Is There a Dragon in the House?

This is a repeat of something I wrote in 2009.  I find it a bit funny that many of us tend to revisit writings that touch a spot in our lives and sometimes and find it still very appropriate for the time times today as well.  


A couple of weeks a go I finally capped the Potter book series with seeing the final movie with a friend.  Good movie!

Dragons and castles. They really only live in fairy tales and stories from the European Middle Ages or tales that come out of early China or Japan, right? Most of the time they do, but when the days get tough and things get really hard those stories have often drawn many in our country to those great escapes where the world in those books, comics, and video games becomes different, intriguing, and on the whole a wonderfully different place to live - if only in our minds!

For me imagination is a way to find an out - an escape from the reality of our world to a place where we can all have those private dreams that really take us out of this world. There are of course other genres that fits a fantasy escape people often take advantage of, and they are found in the many of the games (computer or otherwise) that help many create those other worlds just for the fun of it!

So what drives the change for more and more people to those imaginary worlds, the economy,loss of jobs, fear or all of the above? In my world it is all of them and the need to have an escape that is right there if I turn the page is what drives my reading at the moment.

My personal escapes at the moment happens to be Harry Potter (both the books and the movies), and time period mysteries as well, books like any Miss Marple, by Agatha Christie and of course my favorite monk, Cadfael, by Ellis Peters. Are there some others I rely on for that escapism that sends me flying into outer space, or back to a time to paint the world in a vastly different hues? Of course!  Discovering and creating new towns or times gives me a sense of real excitement.  Constructing those imaginary worlds where that getting away from my life can be a real release valve these days.

Another great book series is the ones by Christopher Paolini which begins with Eargon, and ends with Brisingr (Thus far!). Though considered a young people's series, this group of books creates a fascinating totally new world filled some of the very best places and characters to take a little literary vacation in, and for me that kind of holiday from the world can always be found between the covers of a good book.

A Tree of Memories

A tree can be more that branches and green. It can be a tall ship with riggings to lean on, or a balloon that can take you anywhere you want to go. As a child there was a huge tree that when I close my eyes I can see so vividly that I want to climb even yet today. The tree was my hide away, my place to get away from family and to use my mind to fly away to far off places.

It was also my comfy couch to read after chores. I'd take the book I was reading and climb as high as I could go. There was a small nest of large branches where I could sit and escape to Prince Edward Island, or England - wherever my book would take me and be rocked in gentle breezes as I soared high with my imagination.

The tree is gone now, but it is still with me when I close my eyes and want to escape from the everyday world. I can even feel the bark and the strength that was that friend who gave me freedom in such a special way.

My tree was my dream home, and a safe haven during the many storms of childhood.