This week marked the completion of the Word Crone Cottage!!! YEAH! So I’ve been enjoying the final edits, a dab of paint here, a dollhouse lamp there.

I guess I’ve always enjoyed the everyday kind of magic.

One of the first books I read was A Secret Garden, closely followed by A Little Princess.

In the first, the heroine finds and reclaims a garden, hidden by a stone wall and a heavy wooden door. A key admits her to this place of magic, coupled with secret incantations to honor the space.

In A Little Princess, the heroine, thrown on her own resources, receives a transformation of her attic room into a magical space. Her “Fairy God Mother” turns out to be her father’s associate who takes pity on the little girl who speaks his native tongue and lives in the cold attic across the street.

I’ve always enjoyed Christmas with the same sense of magic I felt as a five year old. When my own children were about to step out of that magical age, I hope I impressed upon them my firm belief that if you cannot be the child with youthful belief in the magic, then the next best thing, (and I would argue that it is a lateral move, maybe even an upward evolution) is to be the maker of magic. Be the person who builds the secret garden, be the person who bestows the magic attic renovation. In my case, my little pandemic project, the Word Crone Cottage, was my magical gift to myself. It’s the space where I can make the magic of books.

This week, I spent a lot of time climbing up and down a ladder to top of the gable loft in my writing studio. No, it was not for my own benefit. Did I mention that I’m fifty-eight years old? My knees ache with “arthritis consistent with my age” according to my last doctor’s visit. Crawling around in a reading niche is probably a thing of my past, but it’s there, to cast its magic on some more agile person with an open mind. (This is a call out to you, LWDC – “ladies who drink coffee.” I’ll host the next coffee get-together. On the menu: coffee for J., something vegan for L., a salon of conversation for M., and maybe just a little bit of magic for the rest of you?)

Next week, I’ll get a start on the magic of a “secret garden”, ready to share its progress every Friday as I work my way around each “room” of the yard. I hope you will join me each Friday through this summer as I take my pleasure in being the maker of the magic.

In the meantime, I hope you will make some magic of your own: Make some art. Read a book. Share a magical space. ❤