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.)

I've Come to Watch Your Flowers Growin'

Slow down, you're moving too fast

You gotta make the morning last

Just kickin' down the cobblestones

Looking for fun and feeling groovy

Ba da-da-da da da, feelin' groovy

                                                          --- Simon & Garfunkel

There aren't any cobblestones on my road ... just the tiny pieces of gravel mixed with Kansas dirt. But I could probably heed the warning to "slow down" - at least if we're talking about operating a motor vehicle.

 

The old Simon and Garfunkel song also has a line about "I've come to watch your flowers growin'." Not long ago, when I went "up north" to help Randy, I found some flowers growing. I could easily have missed them as I sped toward my rescue mission. Or I could have decided I didn't have the time to spend. After all, one little errand for Randy had somehow morphed into an afternoon of several errands, and my own to-do list had changed into a "not gonna get done" mode.

But after my second trip to the field, I stopped anyway. Like the irises I wrote about earlier, the purple flowers aren't in someone's yard. In fact, if you don't know where to look, their delicate blooms could be covered up by dried CRP grasses and hidden away in the shadows under the branches of an old shelterbelt. 

 

We first noticed them a couple of years ago and learned they are called Dame's Rocket, or hesperis matronalis. The seeds were brought to America from Europe in the 17th Century.

From a distance, they kind of look like their name, a slender rocket of lavender color. But, up close, they are made up of intricate, delicate petals. I pulled over and took several photos.

With my errands done, I came back home and stopped at the mailbox. Many times, Randy is the one to bring in the mail. But that day, as I slammed the lid back shut, I happened to look down. At the base of the old cottonwood tree, there were dozens of mushrooms.

The wet spring had them popping up at the base of the tree and even on the bark itself.

Though small, they had plenty of delicate details. I snapped some photos and then went back to the house. The next day, I thought I'd try again, but most of them looked like a moldy mess of fungi. Instead of the delicate cream color, they were now black.

If I hadn't taken the time to look that first day, I would have missed them all together. It was just a reminder to make the most of every moment. Our days on this earth are never guaranteed. Too often in the past six weeks or so, life has been teaching us that lesson.

Every moment of the day, we have a choice: to compare life to our expectations or to thank God for what we have been given. We can rejoice in the small adventures and surprises that God hides inside every day for us to discover if we only give that day a chance.

"Life I love you, all is groovy."

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.