Calvin and Hobbes was the comic strip that I felt a special connection to as I grew up. I'm a cat person myself, so there was always a love for Hobbes, and I think the many sides of Calvin are quite reflective of the complex human psyche. My favorite strips, however, occurred in the woods that Calvin wandered, and in which he made his existential ruminations. I envied him for existing in a world where wilderness was so close to his home, as in the Salt Lake valley we usually have a distinction between our wilderness, our foothills, and our residential areas.
On my last trip to Chicagoland (really, they call it that), I stayed in an area that reminded me of Calvin's world. Here small lanes divide up the woods, and houses appear almost randomly throughout the forests. I took the afternoon to drive around and experience autumn here, and I even saw a large owl.
At the home where I grew up, we had our own bits of wilderness. We had a stack of oak trees in the back yard in which my dad made a platform tree fort; there was an old mountain road that cut into the hill above our neighborhood that provided a place for us to get great views and spot wildlife; and there was the mouth of a canyon with all that comes with it: the creek, a reservoir, and an old mill. I suppose that's not a bad start to imaginative childhood wilderness, but when I look at this picture, it reminds me that there's something special to actually living right in the woods.
5 comments:
I loved this entry. It brought back a lot of memories. Don't forget the "pretty greeen thing" in our backyard wilderness or our wonderful kitty, Hobbes.
I loved Calvin and Hobbes comic strips too! But I think most of the philosophy was lost on me (I never "got" their names until just recently). Where in Chicagoland was that photo taken? As a daughter of the Chicago suburbs I am not familiar with it!
I love the "pretty green thing" in our old backyard, and of course our old kitty Hobbes.
I'm glad you both liked this. It's taken up north on the Lake/Cook border in Riverwoods.
How beautiful. And what a lucky childhood you had! I spent my childhood dreaming of places like that and only getting to them occasionally. I was lucky enough that we did a bit of travelling when we lived in Germany. Though to be fair, all it really did was give me an ardent desire to become a woodsman and grow a beard. I can't become a woodsman, but I am working on the beard...
Glad I found your blog again! And I love Calvin and Hobbes too. Now on to read a few back entries!
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