We were all young once, looking for adventure

The men are replacing the old fence between my garden and my neighbour’s.

There’s a hole in the old fence and I’ve asked them to leave a gap, in the same place, in the new one.

You see, a threeyear-old boy lives next door and, on nice days, he likes to wear a path through ANNIE told me her three-year-old son Archie was playing with paper plates, plastic straws, coloured card and sticky tape.

When she asked him what he was making he replied: “A joyful idea!”

Now, neither Annie nor I are very sure what a home-made joyful idea would look like, but if anyone could make one, it would be a three-year-old.

Then the rest of us could copy how they did it.

And, when he is finished with that, perhaps wee Archie can make us some world peace out of Play-doh! his mother’s flowers to that point, then come through and talk to the cats who gather there and the dog who lives there.

When the strawberries and raspberries appear, I imagine he will come through more often.

The workmen, when I explained, looked a little confused.

But the foreman – who must once have been a boy himself – read the situation perfectly and added: “Magical things, holes in fences. Gateways to adventure.”

I couldn’t have put it better, myself. I’D stopped by to wish Darren well before the funeral, and was amazed to find he had a houseful of “strangers.”

Except, they were only strangers to me. They had all been in rehab at the same time several years ago. Now they were gathering for the funeral of a friend who had died in an accident.

Darren and his wife were happily supplying breakfast and a place to rest.

I was impressed that Darren had been so successful in leaving his addiction behind. But I was even more impressed that he hadn’t left behind the people who had made that journey with him.

It’s great to see blue cloudless skies, Feel the welcome warmth of the sun, Trees resplendent in glorious green, The blackbird’s song when day is done; Bright flowers in profusion everywhere,

Smiling folk along the way, Let’s enjoy the countless pleasures,

Of each lovely summer’s day.