Snips and Snails

Sometimes, I think we know too much.

Not me, necessarily, but people on the whole.
We know about germs, bacteria, salmonella, calories,bedbugs, meteors, carbon dating, parasites, cholesterol and more.
And knowing all these things, we live in a constant state of awareness and are cautious about nearly everything. Knowledge isn't a bad thing....I'm not saying that at all.  I'm so thankful that we're able to prevent many diseases or cure them, eliminate awful pestilence and so forth. 

Here's what I mean....
I was driving to town a couple days ago, looking at the puddles alongside the road, thinking how cool it would be if I saw a turtle and could take it home to the kids.  Then in a flash, I remembered that kids weren't supposed to handle turtles because they carry salmonella.  And THEN, I got a little mad, thinking of all the things my kids aren't supposed to do because of all the stuff we know about and try to keep them safe from.  

When I was a kid, we packed frogs and turtles around nonchalantly....and LIVED.  We ate raw cookie dough, cake batter and whatever else we could lick off the beaters that Mom handed to us....and LIVED.  We ran around barefoot, through goodness knows what, probably all sorts of viscious parasitic life forms....and LIVED.  We ate buttered popcorn, milk that was not skim, cookies and all sorts of baked goods made with real sugar, and bacon....and LIVED. 

We rode bikes because it was fun, not because we had to have a certain amount of exercise everyday to stay healthy.  And played in piles of old metal and glass without any thought to tetanus, whatsoever.  (You can't believe the treasures to be found in old scrap iron heaps on a ranch....) We rode horses without wearing helmets to protect our thick skulls if we were bucked off.  I'm sure we drank water that wasn't purified, although that was something we were cautioned against. 

And lived.

I wished on shooting stars, completely unaware that they were actually flaming rocks entering the atmosphere; they were magic.  I was always enchanted. I still am.

I can't tell you how many times I thought the rainbow was at the end of our pasture, not knowing that it was simply water in the air with light refracting through it.

I thought fairy rings of toadstools really were there because of fairies, with no knowledge of fungus and its properties. 

My kids have more knowledge earlier.  They're safer.  They're probably healthier.  They are going to live to be old, wise people, I'm sure.  And that's a good thing.  But part of me is sort of sad that they are going to have a constant worry about nearly everything....they'll not be as free or believe in crazy things because they'll know better.