Of Snow and Birds and Memories

English Sand Martin

I’ve spent the entire week too tired to accomplish much or in this quasi-insane/manic mood from which I cannot fall asleep.  You see, I haven’t been writing much and my mind is attacking itself. 

No, really.  It’s attacking itself. 

I stay up at night thinking about what I should be writing instead of writing.  I wake up tired and groggy and I load up on caffeine which makes me cranky and unapologetically impatient. I get home and I don’t feel like doing anything.  So I do nothing.  I try to go to bed early and the caffeine kicks in (apparently, I drink a slow release coffee.) I can’t stop thinking about what I should be working on, but I’m too tried to actually work on it.  This pattern repeated itself all freaking week. 

So this weekend, I will finish my project if it kills me.  If it doesn’t, lack of sleep will.

While I was trying to sleep this week, “1000 Ships” by Rachel Platten also kept creeping into my consciousness.  I love this song.  It makes me all happy and warm.  It makes me think of epic devotion and Helen of Troy and the silliness and sheer joy of love.  When I saw the video the other night, I was drawn to the image of the snow and the bird in the first few frames.  It reminded me of my Gramma and how she would feed birds in the winter.  She had a large bird feeder that she watched out the big picture window in her kitchen.  She got such pleasure from her birds.

I knew then what I was going to write this week for Faerie Friday -- Hyter Sprites.

I know, I am queen of the smooth segue. 

Hyter Sprites are a very localized faerie creature.  They can only be found in East Anglia in England.  Don’t worry.  I didn’t know exactly where East Anglia was either.  It’s Eastern England.  You know, that knob of land that juts out into the North Sea.  The area with fun city names like Ipswich, Chelmsford and Bury St. Edmunds.

Hyter Sprites are small faeries, no more than five inches tall.  When they are in their humanoid state, they have sandy colored skin, long sandy colored hair and bright green eyes.  When they are in their other form, they appear as simple sand martins.  (See picture above.)

Hyter Sprites are shy and have a tendency to stay away from humans.  However, they are known to admonish bad human behavior and lead those who exhibit such behavior astray in the woods.  According to Andrew L. Paciorek in his book, “Strange Lands: A Field Guide to the Celtic Otherworld,” Hyter Sprites will vandalize homes that have the audacity to keep up their Christmas decorations past Twelfth Night (January 6^th.)  I have a few neighbors they could visit should they should decided to holiday in Upstate New York.

What they are most known for is searching and bringing lost children home.

I can remember looking out my grandmother’s picture window and watching pretty little birds pecking at seeds in the snow.   Could any of them been more than what they seemed?

For your viewing pleasure, please check out “1000 Ships.”  It’ll get stuck in your head. Consider yourself warned.