Time Travel on the Ranch | Leonardo/ISASTwith Arizona State University

Time Travel on the Ranch

By Judith Dancoff

Today, the tenth day of my residency here on the Ranch, and I have been transported back to my childhood.

It is the smell of the sun on the earth, I think, reminding me of those endless summer days staring at insects, playing tether ball, dreaming in the crook of my front yard tree. I spun long, epic tales that I cannot now remember, then climbed down the tree and swept the hearth to make dinner for my dolls.

Summer lasted so long then; a day lasted so long.

I arrived here with plans and projects, and the Ranch has not disappointed: I have written thousands of words into my novel, finished a non-fiction essay, made progress on a short story, and understood so much more about my current projects.

But I did not expect this: that time would stop like this in the midst of a summer’s day, and send me back so far.