picturing: magic

Today I went on a magical adventure with Mom in Rhode Island.

We…

Met a pooka named Harvey in the furniture store–(he was a little shorter than 6 foot, three-and-one-half inch tall, but barely):

Spied some garden fairy cottages:

Had a staring contest with a grasshopper (he won):

Sauntered through some sunflowers:

And sought out the remnants of an old childhood haunt, The Enchanted Forest.  It was a toddler amusement park (of the old Americana type) that I went to when I was two (I still remember parts vaguely, like the House That Jack Built–I didn’t understand why it was crooked and it bothered me).  The park had been built in 1971 and had small-scale kiddie roller coasters (verrrry small!), storybook structures (like Jack’s House and a The Old Lady Who Lived In a Shoe–a giant boot that was a slide), a putt-putt golf course, and a petting zoo.  It also had a pirate ship, which I was apparently fond of, although I don’t remember it.  The park closed in 2005 due to low funds, and the rides were mostly auctioned off.  Supposedly a delapidated pirate ship remains somewhere back there in the woods, but it wasn’t accessible.

Below is the old putt-putt course.  I think the signs were the ones that told you what the par was.

You may think The Enchanted Forest looks more sad than magical (and it *is* now), but I feel such a sense of nostalgia when I visit old abandoned places.  Some used to be the site of a lot of love and they deserve more than to be grown over and forgotten.  I know it’s strange to personify a place, but I sometimes feel that old places like this have place-souls and are just lonely and waiting for someone to care.  Or maybe I’m just an old soul who regrets that children today are being sucked into video games (though I’d never hate on Guitar Hero) instead of magical places like this.

What magical things did you see today?

Advertisement