Solstice weekend, Part The First

Yes, I think it may take two posts to blog such a busy weekend.
Saturday actually started Friday night; maybe that's why it felt so long, even with it being the 'longest day'. I got off work as usual, then went and picked up a rider to head out to the Long Dance site. We arrived at about 11 p.m., and I pretty much said hi to a few people, picked out a tree to roll under, and laid out my sleeping bag to try and get some rest. Sunrise comes pretty darned early, you know! Well, the guys in the next camp over were setting up and talking for quite a while, but I managed to doze off a bit. Just about the time I was going to fall asleep for real, the rain started. No, I hadn't taken my tent. And yes, the truck was still full of stuff. So, I dragged myself about 20 feet over, and curled up under the shade tarps that were hung by the main circle. It's funny how, after all these years, my tenting instincts still kick in and I listen for pockets in the roof...and get up and poke the tarp up to drain, and lie back down, and....you get the picture. At least I had enough wits about me to pick the sleeping spot that was not in danger of pocketing!
Just as the birds were singing their wake-up song to the trees, two folks came down from the house, with chimes, and gently woke up the camp. Assembling at the house (praise the gods for coffee), we set off with the center pole to greet the sun at the eastern hill of the property. Clouds notwithstanding, it was officially declared to be sunrise. We then proceeded to the main circle for opening ritual and the raising of the pole. It was a very cool telling/acting of the legend of how the People came up from the dark first world to this, the sunlit fifth world. The long thin pole that we would dance around is that center of the world where Locust's magic staff poked through the roof of the world below this one and let the People come forth.
The drums commenced. Matti starts, by tradition, on the big drum, which is about 3 feet across, and double headed with rawhide. He got a good beat going, and others of us joined in. I was even able to play my bodhran for a while, till the rhythm shifted to a easier beat for the hand drummers to follow. Breakfast started magically appearing at the table outside the circle, and Matti had me take over the big drum for a while. I felt really honored that he chose me first. So, we switched over, one mallet at a time so the beat would be continuous. I think I must have drummed for nearly an hour or so, that first session, and it really felt good. I passed the mallets to the next person who stepped up to take a turn, and got my breakfast.
Somewhere in the morning, the rain came back again. I was already out dancing, and Alan and I were making sure that there was always someone doing that, too. He dug little trenches with his feet to try and direct the water away from the circle, and it did help. My feet were soon covered in mud, but the ground underneath was hard, and it got a bit slippery. The sun returned again, and dried everything out. It settled down to being a mostly sunny day, which was nice.
I did have a bout of negativity come after me in the midst of things, so I took myself out of circle to try and get myself back together. A bit of food and water, a sitdown and a reality check, and I was soon working my way back to where I needed to be. Thank the gods for good friends. I went back to drumming for a while, and Matti made me a bagel sandwich to eat which was very good. More dancing, more drumming, and singing! We got some chants and songs going which was pretty cool. Io was there, and she even complimented my singing. Praise from a master, indeed.
Throughout the day, we took individual breaks, but the music and movement never stopped. Dawn had her big hula hoops with her, which was cool. I even managed to do it! I haven't worked a hula hoop successfully in years! I think I might have to make one now, it's good exercise and good movement.
At a certain point in the afternoon, we had another ritual, this one to call the benificent rains (tomorrow, please). It was really cool, with water hoses making a mist to cool people off and get them dancing again at the end of it.
I was starting to lag a bit, so sat and sang some more, drummed some more, and danced when it was needed. I need more sunscreen, it's not helping... I also did make sure I got a chance to climb the 'woodpecker tree' and tap on the woodblock hanging there. There was a ladder attached to the tree, but it's still quite a climb. Good view, though, and I'm glad I went up.
Sunset was going to officially be at 8:00, but who's counting? Poor Matti almost missed the end, as he had to go talk to a tree. He came hurrying back, because he heard us pick up the beat, and I was hitting the big drum pretty solidly. He did make it, though, and it wouldn't have been right for him to not be there at the end as he was at the start. We all got up and went to stand in circle, and it sprinkled just enough to give us a glorious rainbow! How magical, and what a lovely blessing for the day!
Hugs all around after the last circle, and believe me, nobody wanted it to end. Matti hugged me and thanked me for the great work on the drum and singing. I complimented him in return, of course. The circle and tarps were soon cleaned up, and those of us who weren't staying another night packed up our gear. A lovely potluck up at the house, and a chance to ground and wind down among friends.
More hugs, and finally I had to leave so I could get some rest before Sunday's adventures. I got home and realized just how tired and sore and sunburnt I was, so went to bed in pretty short order.

(to be continued)

Wow, what a Beltane! (very long)

This weekend was the big Beltane gathering out here. Wow. 350 people all camping together in a Forest. It wasn't till I got to talking with some of the others that I realized that this is not only my first Beltane here, but also the first time I've ever been to a large-scale pagan gathering like this. I never made it to Pan-Pagan in Indiana!
So, here’s how most of my weekend went….
I'd been feeling a bit icky all week, mainly allergies, I think. The usual scratchy throat and a bit of fever from being tired. But I wasn't gonna miss this event! I got all my stuff packed, loaded, and cooked in plenty of time to head out Friday to the campsite. It's only about half an hour away, but of course it feels like longer if you don't know quite where you're going! I found the area of the Cibola National Forest that we were going to be in, and the minute I hit the borders of the "Beltane Village", I could feel the energy shift. I found a spot to set up my tent, got registered and signed up for my volunteer shifts. It's been forever since I've used a dome tent, and this one was new to me, so that was an interesting exercise in itself. I hadn't had time to put it up in the backyard to test it, either. Luckily, everything worked fine, and the tent is big enough to stand up in. Of course, I'm still missing some of my usual camping amenities, but I had enough stuff to be comfortable for a weekend.
Off to explore the site, then, and it's a nice area. There's a sea of concrete with lots of concrete picnic tables, and people liked to gather there, but the main center of activity was the big clearing that served as the ritual area. The merchants area was close to where I'd camped, and there were clusters of campers all through the area we had. It was a bit odd not being able to have fires other than campstoves or propane, but under the circumstances it was wise. Despite all the snow over the winter, it has been a very dry spring, and there's a major wildfire going on about 20 miles south of where we were. Nobody's taking any chances!
Fortunately, propane was okay, so that's what we had for our Balefire. We dug a fire pit, laid in a rectangular burner (pipes w/holes) and covered it with rocks and lava rocks. I helped dig the hole and the trench for the hose that ran to the propane tank. When we lit it, it worked really well.
Friday evening was the Opening Ritual. It was neat to be in such a huge circle. After ritual, we got out the drums and instruments and such and gathered around the firepit for a Bardic Circle. I was still feeling icky, and already losing my voice, but I managed to get one song out before I lost it completely. I sang one of my originals, "Drummer Boy", and it was very well received, even without having my full voice. It was so cold that I couldn't get my fingers to work on my guitar, so I just sang it unaccompanied. For my second turn, I just played a tune on my tinwhistle.
After bardic, we got out the drums and the dancers showed up. How some of these gals were able to run around topless in that weather, I'll never know. Even if I'd been feeling 100 percent, I'd have been cold! Anyway, I eventually ended up joining the dancers in order to get closer to the fire and get warm. We passed around all sorts of drink, and I shared out the last remaining good meads from Indiana. It was my way of partying with all my friends in both places. It must have worked well, because I was certainly feeling no pain after a while. Then again, it might have been the brownies, too. Chocolate, mead, drumming, cute guys...oh, yeah, it's Beltane!!
My favorite lad had been there earlier in the day, but couldn't stay the weekend, darn the luck. At least I got to see him at all, because he said he'd just shown up on a lark! Thank you, Universe, for putting the idea in his head! We hung out a bit, and he had his guitar with him, so some of us ended up singing along while he played. That was awesome. Anyway, he'd left even before the opening ritual, so I was missing him, but having fun anyway.
One of the other drummers and I were getting along pretty well, even before he found out that I had bourbon to share. We'd hung out a bit at Ostara, too, talking music and such. Anyway, the circle was winding down, and when we stood up, we realized that we probably should have quit drinking a bit earlier than we had. He was in worse shape than I, so of course I had to make sure he got home safely. ;-) Okay, so I didn't know where his tent was...and he seemed to be quite disoriented...but after a slight detour, we found it and I left him safely tucked in. I headed back to my own tent after stopping back at the circle to make sure the fire was properly turned off.
One word for that night...COLD!!! I crawled into my bed fully dressed, covered my head and tried to get warm. I eventually fell asleep, then woke to find out that Mother Nature was going to add her own lovely twist to the weekend. Dammit, that wasn't supposed to start till Tuesday!! Grrrr.... Out of the relative warmth of the bed, out to the latrines, change clothes when I got back, back to bed. Feh. Oh, well, it'll keep me out of trouble, I guess. Dammit.
Saturday morning, I think I got up out of self-defense, just so I could go find a sunny spot to warm up in. I was surprised to find that even though I'd slept in my contact lenses, they weren't bugging me at all. A bit of saline in the eyes and good to go. The main ritual was set for noonish, and by then I was feeling thawed out. I had gone to the med tent in hopes of something to help me feel better, and had ended up with a mug of hot Gypsy Cold Care tea. It really helped, and the heat felt good on my raw throat. I still didn't have much voice, but at least I didn't feel as feverish. A bunch of us had already started drumming while the crew was digging the hole for the maypole. Four feet deep this year, so it wouldn't fall over. The pole is quite the piece of work. It's about 25 feet long or so, about 8 inches diameter at the base, tapering up to about 3 inch diameter where the wrought iron crown fits on. It's beautifully carved, with the bottom made to look like a phallus, and words spiraling around the shaft. The guy who brought it down from its storage place (on top of his pickup truck) said he got quite the reaction driving through town on the way....I can only imagine!
The ritual was really cool, a dramatization of a god and goddess searching in the four directions for wisdom from other deities about their purpose (of course, it's love...) and then they brought in the maypole. All the men went to fetch it, and they bore it into the circle with the outgoing May Queen riding atop it. The pole was crowned and set upright amidst great cheers. The winding of the pole was so much like the way we do it at Live Oak, not so much for the size of the group, but the way we still manage to make it look good in spite of the missteps in the dance. Kinda like life, I suppose. I did get up from my drum and weave a bit, and was in on the last wraps. Lots of good energy. Then the new May King and Queen were chosen. Couldn't happen to a nicer couple. (One of these years, maybe it'll be my lad and me....maybe.)
After ritual, the feast! Big potluck, mostly cooked ahead, but not all of it. They had split up the list of what to bring by Sign Elements. I'm a Fire Sign, so dessert....cookies, naturally. I think people were still noshing on leftovers till after dark! I took advantage of being warm and full-tummied, and headed back to my tent for a nice nap.
In the evening, we set up and lit the firepit for the Balefire. Another nice ritual, and then the fire jumping began. I managed to make a decent leap, I think, but I was really hurting by this time, so I went back to drumming and trying to stay warm. I actually had another fellow ask me to jump the fire with him! How about that? Here I am, a cold, painful, bleeding mess, and I've got somebody hitting on me? How the heck did that happen? I mean, this is me! Attention from two cute guys in one weekend??? Well, I hobbled up and we stepped over the fire, since I was really stiff from sitting. I explained my feeling icky, and he was quite understanding about it. I did get a nice backrub, though, and that helped a lot. I was able to stay out and drum a while longer, but by the time the dancing started in earnest after dark, I was just too dead to do anything, even after my nap. So I turned in early, all bundled up and with my hat on.
From what someone said Sunday morning, it got down to about 23 degrees F that night. No wonder I was cold! Thank the gods for hot pancakes and coffee for breakfast! After a couple cups of java, I actually got most of my voice back, too. It was a nice mellow morning, hanging out with folks, getting and giving lots of hugs and kisses.

Closing ritual at noon, then down comes the maypole. That was a lot of work, especially getting the rocks out that had been used to keep the pole steady in its hole. The ribbon ends had been trimmed off by then, and people were gathering them for souvenirs. I got some, and am going to send a piece up to my mountain lad, along with copies of the pics I took of the new King and Queen. The ribbon wrappings are removed from the pole in one piece, and the newly-crowned May Queen gets to keep them forever, holding that energy for the community during the coming year. Pretty neat.
After that, it was time to tear down and pack up. It didn't take me long, as I had already done a fair amount of prep work already. I helped some of the others, and spent a bit more time with my drummer friend from Friday night. Then back to the real world, and a Bubonicon Con-Com meeting. How's that for a mental shift?

So, there's my weekend in relatively short form. Of course, I'm not telling you everything! In spite of feeling like crap for a good portion of it, I did have a good time overall. There are other events coming up, and I'm looking forward to them, now that I'm feeling more a part of the community out here. I've made more friends, and that's always good. It reminds me of how I felt when I first found Live Oak. I'm finding a new home, and while I sure do miss the old home, it's good to be here.

Midweek

Wow, Wednesday already. Half the week gone.
I haven't been idle, but it's getting hard to keep track of the days. I am trying to make sure that I get outside as much as possible. My calves are aching from all the walking I've been doing!!
Yesterday I actually used some of my precious gasoline fumes to go up to one of the local food banks and get some much needed supplies. The fresh produce was really welcome; a large quarter-head of cabbage, a couple of big onions, two red bell peppers, some apples and pears, and a couple of pounds of fingerling potatoes. Some canned veggies, a loaf of spelt bread (!), and some roasted tomatoes, too. Add that stuff to the rice and pasta I had, and my other carbs, and I'm good to go! Wish I could have gotten some butter, though.
Today's walk took me up to Walgreens, as they were running a free inkjet cartridge refill day. Got my color cartridge refilled. I've burned an MP3 disk for my little player with some of my favorite energy music on it. I call it my "walkabout disc". The only drawback is that the disc lasts longer than my last set of cheap batteries...
I got a form from the IN unemployment office on Monday. Wouldn't have been so bad, except the darn thing said it had to be in the next day!!! It took over a week for it to even get to me! So I called the office, and of course the gal whose name is on the form is out for the week. Called the generic number, and they said I could fax it in. Great...where am I going to find a place to fax this that won't charge me?? I thought about it, and decided to try my bank. So, Tuesday morning, I go to the bank, and a very helpful gal not only faxed my form for me, but she also gave me her name as a referral for their job website. They have openings for tellers, and personal bankers (they train, and it pays more). So there's another job possibility!
Still waiting to hear on my other possibilities. Till then, I'll try to enjoy the free time as much as possible. I haven't gone to any of the Fiesta activities, honestly, since most things cost money. Plus, most things are just too far for me to walk to.
I'm still making plans in my head for going to MileHiCon in late October, and of course for Yule. I know I'll be okay by then, and I do need something to look forward to.
Hope to have good news soon!

I'd call it Weekend Update, but that name's taken...

Ahh, Sunday night. My weekend has begun.
I'm listening to a wonderful cello/keyboard duo at the Baking Co., and noshing on chilaquiles. Chilaquiles are scrambled eggs with corn tortilla strips, cheese, onions and chiles all mixed in. Pretty good, especially with the home fries and extra chile sauce. Damn, I think I'm going native.
The music is very good, very eclectic. I've heard classical pieces, some tangoes, and a cover of "Desperado" by the Eagles. Wild.
Last night I had some good music, too, at a bar & grill called Brumby's. A Galway fellow by the name of Gerry Carthy. Plays a great tenor guitar, whistle and other instruments. Not much of a crowd there, unfortunately for him, but we got to talk a bit. Bought a CD. Gerry's been around Santa Fe for 20 years now, and he says he still feels like the only Irishman around. He did mention a place in ABQ that sometimes has music, and maybe they have a session. The website says live music Sunday afternoons, so we'll see. Might have to trade a day off and go down.

Been looking for more permanent housing, too, and there were a couple of promising ads in the paper today. I think I'll call on them tomorrow and see what I find. I'm very close to having enough money for "first,last & deposit", and depending on what the landlords ask for, I could be in another place within a paycheck or two. Time to put "The Secret" to work, or at least pay closer attention to what I'm asking for!!