An Idea is Mushrooming!

  Son is always reminding me that I am easily amused and I guess it is true.  It took me a long time to get to where I am today but finally, I have come to a point in my life where "artificial" entertainment is not needed. I refuse to get another television, prefer not to talk on the telephone and actually do not listen to much music except around Christmastime. Then a bit of nostalgia hits and all of the "oldtime" Christmas carols waft through the Little Bayou House day and night.   Now, however, a good hike around the Bayou and to the creek suffices.  On these hikes, a never-ending barrage of fanciful things catch my interest.  Things that just a few years ago went unnoticed as I was preoccupied with "things I had to do".  I am glad that changes were made.  I am far healthier because of it.....both body and mind.  I have come to a certain harmony within myself so I find myself in harmony with the world around me.

  Just yesterday, Son and I were both enjoying a leisurely hike around the place when he pointed out a bright red mushroom.  He figured that I would seize the moment to investigate the beauty and lingered long enough for me to ooh and ahh over the magical, little mushroom.  It was gorgeous!  The morning dew was still adding a bit of shimmer to the bright red cap and a dozen or so make-believe tales were being conjured up in my brain.  With that, I find myself turning a bit into my grandmother or perhaps my Aunt Helen.  Both could come up with the most beautiful little fairy tales on the spur of the moment.  These tidbits of stories would enthrall me as a child and still bring a bit of fuzzy happiness to me as I age.  Now, I pass these tales onto the little folks that visit the Bayou. The tots of today are so wound up with artificial stimuli that the "Land of Make Believe" has about fallen to the wayside.  In a way, this is sad.  

  The little, red mushroom has inspired me to ponder more tales to put before listening ears.  To my way of thinking, imaginative play is far better than the bings and bongs of some irritatingly noisy toy of today. Face it, you are hard-pressed to find a good, old-fashioned toy at the store.  Gone are the toys that evoked quiet, imaginative playtime.  We are bombarding our little tykes from day one with rattles and bangs, jingles and jangles, booms and clangs.  Nothing....nothing requires any thought. So...the little, red mushroom will be an inspiration.  Kiddies that come to the Bayou shall be treated (or bored) with made up stories,  hikes, games like Hopscotch and jump rope, with fairy houses and rope swings.  They will have to use their imagination for more than pushing a button on a toy.  They will learn about bugs, birds, plants, animals and fungi.  We will collect rocks, leaves and lichens.  We will explore the Frog Pond, the creek, the marsh and the mudflats.  It will be fun....or maybe not...but at least I will have tried.  All of this because of a tiny, red mushroom!