Some day you will be old enough
Amy and I toured this ancient but appealing castle on the Rhine in April 2007.
“Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.” — C.S. Lewis
My friend Amy commented here recently that she still believes in Cinderella and knights on white horses and miracles. Maybe that’s why she’s such a great traveling companion. Real-life castles are often old and decaying, but she can see past the ravages of time and imagine the magical stories they contain. Like me, she loves the Disney versions too, but you never have to worry that she will let a few cracks and flaws in real-life scenarios get in the way of her appreciation and her unmatched ability to have fun wherever she finds herself.
Come to think of it, that’s also what makes her such a great lifelong friend! Being a rather cracked and flawed person myself, I value her willingness to look past the not-so-great and see the infinite possibilities.
If you’re not yet old enough to enjoy fairy tales again, I hope you’ll get there soon. When you do, you’ll realize that they never went away, but were just waiting for you to start believing again. Enchantment is a “once and future” kingdom full of Merlin’s wisdom and a thousand stories with happy endings. See you there!
One year ago today:
This post was first published seven years ago today. The original post, comments and photo are linked, along with two other related posts, below. These links to related posts, and their thumbnail photos, do not appear in the blog feed; they are only visible when viewing the individual posts by clicking on each one. I have no idea why, nor do I know how they choose the related posts. That’s just the way WordPress does things.
- Posted in: Uncategorized
- Tagged: castles, childhood, enchantment, fairy tales, fantasy, happy endings, magic, make believe, wisdom
Defeat Despair 
Good morning, Julia!
For some reason, the photo above and your post got me thinking about photography. I’m pretty sure you have heard my immature rant on digitally enhanced photography and how it seems like cheating, detracting from the artistic talents and skill of “real” photographers.
Well, I’d like to recant all that.
Lately I’ve noticed that photos (especially old, faded photos) don’t capture what was really there, or what I “saw.” Even recent photos snapped with my phone can’t capture the grandeur of the skies, sunsets, waters or snow-laden boughs. So I started making small adjustments to try to replicate what I actually saw (brightness, contrast, maybe hue, saturation…). Now I’m wondering, am I adjusting to match what was actually there, or what I “saw,” which is a fine distinction? I decided that I take a photo because of what I “see.” To communicate that, sometimes I make those mentioned adjustments.
Maybe those adjustments are evidence of my belief in fairy tales. Hmm!
I don’t recall hearing your rant, but many people do talk against digital altering. I have no problem with it as long as it is true to the subject and not used to mislead or misrepresent something (as with taking it out of context, etc. or using airbrushed photos of people held up as unrealistic standards of beauty and appearance — especially when selling diet fads and so forth). But this whole question of what we see is an interesting and complex one. It may be literally true that no two people see things exactly the same — small difference in color, lighting, etc. even among those with normal vision. And of course, what we see is interpreted by the brain, and some people (such as Matt and others with sensory processing deficits) are not capable of accurately interpreting what they see in certain situations. I’m not sure how much any of this has to do with fairy tales, but it’s important to keep in mind when relying on even eyewitness information. On a totally different note — the seeds you sent have arrived and I planted them a few days ago in the community greenhouse where the MiracleGro Potting soil and compostable seed trays are made available for free – so with your seeds and their supplies, I provided only the labor. Now the seeds are planted and enjoying a warm environment with plenty of sunshine. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Julia, I’m so happy to read that you are enjoying life and new friends and I smile for you! When I read this post I immediately thought of the lyrics “young at heart” and fairytales really can come true. You are so special to me💖
Sheila, did I tell you that recently my sister (who is my best friend) told me that the song “Young at Heart” would always be her song for me? Until then I had not thought too much about the words but now they mean a lot to me. 😀 ❤ No fairy tales coming true here, but the rest of it is spot on.
Hi Julia. Suypax’s comment reminded of an incident about photography. We were in Colombia, South America and were going back to Bogotá from a short trip to a beautiful town called Paipa. I had taken lots of photos with my camera. One of our nephews borrowed the camera and took some photos. I saw him moving the different buttons and options on the camera and I asked him how did he know what to change. So he started explaining the different options the camera had and how it worked. It was as if he was speaking on a completely different language. I did not understand a word! When I told my husband about it I was laughing so hard!I have always wanted to take a course in photography but truly I don’t think I would understand any of it. So I just move the lens and do my best. I love to take photos but photography courses are not for me. Have a wonderful day!
Lydia, I tend to agree with you, although I once (during my college years) was a photography nerd that who loved to adjust all those buttons and dials. Now there are infinitely more possibilities, but for me, that can destroy the spontaneity that makes photography so much fun! Now, 99.9% of the time, I just use my trusty PowerShot (compact, non-SLR) camera and snap away!