Fairy Dwellings

Do you suppose fairies hibernate throughout the wintry months, sleeping deeply in beds cushioned with moss, dandelion fluff and soft down feathers? Or perhaps they remain awake, sentinels for slumbering hedgehogs and dormice, ensuring that the cozy nests of their animal neighbours remain hidden. Once I would have asked these questions of my daughters and they would have gazed at me with bright eyes, considering, and the discussion would have continued until the winter activities of our local fairy population had been envisioned. Now, older and more skeptical of magic, they humour my whimsical suggestions, but the belief that shone through their eyes, that it could perhaps be possible, has dulled. And yet, they still love creating fairy dwellings. In the early years of their elementary school in Seattle they would construct tiny homes along the grassy, brambly bank that circled the black-top playground. Reunited, slightly older and more sophisticated now, they crafted a small community of fairy dwellings that I found nestled in the folds at the base of a tall beech tree. So if you know of any fairies looking for a home, insulated with leaves, decorated with flowers and feathers and made with the utmost care and love, whisper to them of the ones you see here.