Fun and Games

So: on a day when LOTS was going on: picnics by the river and a teddy bear’s event in the castle and much madness and mayhem, I finally succumbed to the coughing lurgy that has been dancing around the gathering. I suspect Moss to be “Typhoid Mary” in this instance lol as we were smoking together the night before- it was worth it for the laughs! I went to Haltwhistle for some nasty chemical cough medicine that has, in the past been very effective if I nip the contagion as early as I can.

Woke up to a “modified” Gun Room, courtesy of Cary which was pretty cool. There are less of us here now and it gave the space a bit more intimacy.

Around lunchtime five of us set out for Hadrian’s Wall. Another car load was also going, one of the family was uber irritated that they hadn’t finalised arrangements “Where the hell are we actually going?!” I tried to help by googling and came up with Brampton. We got to Brampton and found that the wall was over three miles away and headed for Lanacost Priory. So off we went Lanacost-ward. When we got there we discovered a beautiful mediaeval priory church with the compulsory shop and eatery and everything at a cost, but no sign of the wall- which turned out to be another mile away at Banks. Amusingly; the woman in the gift shop felt the need to show me a picture of a section of the wall so I would know what to look out for. So, off we went to Banks. I should say that it was a beautiful route and gave our Canadian faery the image of the English countryside he’d seen in pictures. We got to Banks and discovered an obvious remnant of the wall overlooking a valley, it was a beautiful vantage point with convenient car park, but little else. I’d sent a message to the other car and they called back to say they were at Birdoswald, BUT that it was £4 to park the car and £6.80 per person to enter the site. I proposed we went but just looked at it from the outside and maybe walked along a bit of the wall which is what we ended up doing before heading back to the castle. Quite honestly; that was about as much muggle interaction as I wanted to cope with.

I want to write about a faerie who had been really excited about the performance he’d been planning for literally MONTHS but when the performance came around time restrictions- it did run for nearly three hours as it was! His hurried editing meant he felt it had failed. It was difficult to do more than listen. When I had first heard of his plans and preparations I tried to caution him that the “No Talent Show” wasn’t really the vehicle but he was excited. He has been noticeably lower in spirit since then but seems to be perking up a bit now.

LOTS of fun stuff was going on with much abandon, including picnics and rituals and workshops and teddy bears’ tea party. Trust me to be ‘under the weather, but I’m not convinced I would have participated in much even if I had been feeling 100 %. LOL I feel like a real Elder! People have noted me apparently observing and quiet which has disquieted some but a couple said they didn’t feel I was disengaged. I have been happy to experience what I have experienced on my own terms and to avoid things that I felt would cause me discomfort… I am confident about my beliefs and motivations, I get my spiritual nourishment in different and specific ways. I always seek to challenge my beliefs and guard against creating a personal dogma but I choose my opportunities carefully: I do not want to challenge or offend people whose beliefs I can’t accept, but if their journey is about connection and community, I don’t care what mode of transport they use to get to a place that looks like the place I want to end up too.

There was a really great impromptu drum circle in the Gun Room in which I participated before soon after hitting the sack by 11:00ish hoping to feel better in the morning.