If I could turn back time, travel back to any country and any era and come back completely safe where might I go?

I have given this a lot of thought over the past week and I have to say honestly that every place, every time, that I can think of has its horrors and inconveniences. Even if I could come back safe and unharmed, I don’t know that I would want to carry the burden of the things I might witness. My current lifetime has enough sorrows of its own.

I don’t want to see the horrors of wars, bloody wars, world wars. I don’t want to see slavery, or indentured servitude. People dying from diseases we have, for a time at least, conquered.

No matter how romantic Jane Austen made the 1800’s seem I think it was not so great for the masses. I am accustomed to modern conveniences, I like my hot showers and working plumbing. I don’t know that I would like to see sewage running in the street or cold baths in dirty water.

I can keep going back in time and I am sorry to be a pessimist but I just don’t see anything I want to witness, it was a hard life and hard times for the majority of the people in any age; hardline religious views, cruel and overbearing rulers, unsanitary conditions, food shortages, inadequate protection from the elements, lack of healthcare.

Now, possibly, if given the choice, I would like to see the future. I guess I’ve reached a certain age where I see changes that I think are taking society down a wrong path. I might find it reassuring to know that the choices the generation behind me are taking are ones leading down a road to peace, happiness and a better life for all. I might want to see how my children and grandchildren’s lives turned out. I would love to see them happy and know they enjoy the beauty around them, the blue sky, the wildflowers, the warm sun and cool breezes.

However, that is not the choice. So, if I could go back, take me to the Garden of Eden. Especially if it is on a beach, with coconuts, fruits and flowers and lush gardens, and make it near a warm place with gentle breezes — no winter, no snow please. Let it rain warm showers, followed by sunshine, so that I can nap under the shade of a large oak tree with the soft sounds of a waterfall in the background. Everyday would have glorious golden sunrises and fiery red sunsets, it would be a paradise. Finally and ideally, there would be no wild beasts to attack, but sadly as we all know there would still be serpents… I am not fond of snakes and we all know the one in the Garden of Eden is one that caused all the other stuff I don’t want to see since the beginning of time.

Not Eden but maybe close. Butchart Gardens, Victoria, BC, 2016

Tea Bee ~ March 15, 2023