another summer solstice

a hilltop near Avebury
21st June 2017

Another magical summer solstice gathering. Fireside jamming all night, a lot of it involving Stef's mandola and my saz interweaving with various Goddess/Earth chants led by Peni and Selena (a lovely thing to be part of once a year or so). Nathan Vibration was also around with his bouzouki, and Nusphere Dave with a darbouka. Melski came up from Gloucestershire with little Arthur, my third godson, and spent the night trying to sleep just a bit too close to our noisy fireside scene...but they made it up onto the nearby round barrow to watch a pretty beatiful sunrise (despite the sky being marred by a lot of aircraft-related textures).

I'd walked in to Avebury from Pewsey the day before (having got the train there), along the canal to Alton Barnes, then up the Ridgeway over the hill and down, stopping off at all my usual favourite spots (Knapp Hill, Adam's Grave, Alton Priors church, the yew in its churchyard, the nearby "laughing" spring) to sit quietly or play a bit of saz. The trip also included quick stops at Swallowhead Spring, West Kennet Longbarrow, the nameless longbarrow near Beckhampton, the Adam and Eve stones, Waden Hill, Silbury Hill, East Kennett churchyard. It's always worth the effort to get myself into the Avebury landscape.

I left the day after with Melski and Arthur, back to Dursley for a couple of days. We were going to record a Reality Report conversation about play and improvisation, but that never happened. Got some good shoes in a charity shop, though, saw lots of birds at a nearby wetland reserve, and retain happy memories of collectivey digging a Hugh Masakela album one morning with M&A.