It being good day weather-wise and having very little to do or, to be more precise, having finished the tasks set for me by Mrs H, I decided to go for a stroll with my irascible friend Hazel (name changed to protect his real identity). He lives in the hedgerows for most of his time although he has been known to enter our home to use my computer causing me a few problems by leaving odd comments here and there on blogs and by trying to go further into the system and typing in the wrong passwords.
So I stepped across to his known sleeping place at this time of the year and found him amongst the blue flowers gently snoring away. The flash from my camera awoke him as
I knew it would.
Sleepily he said, 'What in ****'s name do you want ?'
'I thought you might like to go for a walk with me as it is a warm day.'
Hazel replied 'OK so, just give me a moment to wake up.'
Within the blink of a human eye Hazel was wide awake and looking for adventure. Together we went for our walk with him leading the way.
You may well be familiar with Yeats' poem about walking with a faery hand in hand ?
Let me assure you this is certainly not the case with Hazel and I, for as well acquainted as we are, neither he nor I would ever dream of holding hands as his skin is closer to that of an amphibian, quite cool to the touch and has a very different texture to ours.
I am sure he feels the same way about my skin as he shies away from all human contact.
We had not walked more than two hundred yards when Hazel spotted this toadstool in the grass. He instantly decided that it would make a tasty snack so he plonked himself down giving me only a few seconds to take out my camera and take this photo which, I am sure you will agree, is a very rare shot.
With a great deal lip smacking, he devoured it within seconds as to him it was a great delicacy but very likely harmful to humans.
After his snack our journey together continued along the road uneventfully apart from Hazel jumping into the hedge every time the sound of a vehicle was heard.
As he wisely said it would not bode well for him or me to be seen together.
Our walk took us towards the entrance of a fine old house where Hazel stopped briefly to stroke a lantern dog 'for Luck' he told me.
Here he is again within the meadow which his tribe have occupied for hundreds of generations or so said Hazel. To be honest I have no idea how old he is in human terms
and I would certainly not want to offend him by enquiring, for I have my own private thoughts about Themselves.
I can tell you this though, on the hillside above him is one of their cities and the field just behind him is where, on moonlit nights, they dance and make merry.
Our perambulation continued down a narrow road, a perfumed road, where the combined scents of wild honeysuckle and meadowsweet gave an aroma of honeyed toffee.
We both breathed in deeply and licked our lips.
I could see that Hazel was just a little intoxicated as he jumped up to sit on a concrete stile and peering at the house beyond I heard him say 'I wonder if the woman of the house is baking today?' He hopped down and we continued along together in silence.
Our walk together ceased when Hazel lay down near a bed of richly scented roses saying
'This will give you a fine picture and me a place to stay for the rest of the day.'
So I left him and turned to head for home carrying about me a strong perfume of roses. Just as I went through our gateway, I glanced in my top pocket to see a rose head peeping out and this I gave to Mrs H.
