Dear Miss Jenna,
Summer is coming quick, it will soon be time for the fairy hunts to begin. I thought we should spend a bit more time going over the differences between a fairy and a pixie.
While fairies are mostly quiet, pixies are more like a noise with wings. We’ve learned that fairies do seem to have a way of talking to each other, a way of communicating. But it’s such that humans can barely hear it, much less understand it. Pixies however, like a mockingbird, can repeat things and phrases they hear. And they have no hesitation about spewing words all over the meadows. Some of the old fairy hunters, of which I am one, think they are not just repeating words they hear, but are actually capable of learning and using languages. A few of us even think they can use people talk. Some of the unfortunate ones, those who have been beset by pixies, think they use this ability to make troubles and trickeries on them. I think that’s quite possible. A lot of times, I will think I hear someone calling my name, but when I turn around, there’s no one there. Sometimes, I’ll be among the gardens at sunset, and I’ll hear whispers on the wind, calling me to the meadows. Sometimes, I’ll think it’s nothing, that your old Uncle Mike is just getting silly in the thoughts as I get older. But, sometimes, sometimes Miss Jenna, I think it might be pixies.
I would think the biggest difference between a pixie and a fairy is attitude. A fairy 
is happy to while away the day working among the plants and flowers, and doing their part to keep nature moving along. Pixies on the other hand are a mischievous bunch, always looking for something new to do for fun. They do so enjoy perplexing the humans, so if one were to stumble across a pixie dance, or catch one in a fairy trap, the pixies would spend years playing tricks on the human. Remember, some pixies stay around all year, so that’s a lot of time to pull their tricks. If you get a pixie angry, which being caught in a trap is certain to do, a pixie will spend years tormenting the human who made it angry. The person who is unlucky enough to anger the pixies will have an unfortunate life indeed.
That’s not to say all pixies are bad, or even that a pixie is all bad. Pixies are more like people than people like to admit. Pixies, being a small creature, don’t have room inside themselves for lots of stuff, like lessons and feelings. So when they get full, as they often do, they have to let it out. Even though you are only starting your second hand you have learned how to better control some feelings, all the while stuffing all kinds of your lessons inside yourself, too. As you grow, you’ll handle more and more. Some things that made you angry when you were only on your first hand seem kind of silly when you reach the second hand. Sure seems that way sometimes, doesn’t it, Miss Jenna? Things that fluster and flummox you today will seem just as silly when you reach your third hand. That’s because your body is growing, and when your outside grows, it just makes sense that your inside grows too. You are making room to hold more than one thing inside at the same time. Most little cowgirls, once they reach their second hand, have already figured out how to think about two things at once, to learn lessons not only in mathematics, but in reading and writing all at the same time. Just as you wouldn’t expect someone who hasn’t even reached their first finger to be able to talk, you wouldn’t expect someone who’s only on their second hand to understand the rocket sciences. Their body isn’t big enough yet to hold all the lessons it takes to know what makes a rocket fly. To think otherwise is just nonsensical. And just as it is with lessons, so it is with feelings. Sometimes, just like learning your lessons, learning you feelings gets mixed-up and confusing, too. By the time they reach their second hand, most cowgirls have learned that you can be mad at something, but still love it, too.
That may sound confusing, especially for someone who has just started their second hand. Perhaps I can explain it a bit better. Say you are on a proper cowgirl adventure and you find a big old bull frog in the field. Being a real cowgirl, most likely, you would stick that frog in your pocket to take home. As every cowgirl knows, a frog, especially a big old bull frog, is always a useful thing. Then when you went to bed that night, your Mom finds that frog in your pocket and she lets it go. The next morning you might be angry at Mom for letting such a useful bullfrog go, but you still love her because she’s Mom. After some time, you’ll find you’re not angry anymore, but you still love her very 
much. A cowgirl would learn two things from this; first; how to hide your bull frogs better, and second; that when you reach your second hand, you’re big enough inside to hold two feelings at the same time for something. Not so with pixies. Since they are so small, a pixie can only hold one feeling at a time. That’s bad if you anger a pixie, because for certain they will stay angry for a long time. But it can be a good thing too. If you happen to get lucky enough to make a pixie happy, they will be your friend for a long time also. Just as mean and ornery as a pixie is when they are tricking, they can be as kind and generous when they are gifting. A person who falls into a pixie’s favor would be living a charmed life indeed. Believe it or not, Miss Jenna, there are a few people who are brave enough, or fool enough, to try to snare pixies. I’m not sure how prudent that is, as we know how easy a pixie is to anger.
As I set and watch the fairy traps, there sure seems to be something afoot in the gardens this year. Peppers that are supposed to be green are turning purple. The snapdragons that were red last year, are white this time. Strawberries are coming up in places I never planted them. It is certainly curious.
As always Miss Jenna,keep Texas in your heart until your feet are in Texas again.
Love as always,
Uncle Mike
Here are some more coloring pictures for you to practice with.
*excerpted from; A Second-Hand Wish ©2012 R. M. Moore used by permission
The first thing you will have to learn to become a proper fairy hunter is how to spot the differences between little folk. The last thing you want to happen on a fairy hunt is that you may catch a pixie instead, so you first must learn how to spot a pixie when you see it. Some people are foolish enough to think they are the same thing, but an expert fairy hunter knows better. Saying that a pixie is the same thing as a fairy is kind of like saying a bird is the same thing as a butterfly, that a horse is no different than a unicorn. Silly thinking indeed. A pixie can play its most devious tricks on the ones who do not see them. Most people don’t even know when they are being tricked by a flock of pixies. You might think you are just being forgetful, or unlucky, when in truth it could be that you annoyed a pixie somewhere along the way. An annoyed pixie will amuse itself by playing tricks and casting pixie spells on you. They do things like hiding things, and breaking things. One of their favorite tricks is when you put something down, like a favorite toy, they’ll take it as soon as you turn your back, and move it somewhere else. When you find something broken, that know wasn’t broken before, that could be a pixie at work. When you’re trying to think of something like a name or number that you knew just one minute before, it could be you have come under a pixie spell. They’ll sour your milk, and turn your sugar into salt. Pixies are very clever, and they can be quite inventive with their tricks and spells. If you are going to undertake the adventure of a fairy hunt, you need to take care not to annoy a pixie in the process. That would be unfortunate indeed.
Another big difference among the small folk is the way they dress. While a fairy will run around next to naked, wearing nothing but robes made from flowers and petals, a pixie will wear clothes that look a lot like ours, pants and pinafores mostly. A pixie wears belts and sashes, and pockets everywhere. Pixie clothes have lots of pockets. Pixies carry an assortment of potions and other interesting things they find with them, so they need places to carry all that stuff. Pixies are usually a bit taller than a fairy, but the smaller pixies are often confused with the largest fairies. A fairy is most grateful if they can make a small house among the flowers on the ground, while pixies tend to build nests in the bushes and trees. A fairy is usually shy and elusive, preferring to stay just out of sight of the humans. Fairies also come and go with the seasons; they come in spring and leave in the fall. Some pixies stay around all year, and that’s why we usually have a fairy hunt in high summer, and never after the first frost.
Here’s a good way to know the difference, I guess the most famous fairies are the Flower Fairies, that look like this picture. A lady named Cicely Mary Barker, an expert fairy hunter herself, was able to get them to sit still long enough to paint some pictures of them. As you can see, it’s easy to confuse a fairy with a butterfly. It’s a disguise a fairy would use so it won’t get caught.
Love as always,
So, you want to catch a fairy? It can be done, but it’s not a very easy thing to do. Of all the things I’ve seen or heard of being done, catching a real fairy is one of the hardest. Fairies stay mostly hidden these days. It wasn’t always like that. There was time when you could walk in any field or meadow and see a fairy going about its work, or a pixie up to its tricks. Back before civilization, in a time before people started to live together and cities sprouted everywhere, people often had to trade and barter with the fairies and the small folk. In the old days most people lived on farms, and had to grow the food they ate. Every spring, the fairies came back, just as the bees and butterflies did. Back then, people understood that fairies were a just a part of nature. Like butterflies, bees, and rain; fairies were a part of the natural cycle of things, of helping the plants and flowers to grow. In the old countries, people would leave treats and trinkets out for the fairies to thank them for their work in the fields and gardens. They would leave a small place set apart for the fairies to set up house, that they would leave untouched. Fairies do not take kindly with people who disturb their places and things. People would leave a source of fresh water, plants that fairies like to eat, some string and trinkets lying about, and then just leave the fairies alone to do their work. They would take care to avoid the areas that fairies would congregate, the forests and meadows, especially at dawn and sunset. For where there are a more than a few fairies to be found, then most certainly there will be pixies about nearby. For, just as sure as the birds are attracted by a flock of butterflies; a flock of fairies will certainly attract the pixies. That’s the biggest danger in fairy hunting, that you might accidentally catch a pixie instead. That is always unfortunate, for you know what tricksters those pixies can be.
never seen the wind, but I have seen what the wind can do. I’ve never seen love, but I know it’s real, because I have seen things people do because of love. I have seen many people in love, but I have never seen love itself. So it is with the fairies. I guess the best way to think of it is like this; think of the fairies like electricity. Even the most book-learned high-talker knows about electricity. Human scientists describe electricity as the flow of electrons from one place to another place, and during that flow, we use tricks and devices to make those electrons do some kind of work in their travels. If you were to ask even the brightest human scientist if he has seen an electron, he’ll say no. But he’ll say that he knows that they exist because he sees the work that the electrons do. I myself have never seen an electron either, but I know that if I turn on the light switch, the light comes on. Almost like magic. So it is with fairies. All though I haven’t yet seen one, I’ve seen the work they do, but I’ve trained myself to look for it. I feel sorry for the people who only believe in what can be seen and touched, for they must have very lonely souls indeed. I don’t put much faith in the words of a man who can so easily dismiss fairies, elves, and dragons. As for you and I, we know better. You can’t catch a fairy if you don’t believe in them, can you? So, catching a fairy sounds like a fine second-hand wish.
Tune in next time to find out where we’ll start looking. As always, Miss Jenna, keep Texas in your heart until your feet are in Texas again.
And of course, I’m hoping you’ll make this old cowboy happy, and tell me you’ll be my Valentine.