Photo by Alexandra Flory
The morning sun peeking through our blinds, birds in pleasant conversation with one another and a delightful yet diverse array of flowers have all returned to Lewis & Clark. All five senses are stimulated as students walk around campus, giving them the blissful experience of spring’s arrival. The combination of the sun’s warmth intermingling with a slight chill from a distant breeze, flowers dancing in the wind, followed by a waft of their sweet scent that makes its way to our taste buds, all tied together with the chirps of birds either cacophonously laughing or fighting, is an experience all LC students are familiar with. In the midst of all this spring beauty, fairy gardens have emerged as well, nestling themselves in the nature LC’s environment has to offer. After all, what would the golden light, sparrows and wildflowers be without fairies to accompany them?
An Instagram account called @lcfairygardens explains how they work. In addition to decorating the campus and offering the LC community short and fun search expeditions, the gardens were made with the intention of creating gift exchanges between students. In each of the gardens, a red box containing a small item that the finder may keep can be discovered. If one decides to take a gift, however, it is important to leave another one behind securely in the fairy’s garden to prevent accidental littering on campus. The Instagram account provides a list of fun gift ideas including cool rocks, candy, herbs, art and other homemade gifts.
To find the homes, an interested student must first look at the Instagram page where they can gather clues. The posts contain a riddle pointing to the garden’s location, accompanied by a series of photos taken near the garden. Anyone who knows the LC campus fairly well could easily solve the riddle and use the photos to find the garden.
The gardens themselves can best be described as adorable. Nestled in fallen trees and buried beneath moss and grass, they contain a wide variety of items. They are decorated with small sticks and stones, fairy-sized trinkets and, of course, the red gift box. However, a description of the homes is not enough to do them justice. One must venture out to view the gardens for themselves in order to get the full experience.
In a request for comment, @lcfairygardens did not respond. This mysterious occurrence may lead some to believe that it is fairies who created the gardens. Keeping that extra layer of mystery of who is behind the account helps contribute to the allure of the gardens. To keep up with the magic, follow @lcfairygardens on Instagram and be on high alert for where the fairies may go next. Spring does not last long, so get out and find the gardens before the fairies go back home during the summer.
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