I saw this painting and it reminded me of my two younger brothers and I.
We were blessed to be able to be raised in many places that allowed us to swim, fish and hike for countless hours unfettered by nervous parents, creepy villains or impatient curfews. Those were good days, when you could roam about the little world you lived in and not be afraid of someone killing, raping or harming you. Let's go exploring was a phrase that I am not sure if I have even heard my boys say that much. It was always on our lips. Caves, ravines, dark forests, tall trees, holes, basements, attics, old trucks, abandoned cisterns, burned out houses, huge red barns with owls in the rafters, dens of beasts, long dusty roads, leech infested ponds and irrigation streams. hours and hours of fort building, potion making, army chasing, skin diving and on and on it went.
Those were good times!