When I come home from a long day at work I often stroll through my backyard, taking in all of the new flourishes of spring. There always seems to be something new to revel in. Tonight as I drifted from one flower to the next I heard a tinkle; a nearly inaudible ringing of a little silver bell. I turned my head quickly in the direction that I perceived the sound to have originated from and caught a slight glimmer of shimmering wings darting behind the fuzzy leaf of my Lamb's Ear.
I quickly darted inside to get my camera. Thank goodness I'd had the mind to charge my batteries earlier this week!
There she is. Can you see her? A little fairie donning a white columbine dress. There, just in the middle; peeking out at me from behind the leaf in the center. Don't worry. If you can't see her it's just because you need to re-train you mind. Harken back to your childhood belief that anything is possible and that magical creatures exist right along with us. You see, as we age we can become bogged down. We lose sight of the mystical possibilities in life and we focus on the harsh straight lines of "reality". We stop wishing on stars, believing in fairy tales and tossing coins into fountains. All you have to do is believe she is there and you'll see her sure as the nose on your face.
Not long after we bought this house my daughter and I planted this fairie garden. We filled it with all sorts of plants that fairies delight in.
Soft lamb's ear plants for them to snuggle up in at night. Our one single plant has grown so much over the years and even been split and moved to other flower beds. Who wouldn't want to curl up in a fuzzy bed like this?!
We planted columbines...purple and white...that have spread like weeds over the years. Fairies love to fashion beautiful gowns from the frilly flowers and sip dew from their cup-like petals.
Every year we plant pansies of every hue. What self-respecting fairie wouldn't love to have a gown made from silky pansy petals of burgundy or violet? (I'm told they can be quite vain creatures but I would never tell them that I knew that. They're quite easily offended.)
Sometimes you can catch glimpses of them hiding in the pagoda lights peering out of the little windows during the daylight or see a faint glow from within after dark.
That first year we even made a little stream bed out of pebbles and built a bridge to cross it. Silly, as fairies would have no need of a bridge...with their wings and all. I suppose it was just to make it homey for them. Of course the stream bed is in quite a disarray now. We had little wicker benches and ornaments to collect rain and dew. My daughter still talks about the fairie garden...though she's getting close to that age when magic starts to fade.
Perhaps it's time we introduced my four-year-old to the magic found in our garden and bring the special area for the fairies back up to snuff before my daughter departs for South Dakota at the end of the month. Afterall, in this crazy world, we all need a little magic to believe in...maybe one day my children will plant fairie gardens with their little ones and tell tales of Grandma's special garden inhabitants.
I quickly darted inside to get my camera. Thank goodness I'd had the mind to charge my batteries earlier this week!
There she is. Can you see her? A little fairie donning a white columbine dress. There, just in the middle; peeking out at me from behind the leaf in the center. Don't worry. If you can't see her it's just because you need to re-train you mind. Harken back to your childhood belief that anything is possible and that magical creatures exist right along with us. You see, as we age we can become bogged down. We lose sight of the mystical possibilities in life and we focus on the harsh straight lines of "reality". We stop wishing on stars, believing in fairy tales and tossing coins into fountains. All you have to do is believe she is there and you'll see her sure as the nose on your face.
Not long after we bought this house my daughter and I planted this fairie garden. We filled it with all sorts of plants that fairies delight in.
Soft lamb's ear plants for them to snuggle up in at night. Our one single plant has grown so much over the years and even been split and moved to other flower beds. Who wouldn't want to curl up in a fuzzy bed like this?!
We planted columbines...purple and white...that have spread like weeds over the years. Fairies love to fashion beautiful gowns from the frilly flowers and sip dew from their cup-like petals.
Every year we plant pansies of every hue. What self-respecting fairie wouldn't love to have a gown made from silky pansy petals of burgundy or violet? (I'm told they can be quite vain creatures but I would never tell them that I knew that. They're quite easily offended.)
Sometimes you can catch glimpses of them hiding in the pagoda lights peering out of the little windows during the daylight or see a faint glow from within after dark.
That first year we even made a little stream bed out of pebbles and built a bridge to cross it. Silly, as fairies would have no need of a bridge...with their wings and all. I suppose it was just to make it homey for them. Of course the stream bed is in quite a disarray now. We had little wicker benches and ornaments to collect rain and dew. My daughter still talks about the fairie garden...though she's getting close to that age when magic starts to fade.
Perhaps it's time we introduced my four-year-old to the magic found in our garden and bring the special area for the fairies back up to snuff before my daughter departs for South Dakota at the end of the month. Afterall, in this crazy world, we all need a little magic to believe in...maybe one day my children will plant fairie gardens with their little ones and tell tales of Grandma's special garden inhabitants.
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