Bumblewood Thicket Returns

WRITTEN BY NELL GEHRKE

Is there any place more magical than the woods? I used to ride my hand-me-down Huffy to the grove of trees on the edge of town. It was the perfect stage to play out the stories in my head either alone or with my friends from the neighborhood. Some days I was transported to other worlds. Other days I was an explorer with an important message to deliver. I strained my eyes to look for animals or anything else that would inspire my imagination. In many ways, I owe this sense of wonder to my parents who read me stories and diligently placed a quarter under my pillow whenever I lost a tooth.

The early years of a child’s life are the perfect time to inspire wonder and whimsy. During a time of robust discovery and growth, children should be shown how to imagine and dream alongside learning new words and math equations. At Gallatin Valley Land Trust, they know how important it is to conserve spaces and develop trails that will benefit our children and future generations, and they are proud to sponsor the wonderful work Random Acts of Silliness does on Bozeman area trails for the community.

Random Acts of Silliness have proven themselves to be excellent communicators with the fairy realm and have created this message on behalf of their fairy friends to ensure humankind knows when and where to visit fairy land:

Random Acts of Silliness’s Third Annual Fairy Village will only be visible to human eyes from September 1 through 18. Located amid the winding, wooded paths of the Glen Lake Rotary Park, the village will contain all new fairy homes and business establishments created by talented Montana artists.

Bumblewood Thicket Fairy Village is self-guided, free and open to all during park hours of 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Visit www.randomactsofsilliness.com for directions, details on all the village happenings and all the information needed to plan your visit. Warning: Side effects of a visit to Bumblewood Thicket may include giggling, waves of joy and increased happiness.

Introducing young people to our fantastical neighbors can be an excellent way to encourage their imagination while teaching them the importance of stewardship of natural spaces. Remind your little ones to keep areas clean for their fairy neighbors and to not damage living flora. After all, that flower growing on the side of the trail that your baby wants to pick could be a fairy's house! The fairies asked us to share a poem with instructions on how to respect their space.

Welcome, folks, to Bumblewood, a fairy town where all is good. Here once a year we show our place to bring a smile upon your face.

Please don’t touch where fairies sleep, or where our magic stores we keep. If touched by hands, however good, we’ll have to hide our neighborhood!

So, if you wish we fae to stay, we ask please keep your hands away! Look with your eyes and joyful heart but touch not lest it fall apart!

Now cross the bridge into the town, and see your frown turn upside down. We share our home and offer trust. Magic, love and pixie dust!

Bumblewood Thicket is produced by Random Acts of Silliness in partnership with Gallatin Valley Land Trust and Bozeman Parks and Recreation, with support from Bozeman Health.

Nell Gehrke is a Big Sky Watershed Corps Service member.