Revisiting the Woods of my Childhood
I grew up in Rutland, Massachusetts. Back in the 80s of the old 1900’s, it was a small town of only around 4,500 people. Our house was surrounded by woods. Acres and acres of woods. Woods. That is such a New England word, and and I'm so glad it is. It evokes a specific look, smell, and sense of place to me when I hear it.
I remember spending hours and hours exploring those woods, sometimes with friends, often alone. Finding “shelter” under the curved branches of the mountain laurel and playing house. Walking along stone walls following old game trails and imagining I was walking the same steps as the early settlers and Native Americans (yes, I was just as quirky as a child as I am as an adult haha).
Our Airbnb here in New Hampshire is surrounded by those same woods. That same sense of place as my childhood woods and it has curated an intense nostalgia that only something from childhood can invoke.
So here I am. Not quite in the woods of my childhood, but they feel just like the woods of my childhood. It’s a strange feeling.
In these woods, I came across a plant I remember fondly from my explorations as an 11-year-old: Winterberries. I learned all about local edible plants in 5th grade at Nature’s Classroom.* Winterberries were everywhere in my woods and the leaves have an amazing mint smell. One summer afternoon, exploring with a neighborhood friend, we picked the leaves with grand intentions of making our very own wintergreen tea. Her dad was less confident in our plant identification skills than we were though and put a quick kibosh on that idea. I can still summon up the feeling of disappointment I felt when her dad took the fresh scented leaves and threw them in the trash.
Slowing down and digging up memories from childhood has been such a great unexpected benefit to our limited travel options. One that I absolutely didn’t expect.
*I have no idea if everyone had Nature’s Classroom. In case you didn’t and are wondering what the heck I’m talking about, Nature’s Classroom is a private, non-profit organization that provides environmental education programming services to schools throughout New England. Kids spend a week-ish engaged in outdoor, experiential learning and community building activities while camping on Cape Cod. I went in 5th grade and still remember so much about the experience!