A creek plunges down a hillside and under the road halfway up the hill to our house.  The place has a hint of magic even from the car.  And, if you stop and explore, there is a palpable sense of enchantment.  Malachi, my eight year old, immediately stepped back under the large hanging ferns and gasped, “Mom, this spot is the most beautiful place on earth.”  Then a few seconds later, “Mom, I just saw raccoons!”

Some other people have felt the magic, too.  The entrance to the culvert under the road has been carefully stacked with rocks that fit together like a stonemason laid them. But mostly the place feels outside of human touch.  Even the edge of the asphalt is encroached upon by unusual plants.  This is a flower that is blooming there. It is just starting to open.  Below is a look at it before it unfurls.  There are 40 or 50 of these pushing up right next to a human road as if fairyland were intent on taking back the world with an army of flowering plants.