Nostalgic fantasy

And so it is...through the eyes of a child like me.

I think the concept of nostalgic fantasy is one of the most endearing qualities I find in books and movies. I find it in one of my favorite books of all time, Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury, and I read it into one of my favorite movies, Mary Poppins. I had a childhood that had its struggles as every childhood has, but as I look back on it I find soaked with the fantastic. Those mythical bike rides into another universe, the days spent at Dead Man's swamp, the shadow that would come into my bedroom and close the window ahead of the approaching storm... All of it is, at the same time, so familiar and so otherworldly.

My imagination often just ran wild over reality. This happened so frequently and to such an extent that my imagination became part of my reality. In some cases it was the sum total of my reality. As I look back the "imagined" part and the "real" part seems blurred at times and I need to really concentrate to separate the two when recalling those memories to my family and friends.

But I don't want to. I never want to.

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