Once upon a time...
...in the desperate and difficult summer of 2020...
...faries came to Wilber Park.
It started by accident, as many magical things do. A couple on their daily walk around the loop found an action figure in the path. They posed it in the hollow of a tree, just for fun, and in hopes that its owner would find it. Then they went home, and collected some stuff, and when they returned, Mrs. Elf lived there. They left a sign saying “Hi! Can you add to my family or to my house? Thanks – Mrs. Elf.”
Then the couple went away for more than a month. When they returned, Fairyland was in full bloom.
Fairyland is a section of the Wilber Park woods that is inhabited by... well, a little bit of almost everything. Dozens of installations - constructed by children who were limited only by their imaginations (which we know are limitless) - appeared, grew, changed and flourished.
There are farms and zoos and front lawns. There are horses, trolls, penguins and dinosaurs (and dinosaur bones). There are art galleries and a tree filled with clouds. There are actual faries. There have been, at different times, a North Pole and a South Pole. There are gardens and gnomes and tea parties, houses and stores. There are signposts in case you get lost. There's a dance floor, a newspaper, and a memorial to a wonderful local potter and activist who recently passed away. There's a little rock with “Let your little fairy fly!” painted on it. There's even politics (man-made materials? Or just natural?).
It's all anonymous, except for the occasional first name scrawled on a popsicle stick. And Brian, who left an index card at each installation, telling what he liked about it.
It changes every day. Check out the pics in the Gallery.
Faries live forever, of course, but faries come and go. The witching hour is Labor Day*, and after that, Fairyland will retreat into the mist – and, perhaps, in 2021, return as mysteriously as it did this year.
This cache is a tribute to Fairyland and especially to all the young hearts that made its magic.
* - This is a permanent cache. It is Fairyland that comes and goes.
NOTE: I contacted the City of Oneonta Parks Administrator to ask permission to place this cache. She's a delightful woman named Louise Lansing, and she loved the idea of Fairyland (which she knew all about) and geocaching (which she knew nothing about). Apparently, no one has ever contacted her to ask permission to place a cache. Please make sure you contact the Parks Department for permission to place caches in any City park.
NO INSTALLATIONS NEED BE DISTURBED to find the cache. Enjoy!
CONGRATS to Conkliod, Princess T and the kids for FTF!