It happens every year.Ā Even though I try to visit all the regions in our beautiful Fantasy Faire, even though I aspire to photograph each one and write something from each one, I often end up feeling more at home in one special one than anywhere else. This year, itās Lunafae.
From the aerial vista to the little details, itās as if every detail was placed exactly and precisely in the right place. Now that Iāve had a little experience with various bits and pieces of the Faire, I have some idea of how much time and work it takes to put all the little pieces in place in exactly the right way.
My late husband, the engineer, admires the way everything is laid out. Like a clock, he says.
I say, is it a clock? If it is a clock, it is a love clock. Lunafae is a love letter to the moon.
He calls me a hippie and fluffs my very short hair. āYouāre like a very soft hedgehog,ā he says.
āLetās look at the moon stones,ā I say.
Each of these photos shows one of the moonstones. Each one comes with a different quote about some aspect of the moon. I loved walking around the gardenās edge and discovering each of the stones as I went. My poor, long-suffering late husband shook his head and talked about how the stones were put together and how all the maths worked.
In fact, he got so engrossed in how the maths worked and working out the phases of the Lunafae clock, I just headed to a bench, stretched out, and soaked up the day.
Fact is, I could really just sit and soak in Lunafae all day. In fact, Iāve done it more than once. There are so many places to sit and write, think, daydream. Visiting doesnāt seem enough: I kind of want to live there.
This year marks the fourth anniversary of my husbandās death from cancer. Every year the Faire is a place where I can be with other people whose lives have been forever changed by the disease in its many forms. And getting involved with Fantasy Faire is one thing I can do both to honour his memory and help in what small way I can to make a better future or a better present for cancer sufferers, survivors, carers, and families. I donāt do a āWhy I Relayā post every year; itās wrenching for me to remember and write about the experience of watching the love of my life fade away and die.
And so, instead, I pictures us walking hand in hand through the gardens of Lunafae.
And, OK, weāre speculating between ourselves about the strange bunny phenomenon at this yearās Faire. We canāt decide whatās causing it, but weāre having fun making up stories about it.
A rough year needs a soft space
Itās been a rough year. I think it has been for everyone. A series of personal blows kept me out of work for some time, and then I started working from home when the UK went into lockdown. I got a late start on Faire blogging and photographing this year because working from home in the age of Coronavirus meant I didnāt feel confident to take holiday for the first week of the Faire and had to wait until week 2 to have the kind of time I need to put together the kind of photographs and blogs I create.
Ah; heās done with the maths! Now we can begin again. And there we are, my late husband and me, walking through the gardens. We go slow, because we have all the time in the world. Like the moon, we grow dark and bright, dark again, and bright again, and we make tides and spur seasons, and some say we make magic.
Weāve stopped now to listen to theĀ demifaeĀ harpist play some Irish standards on her glass harp that looks kind of backwards but isnāt completely. We sit on a bench. We hold hands. We lean on one another and watch the sunset. Itās how every day should end. How every day should have ended.
Lunafae is one of 18 regions in thisĀ yearās Relay for Life of Second Lifeās Fantasy Faire. You can visit Lunafae, but do so before the Fairelands fade into the mists after 10 May, 2020. Sponsored by The Looking Glass and designed by SharniĀ Azalee, Lunafae is a wonder to behold, and I hope that when you visit there, you will see even part of what I see. Long before I got to know Sharni, I admired her work from afar, and her beautiful creation this year has brought me so much I havenāt spent a faire day without visiting the region.Ā
Love Letter It happens every year.Ā Even though I try to visit all the regions in our beautiful Fantasy Faire, even though I aspire to photograph each one and write something from each one, I often end up feeling more at home in one special one than anywhere else.
