Summerland: 2010 (or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the rain)

Summerland, for those of you who are unaware, is a druid festival. it happens every year around this time and takes place at Camp Clifton, which is just next to Clifton Gorge in Yellow Springs. It's pretty safe to say that the area is lovely. There's a lot of good old fashioned "nature", a huge fire pit for rituals, big dining hall, huge pavilion, etc.

Of course, there are some downsides to the location as well. the dining hall is meant for small children and the tables show it. I personally have to sit sideways in them. And while the nature is great, the bathrooms are often a bit scary (though I've seen worse). But overall, one of the best campsites I've frequented.

So what happened this year? A lot of stuff. More stuff than i can get into this blog, but here goes.

Wednesday: traditionally (for the last 2 years) on Wednesday I go to the campsite and Seamus and I go into town to get groceries to feed everyone. This year, remembering that we took the long way last year, I relied of my GPS (ye olde global positioning system) to get us to GFS (ye olde Gordon Food Service). And of course, in the fullness of time, it got us there.

... right to their warehouse. Where they would not sell us food at all.

So we followed new directions to another one way the hell farther away than we needed to be, got there just as they were closing, and then made them stay open an extra 20 minutes so we could shop. Good thing they were so nice to us. We got a LOT of food. 4 carts full. Metric tons of it. So that was a fun distraction. And Seamus is fun to shop with.

The next day was better than I thought. I made it home late that night and we didn't have to be at Summerlands till around noon or one the next day, so we took our time getting ready and packing up. Way better than last year.

Thursday was, among other things, the Memorial Service for Isaac Bonewits, our beloved (and expired) flounder. To celebrate we held a memorial ritual in his honor, that was video taped and recorded for history. It was all fire and lights and Brigid and the Dagda and good puns and good memories and a bunch of Eulogies ... it was easily the best memorial service I have ever attended and did him great honor. After that was a wake where we consumed "esteemed flounder" and every drank (I drank Gatorade) and sang in his honor. it was a good time. The night degenerated into drumming and a fire circle and I let Traci deal with that as I crashed around 12:30 or so. In retrospect, i wish I'd stayed up, but I was pretty bushed.

Friday morning was actually pretty brutal. Sleeping was difficult in our cabin. It was humid, and when I crashed it was hot. Somewhere around 2:30 it became cold. Also, the beds were an inch of foam on top of plywood. Not comfy. This resulted in a lot of tossing and turning. But I woke bright and early to get breakfast (many thanks to the Whispering Lake grove for feeding us almost all weekend) and do some fun stuff. A lot of that fun stuff ended up being attending a workshop on the Proto Indo European peoples, and then working on a wand that I had begin the night before. Traci went shopping with Emerald and Mike and I took a nap (not together). We also read some graffiti and I worked on some ritual language for a secret squirrel ritual the next day. Friday night was the welcoming Sumble (postponed by a day by Isaac, which was really his last joke on us, I think: forcing us to have the welcoming party on the second night of Summerland). It was pretty epic. The cranes came in last and were announced and there were a ton of us. almost 30 all told. It's always an amazing feeling to enter with a group that large. the horn was passed around and everyone made a toast, honored someone or something, or boasted a bit. I honored dead and forgotten gods, so that we might know their faces (as part of my new work with Neit), and Traci honored the Morrigan, which was both surprising and pleasant for me. Leesa boasted about the Dublin Irish Festival which made people cheer. Nick, having kept his oath, got to cut off his hair (looks much better now) and then Seamus, after years of tireless work and more dedication than i have ever had to anything that wasn't attached to my body, was consecrated as a priest of ADF.

(Aside. we have tow kinds of priests. Consecrated and Ordained. Being consecrated is what you do after you have complete what amounts to a year or so of clergy work - and after the dedicant program and likely at least one other program as well, so it's not a short process. After another two cycles of work and a lot more hours, you can then apply for full ordination, though not all do).

His consecration was really pretty excellent and he said a lot of great things to the kindreds. Good time was had by all.

That was followed by some of me and Traci being thirsty and hot, so we snuck into town and got some beverages at Wendy's. Noms. Then we went back to the cabin. She went off to the drum circle and I stayed in the cabin. I slept a lot this year. I wonder if I was sick ... I think it was just the heat and humidity. At this point, i should note that the only reason it reads like I was regularly abandoning Traci to go to the evening revelry by herself is that I was and that sort of makes me an ass. I didn't really think about it at the time, but I do feel like I didn't get to see enough of her. There was, still, though, a ton left to the weekend.

The next day was busy with a spirit magic workshop followed by preparing for Mike's Ordination. Now, as I've already said, consecration requires a ton of work. And knowing that, I'm sure you can appreciate how much work ordination requires. To say that it requires as much work as getting a masters degree is probably not too much of a stretch, depending on the school. It's a lot of very specific work, a lot of study, and a lot of motivating yourself, because there is no teacher forcing you to turn in homework.

Before the Unity rite (which is THE huge rite of Summerland) we took Mike off for a sort of Journey to prepare for the ordination. It was an ordeal of sorts, and while I can't speak of details, I will say that it was a trying experience, but it was very rewarding (it was also spoken of as "gay" but I think that was just people being critical).

And then the ritual began. We climbed up the cliffside, exhausted, but ready to work. And i was hot. I was wearing ritual garb and anyone who has ever worn it will tell you that it is not summer wear. Heidi Kulm would have been appalled.

White after labor day?! You're out!

And the ritual went on. And as it did, it started to rain. And not a little. Just as Kirk went to introduce Mike for his ordination, it started to pour. Rain like I have rarely seen, and never at a ritual (prompting me to wish that I had knocked on wood when I'd told Mike the day before that we had never done a ritual in a terrible rainstorm). And he went on anyway. He made offerings to the kindreds in a roar and to his patrons over the noise of the rain and the cheering of the crowd. Honestly, i have never seen anything like it. It was as if he was daring the cosmos to deny his piety. And just when it was at it's worst, he concluded his offerings and the rain slowed.

But it wasn't done. it kept drizzling down for a few moments beyond that until Kirk came forward and placed the stole or ordination on his shoulders. That is when the sun came out and the rain stopped. (Honestly, I have seen something like it once before, but I won't make the comparison here. those of you who know me well probably already know the story).

After that, i don't remember much. I remember there being a flurry of cooking for the potluck (I have Kashas Varnishkas) and then I went to the cabin to dry off and laid down and then i was just out for hours. Apparently I missed the auction (which makes me sad) and some other stuff. I did get up in time to spend some time with the girl and eventually put her to bed (after dominating a bottle of mead that refused to open for her). I was up long enough to play tetherball with Mike (he whooped me, but I think that being ordained gives you a +2 bonus to tetherball, so I want a rematch next year) and long enough to see a grove girl hurt her ankle (it was fine in the end but sort of scary at the time). there was singing and music and it was a huge good time going on all around me.

But I kept looking at the small things. People talking or kissing or just comforting people that needed it or cheering those who needed cheering. I like that stuff.

In the morning we made and served breakfast (I did more serving than making) and then cleaned and left, exhausted. We picked up out very grateful dog (who slept all day) and spend the night recuperating (till game).

I know that's a lot, but if you want the TLDR version:

1. Summerlands: humid but fun.
2. Next year: set aside more girl time. I missed her.
3. Seamus was consecrated because he is hells dedicated and certainly deserves the mantle.
4. Mike was ordained in the fashion of a big budget Hollywood movie.
5. I sleep a lot when it's hot out.