Private Paradise: A Parable on Simplicity

When I was a young boy growing up, there was a special field near my house. It had high grasses, a few trees, a shallow brook. It was perfect for a young boy and his friends, with places to explore, trees to climb, bugs to find, rocks to throw..…a place to relax and have fun……a private paradise….

One day, an adult stepped forward to do us kids a favor. He owned the land, and loved seeing us have fun, but he knew that we'd really love our very own baseball field.

So he brought in some heavy equipment, leveled the land, removed a few trees, and laid out a baseball diamond. After a couple years, he even added a backstop behind home plate.

With the improvements, more kids were attracted to the field. We'd play baseball in the summer and football in the fall. If you were playing the outfield, sometimes you'd get to run out to the edge of the brook to fetch a ball - over the brook was a home run. We no longer had trees to climb, and we had to share the field with more kids, but at least we had a ball field!

As the field became more popular, it started to get a little messy – at times you'd see candy wrappers floating down the brook, and it was hard to miss the empty Coke cans. But we had fun.
After a few years the field had become so popular that the town decided to buy the property and use it for Little League games. Of course, the ball field was again improved. Fences were added, along with seating for spectators.

Now that the park was fenced in, we could use it only for league games or team practices, but I was in the league so that was okay. The younger kids couldn't use the field, but I'm sure that they'd rather watch TV at home (maybe “Wild Kingdom”).

To accommodate the Little League crowds, space was needed for parking. At first, cars simply parked in a dirt lot (...a few more trees had to be removed...), but after a couple more years that area was expanded and paved over. It was looking like a pretty impressive facility.

Somewhere along the way we'd lost track of the brook - I think it was covered over when the stands and fences were added. By then I'd grown too old for Little League, so I'd go to the field only occasionally to watch my younger brother play.

Now I'm older, with children of my own. In a few years they'll be able to play ball at the field. For now, though, we like to get in the car and drive about an hour from town to a special place. It has fields with high grasses, a shallow brook…...places to explore, trees to climb, bugs to find, rocks to throw..…a place to relax and have fun……a private paradise!