Natural Wonders

There used to be a store in Fayette Mall (Lexington, Kentucky) called Natural Wonders. It remains my favorite mall store ever, despite the fact that it closed years ago.

As the name implies, Natural Wonders sold various items relating to the natural world. These included educational products, but also garden accessories, CDs with New Age-ish music, bird houses, telescopes, jewelry, posters, bath products, toys, games, rocks, gems, rain sticks, kites, wind chimes, star maps, statuettes, and collectibles. One of my favorite product lines consisted of little round treasure boxes carved of wood, with geode cross-sections inlaid in the lids. I actually owned one; it was a darker brown wood with a blue crystal lid, and it on display in my living room.

Every time I went to the mall, I went to Natural Wonders. And every time, I lusted after their products that made nature seem so beautiful and elegant, yet so accessible. The New Age music they sold was always playing over the speakers, giving the store a very soothing ambience, and there was a TV in the back that ran fascinating educational videos.

I had a dream of collecting dozens of geode boxes. They also had a gorgeous chess set on display once that I coveted. Ultimately, though, my high school budget limited me to just that one geode box.

Years later, after I'd graduated high school, moved to Huntsville, Alabama, dropped out of college and moved back, got cancer, and recovered, they closed Natural Wonders.