Sunday, August 8, 2010

The Secret Garden: A Magpie Tale

Summers long ago were a time of wonder.  Each morning we would go outside, waving good-bye to our mother and opening the gate to run with glee down to the lower back yard.  To anyone else, it looked like a run down bit of pasture, but to us it was where our world would transform into a land of fairy tale and adventure.  It was our own secret garden.  Magical things could happen there.


The tools of fantasy were simple... old scarves for the capes of kings and queens, a stick for a hero's sword, a basket to hold the mud pies to take to grandmother's house, an old watering can to nourish the magic beans we found in our garden.

Weeping willow branches hid us from the outside world and the creek became an ocean to be navigated, the little rise of sand a desert island.  Old, crumbling outbuildings became castles or dungeons.

Years later, I returned to this secret garden to share it with my son and was amazed by how small it was.  No longer the vast, wondrous world of my childhood but the run down bit of pasture it had always been to those without our imagination.  Yet, I can still picture the magic that happened there.  All I have to do is close my eyes and dream.

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Willow over at Life at Willow Manor  has been providing inspiration for bloggers with her photo prompts on a site called Magpie Tales.  Be sure to check out the other fabulous writers participating in Magpie Tales this week.  You'll be glad you did!
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