Flights of Fancy

"Imagination is more important than knowledge.
For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand,
while imagination embraces the entire world,
and all there ever will be to know and understand."

Albert Einstein, 1879-1955
Nobel Prize for Physics, 1921

Fairies are living in a housing complex at our farmstead. If imagination is important to the likes of Albert Einstein, surely I can get away with a flight of fancy, can't I?

I know Albert had that whole genius thing going on. Me? Not so much, but at least I'm in good company.

Our August rains have spawned a "fairy housing development" in our driveway. Every time I see them, I think about elves and fairies hiding in the grass underneath.

Before anyone calls for my quick committal to the loony bin, I will plead my case: Doesn't my version of toadstools sound more enticing than the true definition?

"A toadstool is a name given to many umbrella-shaped fungi, mostly of the genus Agaricus. The species are almost numberless. They grow on decaying organic matter."

Yep, that's my yard - decaying organic matter.

So is it any wonder that I prefer to see things a bit differently? Instead of seeing fungi, I see fairyland apartments.

Here's the duplex unit. 

Tiny homes are in vogue these days, as evidenced by multiple HGTV and DIY network shows. Tiny homes seem a natural fit for fairies.

Speaking of newfangled trends, yurts also have their own home improvement show, so it's only right that Fairyland has that accommodation available, too.

Some are high rise buildings. (Surely there is a fantastic restaurant with a 360-degree, panoramic view on the top of this fairyland structure.)
However, even fairy developments can have a little neighborhood blight.

It's not what you look at that matters,

 it's what you see.

Henry David Thoreau

Fellow Stafford County blogger Lyn Fenwick wrote about Fairy Rings on her blog last week. Our County Line fairytale neighborhood is not in cul de sac (or ring) form. Check out her blog here. I really wasn't copying Lyn. We were at a Salina golf course on August 20 and saw lots of toadstools, including some in rings. Since Randy was golfing, I didn't take photos of them. (I should have and could have. He is the most patient person I know.)

Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, there was a movie studio that spun classic fairy tales into silver-screen gold. But now the curtain is falling on Disney "princess movies."

Even though they have been a part of Disney since the 1937 debut of its first feature film "Snow White," the clock is ticking toward midnight for the genre. And I'm not sure a glass slipper will save the day.

We were in Omaha with our own princess when I read an article that the Disney release of "Tangled" would be the last fairy tale produced by the Disney animation group for the foreseeable future. "Tangled" is a retelling of the Rapunzel story.

"Films and genres do run a course," Pixar Animation Studios chief Ed Catmull told The Los Angeles Times. "They may come back later because someone has a fresh take on it .. but we don't have any other musicals or fairy tales lined up."

Who needs a Wicked Queen when you have company movie executives in the villain's role?

Or is the real villain a society that thinks it's OK for little 5-year-old girls to look and act like Britney Spears?

Maybe it's a little of both. But I still find it sad on this morning after Oscar night.

Jill and her friends loved playing dress-up.

Even my boy went through a phase when he couldn't get enough "Peter Pan." (I'm sure he'll be thrilled I shared this photo, but it's one of my favorites.) He watched the Mary Martin version of "Peter Pan" so many times the video tape wore out in one spot. (Sorry Disney. He preferred the stage version.)

The article goes on to say:

"With the advent of 'tween' TV, the tiara-wearing ideal of femininity has been supplanted by new adolescent role models ... By the time they're 5 or 6, they're not interested in being princesses," said Dafna Lemish, chairwoman of the radio and TV department at Southern Illinois State and an expert in the role of media in children's lives. "They're interested in being hot, in being cool. Clearly, they see this is what society values."

Being "hot" at age 5? Yikes!

Maybe we need to hit the pause button, America! Sometimes progress isn't really progress.

A Touch of Whimsy

It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see.

Henry David Thoreau

My backyard has had a prolific crop of toadstools after rains this summer. Every time I looked outside, I thought about elves and fairies hiding in the grass underneath them. Instead of seeing fungi, I saw fairyland apartments.

Some were high rise buildings. (Surely there was a fantastic restaurant with a 360-degree, panoramic view on the top of this fairyland structure.)

There were a few skyscrapers.

Others were tiny studio units.

There was some neighborhood blight.

Before anyone calls for my quick committal to the loony bin, I will plead my case: Doesn't my version of toadstools sound more enticing than the true definition?

"A toadstool is a name given to many umbrella-shaped fungi, mostly of the genus Agaricus. The species are almost numberless. They grow on decaying organic matter."

Yep, that's my yard - decaying organic matter.

So is it any wonder that I prefer to see things a bit differently? It's that whole glass-half-full thing:

"Imagination is more important than knowledge.
For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand,
while imagination embraces the entire world,
and all there ever will be to know and understand."

Albert Einstein, 1879-1955
Nobel Prize for Physics, 1921

Yes, Albert was a little crazy, too, but he had that whole genius thing going on. Me? Not so much, but at least I'm in good company.

And I think this kitty was also looking for playmates under the toadstools.

But maybe the kittens were looking for another creature. In my searching for information about toadstools, I came across this fanciful look from Oliver Herford, a British-born American writer:

The Elf and the Dormouse

Under a toadstool crept a wee elf
Out of the rain to shelter himself
Under a toadstool, sound asleep
Sat a big dormouse, all in a heap.

Trembled the wee elf, frightened and yet
Fearing to fly away lest he get wet
To the next shelter -- maybe a mile!
Sudden the wee elf smiled a wee smile.

Tugged 'til the toadstool toppled in two,
Holding it over him gaily he flew.
Soon he was safe home, dry as could be
Soon woke the dormouse, "Good gracious me!"

"Where is my toadstool?" loud he lamented
And that's how umbrellas first were invented.

Oliver Herford, 1863-1935

Maybe our County Line cats were looking for that dormouse.