![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Jun. 25th, 2002 10:09 amSaturday was our 2 Litha celebrations. My group did a sunrise service on top of Mt.Bonnell, a local park that affords a wonderful look-out view of the city on one side and the river on the other. I got up at 5:30am and Gordon drove us there- it was very still- hardly any traffic, unusual in Austin. The air was warm and sticky, even before the Sun came up. We hauled ourselves up to the top of the hill. It was already pretty bright out, and bird song rolled through the cedars- mainly cardinals, and a few mockingbirds and titmice (it's not funny!). The sky was perfectly clear, but had a dirty, faded look to it, probably a combination of local smog and smoke from the wildfires out west. We waited as it got brighter, and I was bitten by 144 mosquitoes. At some unspoken cue Gordon began reading. As he praised the Sun and told the tale of the Oak King and the Holly King, the smallest dot of red appeared on the horizon. It grew to a disk, but remained a dark pinkish-red that you could easily look at. It reminded me of the Japanese flag! A cardinal flew right up to us and chattered at us, and we started the climb down. A few joggers were already out and about. We drove to the kolache place and got some breakfast. Then I went back to bed for a couple of hours before the big ritual.
It was planned as a community-wide ritual to take place out at a park on Lake Travis (Windy Point, to be exact). We drove to the wrong place at first; apparently there's another private park called Windy Point. We'd rented a pavilion that had tables and chairs, places for everyone to put their feast offerings. We started to set up circle, and get gussied-up for the ritual. River brought some face-paints and we decorated each other. I painted oak leaves and holly leaves on the respective kings, and Dale painted leafy vines on River, who was to play the Earth Mother, and stars on me, playing Arianrhod. The play was a lot of fun, and Cedric added a lot of flair by playing violin while the kings fought. He really knows how to heighten the moods. It was a quick ritual, and we wrapped it up and began to eat. I decided to do some clean-up and pack up the ritual implements before I ate... I often lose my appetite when I have to perform or when I HPS, and this time I did both. But after getting things cleaned up I had yummy feast food, my favorite being just plain fresh blueberries, which really taste nothing at all like cooked blueberries. They were refreshing and wonderful. I changed into a bathing suit and headed for the lake.
I decided to swim out to the pylons that separate the swimming area from the boating area. I thought it would be a good workout. It certainly was, since a lake is a lot more alive than a swimming pool. Waves kept trying to roll me over, and an undercurrent was always pushing me north. I still enjoyed myself, and the cool, jade green water. I wonder what I looked like to fish swimming far below, a white spiky thing thrashing about on the ceiling.
After about an hour of this (and yes, I did put on sunscreen) I was ready to go home. As we were driving the twisty roads out of the park area, Gordon noticed a car was riding on his ass. So he pulled over to the side to let them pass, and as they sped ahead, the passenger flipped him off. It was very uncool, and he was somewhat upset about it. I don't blame him; I didn't understand it either. Maybe it was the rainbow stickers but still... why? Jerks.
Sunday was more work, but I took a few hours off in the afternoon. We went to Fry's to get a home design program that hub has been having a lot of fun with, and managed to get it for cheaper than we expected. We made up the difference after discovering that Fry's sells hentai. *blush* Who knew?
Yesterday was nothing but work. I got a hellish case at the end of the day and ended up staying an hour late. We had tasty Indian food from the new grocery we discovered, and then Gordon came over to read a couple of Full Moon meditations. I think it's the first ritual (though it wasn't a full-blown ritual) that he's written completely by himself, and it was really good. I felt very nurtured and blessed afterwards. He even bought a liqueur for wine and cakes that was supposed to taste like creme brulee. I've never had creme brulee, but it was tasty nevertheless.
My weird hours caught up with me, and I crashed even though I think hub was feeling a lot more awake and was hoping for some company. I hated to disappoint him. I just had to sleep. I didn't even notice when he came to bed. Now I'm up, and still feel sleepy. Bleh. I need to swim or something.
It was planned as a community-wide ritual to take place out at a park on Lake Travis (Windy Point, to be exact). We drove to the wrong place at first; apparently there's another private park called Windy Point. We'd rented a pavilion that had tables and chairs, places for everyone to put their feast offerings. We started to set up circle, and get gussied-up for the ritual. River brought some face-paints and we decorated each other. I painted oak leaves and holly leaves on the respective kings, and Dale painted leafy vines on River, who was to play the Earth Mother, and stars on me, playing Arianrhod. The play was a lot of fun, and Cedric added a lot of flair by playing violin while the kings fought. He really knows how to heighten the moods. It was a quick ritual, and we wrapped it up and began to eat. I decided to do some clean-up and pack up the ritual implements before I ate... I often lose my appetite when I have to perform or when I HPS, and this time I did both. But after getting things cleaned up I had yummy feast food, my favorite being just plain fresh blueberries, which really taste nothing at all like cooked blueberries. They were refreshing and wonderful. I changed into a bathing suit and headed for the lake.
I decided to swim out to the pylons that separate the swimming area from the boating area. I thought it would be a good workout. It certainly was, since a lake is a lot more alive than a swimming pool. Waves kept trying to roll me over, and an undercurrent was always pushing me north. I still enjoyed myself, and the cool, jade green water. I wonder what I looked like to fish swimming far below, a white spiky thing thrashing about on the ceiling.
After about an hour of this (and yes, I did put on sunscreen) I was ready to go home. As we were driving the twisty roads out of the park area, Gordon noticed a car was riding on his ass. So he pulled over to the side to let them pass, and as they sped ahead, the passenger flipped him off. It was very uncool, and he was somewhat upset about it. I don't blame him; I didn't understand it either. Maybe it was the rainbow stickers but still... why? Jerks.
Sunday was more work, but I took a few hours off in the afternoon. We went to Fry's to get a home design program that hub has been having a lot of fun with, and managed to get it for cheaper than we expected. We made up the difference after discovering that Fry's sells hentai. *blush* Who knew?
Yesterday was nothing but work. I got a hellish case at the end of the day and ended up staying an hour late. We had tasty Indian food from the new grocery we discovered, and then Gordon came over to read a couple of Full Moon meditations. I think it's the first ritual (though it wasn't a full-blown ritual) that he's written completely by himself, and it was really good. I felt very nurtured and blessed afterwards. He even bought a liqueur for wine and cakes that was supposed to taste like creme brulee. I've never had creme brulee, but it was tasty nevertheless.
My weird hours caught up with me, and I crashed even though I think hub was feeling a lot more awake and was hoping for some company. I hated to disappoint him. I just had to sleep. I didn't even notice when he came to bed. Now I'm up, and still feel sleepy. Bleh. I need to swim or something.
