Spring fling

by Jon Sullivan - 2024-04-27 - Stories

<<<<< previous blog            album containing this post's photo

---

So we rode north, seeking adventure.

So we rode north. Past the volcanoes, through the shining city, by the great river, and finally into the woods. Seeking a place often spoken of in stories around the fire, but seldom found. A place of love and light. A place of peace and joy. A place to heal our battered minds and feed our longing for life's answers. Yet another adventure into the mountains seeking fellow seekers, fellow dancers of dreams. We followed the trail on our map into the woods and looked for a place to camp. Me in my tie-dye, Robert in his cowboy cosplay.

Just as we seemed to leave all civilization behind we spotted some elves playing games in the forest, flinging golden discs at some target. We stopped and enquired about a place to camp for the night and they invited us to share the clearing just up the road where they'd already set up. It seemed they were planning a celebration of spring. We proceeded on and found their camp. Preparations for a feast were already underway. Grills hissing with meat, tables filled with bread and fruit and nuts. Food both local and exotic. We added some of our simple supplies, fish and eggs and pastry. The elves returned and introductions were made. Some minstrels were there. And rangers from the east. Mages and alchemists. Poets with tales of enchantment. At some point a knight of valor joined us and shared stories of her battles and victories. We were humbled by her valor, and inspired by her courage.

As the sun sank low we gathered around the fire and the bards played. The pipeweed came out. And it was a magical night. We'd traveled to find adventure, but we found a community of adventurers.

So..... It's a fun story. But it's not far from reality. Last weekend I hung out with truly great men and women. People who see magic close at hand, and for whom love and kindness are automatic and overt. I'm sure it's not for everyone, this band of characters I call tribe. And it's always possible I am actually crazy after all. But...... it doesn't matter. The joy and healing and love are real, even if crazy real.

Always in the back of my head is the possibility I'm over selling my new Oregon friends. And the fear that my old friends and family would need to do an intervention if they ever met tribe and didn't see what I see. I did say to Rob a couple times that it was sometimes a bit like a leaderless cult. One of us? One of us. One of us. But he confirmed it was real enough. These folks are special. And he has a degree in philosophy, so you can take that to the bank.

The original intent of the gathering was to lure Rob out of his dark cabin and toss him into the deep end of our healing community. Marilee put out the bat signal - Friend in need. And the tribe gathered. I suspect he flew home with new possibilities and potentials.

Today's photo : One of the sorts of photos I really like are those that show a scene as our mind would like it to be, but our eyes and camera are incapable of actually seeing. The dynamic range in this photo - the maximum range between the brightest and darkest areas - is so broad that it can't be directly captured. Our eyes need to unconsciously shift between both and then our mind blends them so that we see the whole scene rather than just the brights or just the shadows. It took five shots for the camera to get the full range here, and some computer trickery to blend it into something close to what the mind sees. It's fake. The light, as presented here, does not exist.

<<<<< previous blog    

---