Before the structured world of adulthood, before clocks became tyrants, time

Before the structured world of adulthood, before clocks became tyrants, time was a soft organism. It stretched and folded itself around play.

Our backyard had two pear trees, their branches bent with fruit. I remember climbing them barefoot, scratching my shins, chewing unripe pears even when they made my mouth feel like cotton. The yard felt like a kingdom. A world I could arrange however I wanted.

No property lines mattered. No neighbors complained. The world was built for wandering.

When I walk with my son now and see him studying a stick bug with perfect, wholehearted attention, I feel a shock of recognition.

He’s seeing the world the way I once did — whole, enchanted, without edges.