone on with business. It's a freer time to take off with your own imagination for company.

I'm taking along my favorite book of course! I have a few different volumes of it. The illustrations I like the best are in this edition by Inga Moore, on the right.

The green copy I found in a small London bookshop. It's a 1952 edition, not illustrated at all, but easily carried.

  I found this crude hand carved sign in a flea market.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Ciao! for now!

Jacqueline

I'm linking up to Debra's Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, and Cindy's Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday, and Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper.