Box of Wonderment

Main Entry:
1won·der
Pronunciation: 'w&n-d&r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English wundor; akin to Old High German wuntar wonder
1 a : a cause of astonishment or admiration : MARVEL b : MIRACLE
2 : the quality of exciting amazed admiration
3 a : rapt attention or astonishment at something awesomely mysterious or new to one's experience b : a feeling of doubt or uncertainty
9 entries found for wonder. To select an entry, click on it. wonder[1,noun]wonder[2,verb]wonder[3,adjective]boy wondermiracle drugnine days' wonderwonder drugwonder-workerwonder-working

Main Entry:
3wonder
Function: adjective : WONDROUS, WONDERFUL: as a : exciting amazement or admiration
b : effective or efficient far beyond anything previously known or anticipated

The Arches, on the Dargo Road, approximately eight kilometer outside Briagolong, in East Gippsland, Victoria was the enchanted world that I was privileged to regularly visit with my parents, brothers and sister during the 1950's.

We headed off from Maffra, in the Austin, stopping briefly at the General Store at Briagolong to buy Mrs Hair an ice-cream. The Arches had no running water or electricity and my mother recalls that Edna loved ice-cream. It was a challenge to keep the ice-cream cool until we had navigated the winding eight kilometer stretch to reach the Arches, but it was a small gift compared to the gift of wonderment and enchantment that surrounded us during those regular monthly visits.

The picturesque Freestone Creek emerges from a rocky outcrop to form the Blue Pools and near this place of splendid isolation stood the Arches, as they became known throughout the district.

The Arches were the home of Archie and Edna Hair, an elderly couple with a rare spirit of generosity.

Images courtesy of Brian O'Keefe

Archie had a wooden box, the contents of which were a source of fascination. He called it his box of wonderment and in it he kept things that he had collected from the bush. He called the bits and pieces of debris that he gathered wonders. And wondrous they were. He held us captivated as he regaled a story that was associated with a rock, tiny fragments of pebbles, a prized birds nest.

This section of the Chocolate Box is a tribute to Archie and Edna who filled me with wonder and whose magic is continuing to be woven over forty years later.

Some of the contents of Archie's Box of Wonders - courtesy of Brian O'Keefe

Take an item from the Box of Wonderment, pehaps the mountain egg waiting to hatch and tell a story.

Create a Box of Wonderment and share your stories on one of the forums here at Soul Food.

Sit under The Listening Tree, another of Archie's wonders.

Learn more about the world of Archie and Edna Hair by reading The Prospector.

Using the definition of wonder to kick start your writing or collage work express childlike wonder and awe