Fairies, Elves and the Magic comes alive in Lang Pioneer Village

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Fairies, Elves and the Magic comes alive in Lang Pioneer Village

You must come very early to the laneways of the Lang Pioneer Village to experience the Magic. It is there everywhere. If you are still, you can also see it when you look closely.

Last Friday morning I found it again.  I am not sure if it was the fairy from the deep woods behind the David Fife Cabin that led me to the leaf or maybe it was the elf that dances on the large leaves near the path that caused me to see it lying so still on the path. 

But there it was… sad but beautiful.

What did I see?

It was this leaf.  Torn from a huge Maple Tree the evening before when the very heavy rain and angry wind had rushed through the Village shortly after dinner.

The leaf was so still on the pebble stone path leading into the Fitzpatrick home.  As I looked down I saw the droplet of water that still lay on the back of the leaf. It would be only a few hours before the leaf would completely wither in the heat of the day.

The excited children that would arrive in the next hour likely would miss the beauty of this one still droplet of water held by the frail leaf.

I didn’t miss it. I am sure that is why the fairy directed my steps and the exact angle of my view as I walked along the path up to the house. It was the magic and the stillness that let me actually to look at something so beautiful.

As I stopped and looked at the leaf I was filled with a kind of sadness.  It seeped in slowly as I looked at the leaf.  For the last few months it had done its part on the Maple Tree outside of the Fitzpatrick House… growing steadily each day and providing the needed shade for all the travellers that would pass below it this summer. Now it lay still with that one last glorious droplet of water resting on it.

The leaf and the droplet existing together for that last few moments… The droplet too would be gone as the coming footsteps brushed the leaf aside… and it would fall quietly alone into the pebbled walkway.

I think that is why the fairy had moved me this way… so I would stop and see, think and feel, then capture the leaf and the droplets' last moment. 

Had the fairy been crying…?  Was that her tear that she left on the fallen leaf?

The answer to that is in the Magic of Lang Village early in the morning.

As I walked away from the leaf and droplet so still on the path I came to the ancient property marker beside the David Fife Cabin that was built so long ago in 1825.

 David Fife's Cabin

There on a leaf was another wonder.  A small, blue dragonfly that clung to the leaf came into my view. It had moved quickly into place and then stopped in the sunshine that spilled through the upper leaves.  As I took the photo it was so still.

 (Here is the blue dragonfly... just to the right of the large shadow in the leaf)

I assume that it was resting after the rage of last evening had pummelled the Village with the downpour or rain and wind.

That thought alone was amazing. This so very fragile creature had survived the violence of the night before.  Where did it hide and how could it be so ready to work this early in the morning?

The fairy held the secret answer near to her heart.  But she wanted me to see the beauty that hung there resting… that beautiful dragonfly… so still... – and I was not to know where she hid this creature in the storm.

I walked back to the Hastie Carpenter Shop with my pails of water slapping in the simple rhythm of my footsteps. The only sound was the soft grass under my feet… and the giggle of a fairy that was delighted with what I had seen.  No one else would see the leaf or the droplet… and few would see the dragonfly ever again.  She giggled again as I walked on.

The next sounds came in another half hour… happy children filling the laneways of the Lang Pioneer Village as it came to life for another day.  The children were coming from the many schools in our area for their day to travel back in time to 1825 and 1856.  They were to come into the lives of the Pioneers of so long ago.

I am a volunteer at Lang Pioneer Village. I am Grandpa Lincoln and I work in the Hastie Carpenter Shop for the kids. I weave the Magic of my words and the knowledge of the tools so the place comes alive.  From the moment the children pour through the doors to the second they leave… a spell is cast around them.  They become someone from the past.

On Friday just before lunch time the happy group left my shop and headed for their lunchtime as well.

The Shop went quiet suddenly… there was one sound of a sheep bleating across the way… but then perfect silence settled in. The Sunshine spilled through the window on to my work bench.  And there suddenly the shavings on the bench top moved… just a little… then another. Whoa…

Sure it could be the wind… though it seemed so still.  But I am sure that I heard a fairy giggle again… or was that the elf of the Hastie Carpenter Shop?

I will be back early on Monday morning for more of the Magic. I will enter the Carpenter Shop again… and I will look for the hidden tools that the elf keeps messing with… And I suspect that if I listen closely I will hear the fairy giggle again with her delight that I returned.

“Mr. Lincoln, your imagination is far too out of control!  Fairies… elves… giggling… fairy tear drops…? You sir are out of control!” pronounced the skeptic.

You can think what you like. But if you come early… listen closely and stand very still – the Magic is there in the Village… it is really there.  And that is why so many volunteers come back again and again!

~ Murray Lincoln ~

www.murraylincoln.com