First, I will give the gist of the scientific explanation of the scene from my first walk of the day as the sun joins me in greeting the morning. A gossamer fog runs lightly across the pasture next door and reveals white clumps of spiderwebs with crystal water beads along the strands, backlit by the rising sun. Warm air condenses on the silk strands giving a bejeweled appearance. That’s the science.
As much as I like science, this scene was too beautiful for such a mundane explanation, so I considered another one. Whiffs of sparkly white gossamer littering the ground could have been left by torn fairy tutus. Perhaps they had ballet practice last night. With the kind of year we’ve had, perhaps they have already started practice for a YouTube edition of The Nutcracker.
Suddenly I noticed right in the center of the tutus, a white polka-dotted coral topped mushroom shading into red at the rim. Could that be the leprechaun king’s throne? Perhaps there was a command performance.
The real truth is interesting and makes a lot of sense. Still, when I walk out in the early morning and see the tufts of fairy fabric across the meadow, I close my eyes and imagine. The scene of fairies dancing The Nutcracker under the stars fills my imagination and makes an exquisite picture.
Science is great, and knowing the facts is good. Still, the next time the weather forecaster predicts a foggy night, I just may have to set my clock to get up while it is still dark and see if fairy dancing is happening on the lawn. And as Christmas approaches, if you see an ad for a YouTube performance of The Nutcracker by the Windwood Trace Fairy Troupe, remember that you heard about it first right here!