WHIMSY! MAYHEM! PRIZES!
We defy you, cowardly gods of destruction! We reclaim you, sweet fairy chaos!
Oh, Friends. Happy Friday.
And May Day.
Traditionally, ALLEGEDLY, the scaredy cats of the world would line their doorways and window ledges with yellow flowers like the Primrose to ward off evil spirits. Well, I’m all for warding off evil, but the GoogleAI machine wants me to believe that the pagan villagers of our cellular DNA memory were afraid of fairies. Oh, and of witches.
So, I guess that’s a double-dose of me, huh? Are you afraid of little old Leslea?
I hate to break it to all the medieval villagers of the world, but fairies LOVE flowers. So do witches. If you want to repel us, don’t threaten us with a good time.
Mayday.
Then, there’s the other type of Mayday.
Y’all know I am a gamer. One of my guildies would say “mayday!” when she was going down and needed health.
It’s the phrase fighter pilots always yell in the movies, too, right? MAYDAY! MAYDAY! THIS IS ALPHA ONE-NINER, SETTING DOWN SOMEWHERE EAST OF BERMUDA AND SOUTH OF FLORIDA…OMG THERE’S A FLYING SAUCER!
Regardless of the phrase’s origins, I can’t help but think of it as the flip side of the coin to today’s spring festival events. It feels like one big cosmic prank, that the fairies would be drawn to not only the homes lined with flowers, but to those who cry “Mayday!” as their little airships struggle to keep aflight.
I like to think it’s a kind of protection spell, you know? A focus word. A prayer. “Help me, help me, Sidhe & crones!”
The Old Farmer’s Almanac encourages you to leave small baskets of flowers on your neighbors’ porches today. I love it. I’ve never done or received such a thing, but I LOVE it. You never know who around you might be struggling. That little unexpected spirit of kindness and joy might be just the thing they need to pull them through.
Don’t forget to gift yourself with a little fairy bait, you know? You deserve it!
And speaking of gifts, HOW ABOUT SOME PRIZES?
My subscriber count has been a little stagnant, so I thought we’d do spring cleaning, dust off the place, and welcome some fresh new faces.
Everyone who subscribes at any paid level in May to the Feral Fairy Almanac (that’s the substack you’re reading right now!) will be entered for a prize drawing. Now, remember, everyone who is a paid subscriber already gets a letter in the mail, as well as a sticker (usually multiple stickers), or some other tiny surprise to delight, monthly.
It’s a lot of fun writing the letters and picking out the fun little whimsies and trinkets. I’m seriously glad I have made time for an analog communication habit in this increasingly AI world. Let’s have some true entity-to-entity* connection, you know?
You don’t even have to write back, but I love it when you do.
So, what’s up for grabs?
First of all, The Garden Pack:
This is a rare find, long out of print, but it’s new in the box and ready for you! What it is: a cardboard stand-up sort of planning system for your yard or garden. Think of “Paper Dolls” meets “Garden Planner,” and you’re getting it. It not only has the layouts for you to build your garden on, choosing soil types, paths, water features, etc., but it also has all kinds of flora, and even includes little window frames, so you can imagine what your yard will look like from inside the house!
I think this would be great for a kid’s school project. Take home the science fair trophy by including native plants and addressing issues like erosion and pesticides/herbicides. Maybe even plan to use some reusable, recycleable materials, am I right?
Or just enjoy playing with it when it’s not nice enough outside to garden. 🤷♀️
What else is up for grabs?
Well, if you’re not into gardening, I still have some fun books I could swap out for you as prizes. As you might expect, some are almanacs, some are novels, some are 100-year-old magazines, some are off-the-grid guides from the 1970s…and there’s more. There’s always more. You could take home one of my books, if you’d like. Or an audiobook. The sky’s the limit!
And, again, EVERYONE gets a letter and a small prize (probably a sticker!), so you’ve already won.
But eFairy**, how do I sign up?
If you see a big green “Subscribe” button in the upper right-hand corner of your screen, click on that. There’s also one at the bottom of the page, I believe. Yes. Let’s have a look:
If you don’t see either of those, go to FeralFairyAlamanc.com. If you’re not subscribed as a free or paid subscriber, already, you’ll see this:
Enter your email and click Subscribe.
If all you want is a free subscription with no monthly letters in the mail, no prizes, and no surprises full of fairy mischief, then you’re done.
If you DO want a mailbox full of whimsy once a month that you can enjoy ANALOG STYLE, then you’ll need to choose a paid subscription level:
After you buy a subscription, you’ll be directed to the sign up sheet for the Snail Mail Club, so I know how to reach you.
Note: You can cancel anytime, so if you only want to try for a month, you could select the monthly subscription. The website defaults to the One Year (annual) subscription, which is definitely a cost savings, but if you’re on a budget like me, you can always try a month first and see if you enjoy it! Honestly, this is how I discovered most of my favorite mail. I tried it first!
At the end of May, I’ll see how many entries we have (how many paid subscribers there are), and I’ll draw names for prizes.
It’s that simple. And it’s simply whimsical.
In the next paid subscriber-only email, I want to catch you up on job stuff, and tell you about my new…
(building suspense here)
the neeewwwwww…
My new pen name! Yep, another pen name. I’m ready to rebrand some of my previous work, and I think it will seriously kick ass to have a fresh start. I’m looking forward to hearing what you think, and having you help me choose a new logo for the new author’s website!***
Questions? Leave a comment…
xoxox & happy MAYDAY MAYDAY THIS IS ROGER ONE-NINER! COMEBACK, I GOT A SMOKEY ON MY TAIL, BANDIT, 10-4 AND ‘ELLO, GUV’NOR!
Leslea
I only have flower pots. Hoping to find some flowers that attract butterflies
We recently planted yellow marigolds near our front door but the only thing we were hoping to ward off was rabbits and deer from the rose bushes 😅