The Brownies

Take Notige! This book belongs to Robert! My Dad’s own handwriting – his first and last name – penned with 7-year-old skill.I peered into the sketches – into a human world as seen through the eyes of tiny elves that call themselves Brownies. The pages were thinned from turning and felt like tissue paper between my fingers. My Dad remembers sitting on the chase lounge in the dining room reading about Brownies with his mother. On summer nights he would climb into his cot on the sleeping porch and read by flashlight until he fell asleep. So during our live-in with my parents we read the Brownies’ book to the girls. The language was charming and challenging, written in snappy rhymed couplets. The girls were introduced to a slew of new words. Like blithe, boulevard, scholar, cunning, and surly.It was great for their little minds. A new adventure every night.And the pictures were enchanting…

No one knows what Brownies do during the day, but they are very busy at night. They have an insatiable desire to know how things work or how food tastes. They want to experience what humans experience. They quietly observe, plot, then execute. Curiosity always wins out and during moonlight hours Brownies explore, fiddle, and tinker. They make toboggans, build bicycles, ice skate, cook pudding, or take a horse and wagon for a ride. One night they surprised a farmer by harvesting his crops.

As the sun begins to rise they scurry to cover any trace of their whereabouts. Occasionally they’re in such a hurry they leave a few crumbs on the counter, knock over a chair, or forget to put their favorite book back on the shelf. But Brownies have good hearts. They finish undone tasks.

Like neatly stacking the wooden blocks in the toy cupboard, mopping the floor, finding a missing set of keys, or setting the breakfast table. No small feat for a band of Brownies. Wielding the mop alone might take five of them! But they’re very resourceful and seem to work well together.

So we had reason to believe a Brownie (or maybe two) was creeping around my parents’ house at night. Cleaning things up, folding laundry, putting toys away and nibbling on chocolate.Eliza left him this note (along with the granola bars).

Not to worry. There was no fatality by water. This Brownie is alive and well. He left Eliza and Sami a thank you note in return.

So Brownies are afoot again. (Thanks Dad – for sharing the magic.)Last week Eliza asked me, “Mom? Can we read a piece of the Brownie book tonight?” (Don’t you love her innocent double entendre?)Maybe Brownies will be sneaking around your house tonight. You could leave a snack out just in case.

I’m told chocolate is their favorite.“The realm of enchantment is open to us all, if we are willing to step over the threshold.” – Katrina Kenison