{Neverland}

One of the greatest pleasures since coming home has been reading. I have time to read again! I've taken to it like a fish to water, and I go nowhere without a book in hand.

My latest adventure has been J. M. Barrie's classic Peter Pan. It's a masterpiece of storytelling, full of imagination and magic. It has topped the list of "Books I Will Read to My Children." It's a very old book, but a lovely one.

Here is a collection of my favorite lines:

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"The loveliest tinkle as of golden bells answered him. It is the fairy language. You ordinary children can never hear it, but if you were to hear it you would know that you had heard it once before."

"Boy, why are you crying?"

"Of course the Neverlands vary a great deal. John's for instance, had a lagoon with flamingos flying over it..., while Michael, who was very small, had a flamingo with lagoons flying over it."

"Wendy, when you are sleeping in your silly bed you might be flying about with me saying funny things to the stars."

"Do you want an adventure now, or would you like to have your tea first?"

"Of all delectable islands the Neverland is the snugest and most compact; not large and sprawly, you know, with tedious distances between one adventure and another, but nicely crammed. When you play at it by day with the chairs and tablecloth, it is not in the least alarming, but in the two minutes before you go to sleep it becomes very nearly real. That is why there are night lights."

"You see, Wendy, when the first baby laughed for the the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies."

"If growing up means it would be beneath my dignity to climb a tree, I'll never grow up, never grow up, never grow up! Not me!"

"To die will be an awfully big adventure."

"O George, never ask me to do that. The window must always be left open for them, always, always."

"There could not have been a lovelier sight; but there was none to see it except a strange boy who was staring in at the window. He had ecstasies innumerable that other children can never know; but he was looking through the window at the one joy from which he must be for ever barred."

"Years rolled on again, and Wendy had a daughter. This ought not to be written in ink but in a golden splash."

"Just always be waiting for me, and then some night you will hear me crowing."

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This book made me wonder, "What would my Neverland look like?"

I would have LOTS of adventures,

but I don't think any of them would include killing pirates.

Maybe a little fencing wouldn't hurt.

Giant zip lines are a must.

Trees so tall that you can't see the sky.

Wet sand and bright blue water.

A volcano would be pretty adventurous.

Gigantic waterfalls, amazing views.

I would definitely, DEFINITELY be able to fly in Neverland.

There would be fairies, and they would be annoying and cause a lot of trouble.

I would talk to animals just like Ro on Barbie Island Princess.

Diving into the water would turn you into a mermaid.

A whole other world of adventure lies below the sea!

Admittedly the first fish I came across would scare me, but I'd face it bravely.

What is an adventure without conflict? Peter Pan faced pirates, Indiana Jones faced Nazis, Ro faced...uh ...the evil pig lady? Volcanoes, sea monsters, bandits, it would be pretty awesome.

Hey, it's better than finals.

What would your Neverland look like?