elionwyr | How I Spent My Summer Solstice

After hearing me speak longingly about Sidhehaven earlier this month,

adelheid_p invited me to join her for summer Solstice at Brushwood in NY.

I forgot all about it until she nudged me about it early last week, and I spent the next few days in a bit of a panic about whether or not to go. On one hand (largely because of my trip to Sidhehaven last year, combined with some divine ass-kicking I've experienced in the past several months), I've stated a desire to my Self and the universe to get back on track with my spirituality. OTOH..this would mean 2 weekends away from home, and yet another trip where I'd only know one person, and oh gosh lots of new people and lots of new stuff and eeeeeeeek can't I just stay home with my cat and and and...

I chittered my fear at one or two select people, debated canceling right up to Friday morning, got a grip, and decided to go.

I'm very glad I did.

We headed out right after work. Brushwood is a bit over 3 hours away, and most of the trip takes the same path I used to use to go see Chordata. We arrived just about at dusk. I took a lot of pics over the weekend, but I regret I couldn't capture Brushwood at night, with its variety of lights and signs scattered along the buildings and in the forest..

We camped at a spot set up by some of

adelheid_p's friends (who, sadly, weren't able to join us this weekend). Many of the seasonal campers here use heavy plastic shelters over their tents, which is something I've never seen before and found both practical and kinda fascinating, in a 'wow I wouldn't have thought of that' way.

Driving to the camping site meant going through the mostly-dark woods, vaguely lit by Christmas lights and solar footpath lights. And I was intrigued by the signage and some of the campsites...

This fellow had a bunch of stuff for sale by his trailer...including some squirrels that you can't see..

..and an alligator! (I'm rather in love with the gator.)

As it turned out, we were camping sorta in the midst of sacred spaces. Being so close to Runested in particular was quite a god joke. We focused on getting our gear set up and beds ready, and were lullabied to sleep by a duet of drummers and frogs (the latter sounded suspiciously like they were trying to sing "Sexyback"..or maybe I was just much more tired than I realized..)

Slept later than I intended, but considering I'd not slept much the previous two nights, that's not a huge surprise. My generous host took me on a walk around the Nemeton and the Runestead; we also paid a visit to what I think was a goddess shrine a bit further down the road that made me think of

sidhefire's sculptures.

Nemeton:

(My first glimpse of this, there was a chipmunk sitting on the altar looking very much at home..)