Paths – Leading To Where?

Also see https://eileenmoynihan.wordpress.com/kids-and-teens-fan-club/

“You have brains in your head.

You have feet in your shoes.

You can steer yourself

any direction you choose.

You’re on your own. And you know what you know.

And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go…

Dr Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

The Road Not Taken 
BY ROBERT FROST

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44272/the-road-not-taken

Unknown Paths Hold Many Mysteries -Paths In Children’s books

The Garden of Wild Flowers from Alice Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll – A Summary

‘Once outside, Alice climbs a nearby hill to get a better look at the garden near the house. However, every time she begins to follow the path to the hill, she finds herself back at the door to the house. Dismayed, she mentions her frustration to Tiger-lily, who surprises her by responding in perfect English. The Tiger-lily explains that all flowers can talk. The Rose chimes in and mentions that Alice does not look very clever. Alice asks them if they feel at all vulnerable. They explain to her that they are protected by a nearby tree that will bark at any approaching threats. The Daisies begin caterwauling and Alice silences them by threatening to pick them.

The Rose and the Violet continue to insult Alice, but the Tiger-lily reprimands them for their rudeness. Alice learns from the flowers that there is another person like her in the garden. They describe the Red Queen, who now looks human and stands a head taller than Alice. The Rose advises Alice to walk the other way, but Alice sets off toward the Red Queen, ending up back at the door of Looking-Glass House. Once she sets off in the opposite direction, she eventually reaches the Red Queen.’ https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/through-the-looking-glass/section2/

Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm …translated by Joyce Crick

‘Hansel and Gretel sat by the fire, and when midday came they each ate their piece of bread. And because they heard the blows from the woodman’s axe, they thought their father was nearby. But it wasn’t the woodman’s axe; it was a bough he had tied to a dead tree, blowing to and fro in the wind. And as they had been sitting for such a long time, their eyes closed with weariness and they fell fast asleep. At last, when they woke, darkest night had fallen. Gretel began to cry, and said: “How are we to get out of the forest now?” But Hansel comforted her: “Just wait a little while until the moon has risen, and then we’ll find our way, that’s for sure.” And when the full moon had risen Hansel took his little sister by the hand and followed the pebbles, which were shining like new-minted pennies and showed them the way. They walked all through the night, and as day was dawning they arrived at their father’s house. They knocked at the door, and when the wife opened it and saw that it was Hansel and Gretel, she said: “You bad children, falling asleep for so long in the forest like that. We thought you would never come back.” But their father was glad, for it had cut him to the quick that he had left them so dreadfully alone.’ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/oct/10/fairytales-hansel-gretel

Can You Return Down The Same Path?

“Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia. But don’t go trying to use the same route twice. Indeed, don’t try to get there at all. It’ll happen when you’re not looking for it. And don’t talk too much about it even among yourselves. And don’t mention it to anyone else unless you find that they’ve had adventures of the same sort themselves. What’s that? How will you know? Oh, you’ll know all right. Odd things, they say-even their looks-will let the secret out. Keep your eyes open. Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools.”
-The Professor” C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

‘Then Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh walked hand in hand down the forest path and they said goodbye. So they went off together. But wherever they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the forest a little boy and his bear will always be playing.’ A.A.Milne -The House At Pooh Corner https://citatis.com/a3221/06d99/

Be Adventurous But Be Safe

• Carry a cell-phone/mobile phone so you can be in contact and carry a whistle in case you get lost
• Learn skills like reading a compass, how to read a map, how to learn from the plants, (know which ones are edible or poisonous), how to make a fire safely, how to build a shelter, how to swim etc
• Go with someone else
• Use common sense