Photo Journal | fairies wear boots

Around the time that Spring gave way to Summer, an interesting infestation cropped up at my grandma's house.  First, one little home appeared nestled under the rosemary bush aside her drive way, then within a month there were a dozen. Fairies. Wee folk. We never see them, of course (we're not that swift or lucky), only the evidence of them, namely new little houses every week or so, and gifts left in the old chimney flue for Mads and Ella--a toy car, a miniature deck of cards, stickers. These don't seem to be the usual type of fairies, this tribe that's moved into my grandmother's yard (and, she tells me, she's finding evidence that they're inside the house as well). Or, at least, they don't seem to be what I think of as the usual fairies. These critters aren't making homes out of tree bark and mud; they're not even repurposing and recycling the junk we humans discard. No, they seem to be pilfering bird and doll houses and those castles people put in aquariums(?), from where I can't say. And are they carrying these shelters in groups over their heads, like nocturnal ants? Or is there some sneaky magic afoot? Today is the first of Autumn, and I don't know yet if the cooler weather will stanch their migration. Do fairies hibernate in winter like bears?

"Fairies Wear Boots," Black Sabbath