On occasion, I enjoy taking part in Restless Jo’s Monday Walks. Warm weather is perfect for a springtime stroll in the small woods behind my neighborhood. There isn’t much budding yet, but I still found plenty of God’s art to admire.

Circular patterned stumps were a good choice for Ryan Photography’s Photo of the Week. I enjoy aged wood and stumps; gnarly pieces of branches adorned with moss give my spirit a lift.

I came upon a hollowed out portion of a tree. “That’s where the dolls come to get a drink after everyone’s sleeping.” I heard the voice of my beloved grandmother as if she stood beside me. She told the best stories about dolls and woodland animals and their naughty shenanigans when children and their parents slept. At that moment the water inside the hollow really did seem magical as it took me back in time, oh, about fifty years.

Of course, the rest of my walk was enchanted with lovely memories. I found fairy wishes bursting out of a pod and released them into the air. I thought my camera didn’t capture their image, but when I downloaded them, I could just see the outline of one wish as it flew through the air. Can you see it against the sky? A fairy wish floating through the air is also something that lifts my mood.

I don’t know if Spring has completely sprung but the lichen were thriving in the warmer temperatures.

Once again, I heard my grandmother’s voice telling a story, “The dolls used the lichen as a ladder and climbed all the way to the top of the tree, but they couldn’t get back down again! ‘Oh no!’ cried the dolls, ‘What are we going to do?'” How rich my life remains because she helped my imagination come alive. I hope I can do the same for my grandchildren.