October Morn ......

At first light, on a drizzly, cold and damp October morning, the toadstools made their scheduled appearance in the long, rain-soaked grass of my yard. They materialize every year around the middle of October and march and dance along the root lines of an ancient Chinese Elm tree. For me and mine, they signal the true beginning of the Season of the Witch. These aren't the joyful "Fairy Circles" of a mid-summer's eve, but I'm sure they're inhabited by fairies and other magical beings all the same. The sturdy toad stools are just the right height to be a true throne for autumn fairies, a magical black squirrel or perhaps a dancing hare who is waiting for the moon to reappear.