A fork in the road

Today we found ourselves at a fork in the road. It just appeared and then we had to decide what to do with it. This particular fork had a purple handle, which is curious for any fork but especially a fork in the road. It had also been outlined in rainbow chalk, with an arrow drawing attention to its inexplicable existence.

One of my favourite sayings (borrowed from somewhere forgotten) is that language is a poor form of communication, which is absolutely true but it also provides so much opportunity for playfulness and joy. Two of our favourite things.

When people try to make the argument that children will miss out on something terribly important if they don’t go to school, I can’t help but think of everything they miss out on if they do. We didn’t teach anyone about fronted adverbials at The Garden today but I’d bet you any money in the world that we discussed a broader range of topics than any school did, all the while following our interests and passions.

But what about depth you say? I challenge anyone to spend a few minutes speaking with our resident thirteen year old geologist, whose knowledge would likely put most geology undergraduates to shame. Or listen to a spooky, atmospheric tale told by our tiny storyteller and claim that it would be improved by the addition of an arbitrary quantity of prepositions.

Forks in the road are a part of life. We always choose joy.

Artemis D. Bear, founder of The Garden