Nurture Nature Redux

My daughter thinks she’s a fairy…or at least she wishes it so. She is not alone in this pursuit, as many of her friends believe the same. They are often seen fluttering about in the yard, spinning imaginative fairy yarns as they fly by. To indulge her fancy, we recently visited a local gardening center which hosted a reading of fairy stories by renowned author/illustrator Tracy Kane who has created a delightful collection of books and videos. Best of all the children were encouraged to bring along materials to use in building fairy houses so that wandering fairies might have a place to rest. As Kane pointed out, there are only 2 rules in fairy house architecture: use nothing man made, and use nothing living. Her goal is to remind children of the often forgotten essence of Nature. She wishes “to connect children to nature in a gentle way that inspires rather than instructs.”

With a large tree trunk for support, my daughter constructed a 3-story fairy house, complete with a swing made from a bittersweet branch, 2 bedrooms with corn stalk beds, and a lovely pathway lined with sea shells she’d collected on Cape Cod this summer. Not to be outdone, I built a thatched cottage style house, where my proper English fairies would surely be encouraged to drop in for tea. Ms. Kane stopped by every new house in the fairy community to provide food for the imminent arrival of the fairies. Since then, I’ve found several fairy houses in our garden, and grandma has spied at least one in hers. Seems the lesson has taken hold. Find out more at www.fairyhouses.com. /jb