Faeries Exist!

   Sometimes I have to wonder about the those who get all up in arms about the beliefs of other folks.  What does it matter?   If I want to believe that the world is a giant snow globe or that there are actually purple snakes that spit darts, what business is it of yours?  To be honest, the snow globe thing was an awfully real dream of mine one time but purple snakes?  That said, if you really stop and think about a lot of things that seem impossible, there is usually a plausible explanation.  I tend to ponder things and can honestly understand how things become believable at times.  Still, it is of no concern of anyone's so if my ideas do not suit you, kindly move along.  Most everything here is for pure enjoyment anyway and not to be touted as evidence of any sort.

 My plausible ponderings of today revolved around tiny beings that are said to inhabit the woods, gardens, bayous or any spot anyone wishes to claim.  Faeries, sprites, elves, whatever you wish to call them, were flitting around in the brain today as I weeded the gardens.  There are those who fully believe that these creatures exist...and who am I to say contrary?  There are a lot of unexplained things on the Bayou so faeries may as well be real here.  These beings are a lot like Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster.  A lot of folks claim to see them but any "photographs" usually just show a blur.  Does it take photographic proof to deem something as real?  Nah.  Some things are just camera shy.  The lack of clear pictures does not dull the interest in the tiny beings of the Bayou, however.  Plus, I have proof!  In photos!  For sure!  Ok, but the photos do sort of explain how some folks may come to have the idea in the first place. 

  While photographing butterflies in the Small Gardens, I found it highly difficult to catch any in flight.  I have a very old camera that does not do well with "action shots" so the wings are skewed and blurry (think Big Foot here).  Still, when looking at the photos, if one sort of squints (or has bad eyesight), the images could be of faeries...maybe?  If nothing else, the photographs lend themselves to be the basis of fantastical tales to amuse small children or easily entertained adults like me. (Also, look at the bottom colorless photo.  If you use the imagination, a faerie appears!  They exist!  Proof! hehe!)

  

  The point is that all of us have beliefs that could possibly be proved false.  We are human.  We are not infallible.  Get over it.  We are not made to be all carbon copies of one another.  That would be boring, to say the least.  So, if my purple snakes, snow globe theory or butterfly faeries are not your thing, I am ok with it.  Just like I am ok with whatever you wish to believe.  Life is too short to fret over others. (You do have to admit that Bayou Faeries and Swamp Nixies are rather intriguing!)

Magical Mornings

  There is magic to be found in just about everything.  Life in itself is magical.  It is my thought that magic is anything that is unexplained or unexpected.  I have learned a long time ago that you cannot go about life fretting what others think as it is up to you to make life magical.  I live that way now.  Each day proves that my idea is correct.

  At daybreak this morning, I ventured out into the gardens.  The air smelled fresh due to the recent rains and the ground was still wet enough to muffle any footsteps.  The pair of cardinals were patiently waiting for breakfast and the frogs were still in the midst of their serenading of the night before.  It seemed to be a perfect morning and that all was right with the world...at least, it is all right in my little paradise.  Just outside the garden gate, the Althea bush had lovely blooms that were opening with the rising sun.  Their bright lavender petals and burgundy centers were absolutely breathtaking.  These blooms have always been special as the bush has "family ties".  It started as a cutting from my grandparent's place.  I eased my way to inspect the blooms and, to my surprise, found a dragonfly wing inside of one blossom.  Well, that was strange!  Of course, there was probably an ordinary explanation but finding the wing placed so perfectly inside the petal made it magical to me.

  Had Aunt Helen been on this stroll with me, she and I would have immediately proclaimed that a faerie had gotten new wings and left the old one as proof of her existence.  Maybe?  When Aunt Helen was alive, she and I could let our imaginations run amok.  Fantastical tales could be woven on a mere find as the one this morning.  

  Folks, sometimes it is important to let go of the worries of the world and find your own magic. It is out there.  Look for it.  Perhaps the "magic" was not in finding a dragonfly wing nor the lovely Althea bloom.  Perhaps it was in being free enough in my own mind to view it as such.  Finding beauty in mundane things is a gift.  Finding magic in everything is, too.

Making Good Use of Time

    My reign as Queen of the Small Gardens continues as I am still following orders of doctors and Son.  "There shall be no unsupervised, unescorted hikes beyond the garden gates."  Even though I understand this to be for my own safety, it still wears thin.  I am used to roaming free and communicating with Mother Nature on a one to one basis.  This bit of being confined is not to my liking but I shall continue.  I do, however, adore being queen of something so if it has to be of gardens, then so be it.  The gardens it is!

  This morning, I pondered just what interesting sight I could find to occupy the pent up brain.  I figure just because my body is in "jail" that does not mean my imagination has to be.  Let it fly!  I found long ago that there are no barriers on how far you can go by using the wonders of the imagination.  

  My eyes scanned the small garden until a dark green patch caught my eye!  Ahh, yes!  A bit of moss was well hidden in one shady corner.  Here, there must live the faeries!  Those wee winged creatures that haunt the flower vines and wisp among the lilies.  My brain was sent into a tailspin as I traveled back to building faerie gardens with Aunt Helen.  The moss was the perfect carpeting, empty acorn shells were goblets and any pebbles provided ample seating.  The faeries were going to attend a Magical Ball!  Colored leaves and flower petals added a bit of brightness as they were hung from twigs.  A large shell filled with water became a gazing pool of sorts.  Memories of Aunt Helen swirled with the dancing faeries and my morning became filled with happiness.

  No, I did not build my faerie house on the fine moss carpet but I did fill the time with imaginative stories.  Time can be our ally or our enemy...it all depends on how we use it.  I choose to fill it with happy thoughts instead of trying to inflict my ideas on others.  

Just a clump of moss...

  Back when I was just a toddler, I had an aunt who used to fill my head with all sorts of mysterious ideas.  With just a word, Aunt Helen could spark the imagination and lead me into a wonderland filled with mystical creatures, beautiful faeries and magical baubles.  This whimsical forest held all of the fairy tales ever written.  Each time we entered, the tales came to life and she and I became part of them.  More than once, we danced with faeries, climbed to the top of beanstalks or fought off a mean ogre.  The Land of Enchantment was usually none other than some hidden spot where Aunt Helen found a piece of moss growing.  We would gather pretty stones, colored leaves and maybe a flower or two to embellish our garden.  Once we had it to our liking, we would sit while she told me a tale of some faeries and their noble deeds.  I would be totally engrossed in her tales and firmly believed all she said.  After the storytelling, we would act out parts or rush to the house to make "tea and crumpets" (which was usually nothing more than tea and vanilla wafers).  Our grand tea party would be held out in our mossy glade while she told more sweet tales.  This was an amazing thing for a child to experience....especially a kid that grew up on a farm where life was all too real.  Work began as soon as you could walk, play was limited and life and death was a daily thing.  My escapes to the magical kingdoms of Aunt Helen's imagination was a special treat.

  Today as I was cutting firewood, I came across a small clump of carpet moss.  The sight of the moss brought back a flood of memories with Aunt Helen being in the midst of them.   The deep green color, the softness of the tiny fronds and the coolness of touch all made me want to go back to the days when things were simpler and a kid could find happiness in a make-believe world.  As an adult, I had always wanted to be "Aunt Helen" and share the wonderment with little ones but, alas, with all of the stuff being shoved at kids right and left, there is little time to be spent dreaming.  Kids are bombarded at an early age with sensory overload and they cannot separate themselves from it.  Gone are the days when the imagination could take you to another world.  Oh, how I long for simpler times.

Land Of Make Believe

  There has been a resurgence in the interest in "Faerie Gardens".  If you wander around any department store, you can find any number of miniature items to decorate a small garden as such.  Tiny doors, benches, lights and even figurines all line the shelves.  These fanciful little items are all enticing to those of us who have wild imaginations.  Even as adults, some of us live in our own little fantasy lands of make believe.  While I admit to making Faerie Gardens as a child and then again when my daughter was a tot, I have not had the inclination to create one recently.  Now that I have a granddaughter, the thought has started rattling around in the brain.  No, not the "store-bought" sort of garden with plastic doodads but rather a magical little place decorated with mosses, ferns, pretty stones and such.  A regular Bayou Faerie Garden!

  Years ago when I was just a tot, Aunt Helen first introduced me to the idea.  She used no fancy-schmancy trinkets purchased at a shop.  Her gardens were "originals"!  Her own kids were older and had no interest in such childish pursuits but at 4 years old, I was a willing, if not eager, participant. Aunt Helen and I searched for the perfect spot, then set out to find our decorations.  Sometimes this endeavor took days to complete!  Pretty pink stones to be used as stools, mosses to carpet the garden, bright leaves to provide shade from the scorching sunshine and a large shell to be installed as a pool.  While mosses lined most of the floor, one area was always scraped clean to create a ballroom dance floor!  Our faeries loved to cut a rug and needed a nice sized dance floor!  It was all great fun and kept the resident toddler rather busy and out of every one's hair for days!  Then, when the garden was complete, I was allowed to use it as my play area.  Usually, however, I did more daydreaming than play.

  Sometimes even yet when I find a mossy log, the memory of my special bond with Aunt Helen floods the brain.  It is at that time that I wish to create another Faerie Garden like we did  back in the day.  No gaudy trinkets would ever cast a shadow on our gardens and none ever will.  Maybe Bayou Faeries are just a classier bunch of magical beings and do not need all of the gobbledygook of today's world.  If perchance I have a bit of quiet time with the grandprincess,  I will see if she would like to create a garden with her MawMaw.  Probably not as this cannot compare to all of the bells and whistles of today's toys.  To my way of thinking, that is sad.  Kids need imaginative play without any outside interference.  I might start searching for the perfect mossy log even if it is just for my own imagination to slip back into time to be with Aunt Helen for a short while.

Faerie Land Delight!

As you know, I roam about the Bayou and hillside just exploring and enjoying life.  I am always enamored by the world around me..those tiny things that most folks just pass by without ever really seeing.  Sometimes the world beneath our feet, under the leaves or on a dead log can be so fascinating! The wheels in my brain (that amazing thing called imagination) turn and turn!  I can just see all sorts of fantastical things that might come to life given a half of chance!  When I returned from one such walk, I happened upon a whimsical faerie ornament left here by my daughter, Elizabeth.  This ornament and the recent walk sparked a memory.

I had a lovely aunt that had a fanciful imagination as well.  Aunt Helen could draw most anyone into a realm of wonderment!  I recall that as a child I truly believed in faeries after spending a bit of time with her.  Her soft spoken tales of faraway lands, quaint villages and adventurous escapades brought me into a different world.  There I could escape the chores of farm life and be whatever my imagination could dream!  One of my favorite things to do with Aunt Helen was to create "Faerie Houses" and "Faerie Gardens".  Here the faeries would dance the night away to the sounds of the cricket chirps which were magically turned into beautiful music! Their gossamer wings would flit through the air and their happy laughter would fill the night! The gardens were made in some out-of-the-way nook where soft mosses and tiny mushrooms grew.  Everyone who was anyone in the Faerie World knew that mushrooms and moss were required in the gardens.  Aunt Helen and I would collect pretty stones, bright colored leaves and other lovely accessories for these gardens.  Then the decorating of the area began!  As we beautified our "garden" or made the "house",  she would tell a most magical tale of faerie princesses and handsome suitors!  I know that I was not the only little girl that shared this special time with Aunt Helen but in my young mind, she was mine..all mine!

This lady sparked an active imagination inside of me.  She let me know that it was ok to have a dream world where I could escape and live out exciting tales that only existed in my mind!  My faerie princesses could dance in magic slippers, my heroic princes could battle evil ogres and dragons were always nice!  Aunt Helen...I miss you!  I miss our times together but the imagination never left me.  Those Faerie Houses and Faerie Gardens are just waiting to be rediscovered and the intrigue is waiting to be passed on to another generation.  Some day...some day.