After I dropped Barry off at his house this afternoon after our coffee chat, I noticed that he and Carol have a fairy ring by their driveway.
A fairy ring, also known as fairy circle, elf circle, elf ring or pixie ring, is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. The rings may grow over 30 feet (or over ten meters) in diameter and become stable over time as the fungus grows and seeks food underground. They are found mainly in forested areas, but also appear in grasslands or rangelands. Barry's is in the woods by their house and is about two and a half feet across.
Fairy rings also occupy a prominent place in European folklore as the location of gateways into elfin kingdoms, or places where elves gather and dance. According to the folklore, a fairy ring appears where a fairy, pixie, or elf has been. Once a ring has appeared, it will disappear without a trace in under five days, but if you wait long enough for the elf/fairy/whatever to return to the ring, you may be able to capture it.
I don't know if Barry or Carol would want an elf, although the rings are associated with leprechauns in Ireland -- so maybe there's a pot of gold around, too.
The clip below is from the audition sequence in Were the World Mine, in which this character is trying out for the role of the mischief-making fairy Puck in a high school production of Midsummer Night's Dream. Lovely little song. Lyrics, of course, by the Bard. (BTW, for those of you old enough to remember him, Mickey Rooney played Puck in a 1935 movie version of the play. Who knew he had done Shakespeare?)
