Memories tied to the earth are full of nostalgia, playfulness, sacredness. An unmistakable joy as a kid was playing with earth – messy mud, sand, clay. Dirt, water as 2 simple ingredients. Sources of great activity, creativity. Grubby, gooey, sticky substances with magical powers. Challenged self by stomping mud pools, sloshing, squelching around.
Loved dirtying hands, feet, clothes making sand castles at the beach. Body beautifully covered in shades of brown while climbing mango trees, free-falling. Home had a generous sprinkling of little ponds with blood-red lotuses. Remember laying flat on earth to pluck a few. An inventive idea!
Love transient smell of cleansed earth, after rains. Played with plants, grass, flower-pots in garden. Some intentionally grown, others that randomly found their way into pots!
Sneaked indoors, but failed. Helpers hated extra washing! From dust to dust…