We are stardust

Reflecting upon "The Walk to Paradise Garden" (see story below), I remember an interesting biographical note that I recently read. Twenty-three years after taking the photo of his children in "Paradise Garden," Eugene Smith was at the original Woodstock music festival, snapping pictures. His daughter, by then a young woman, was also there. Neither realized it though, and they didn't run into each other. I think about the little girl in the photo, and wonder how she might have changed by the time she got to Woodstock. How did being part of such an beloved, eternal image of childhood influence her life?

Thinking about this connection to Woodstock, I remember Joni Mitchell's great line, "and we've got to get ourselves back to the garden." As a parent, those words strike a chord with me. I think about the short but magical time that children have in "the garden" that is childhood. I worry that we are cheating them out of this time by pushing them too much and too fast. I appreciate the growing movement in our country focused on getting our children back outdoors again, building forts, catching fireflies, and squeezing out every last moment of their childhoods.