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Grok Camp part two
Aug. 17th, 2003 01:25 pmSaturday morning after breakfast I got into a political discussion with several people and didn't get to do yoga. Then we had to clean up our tent and car, which had become quite chaotic. As a reward for cleaning, we did a little shopping. I have a new T-shirt, as does Martin, from Sam. Rather expensive but very beautiful. I also have a Ganesha carry bag from Hedwig, and Martin got some odds and ends as well, and he bought an iolite necklace from another vendor. Lunch was again Ottercat, and again, a feast.
After lunch, there was a Frisbee being tossed around, and Martin joined in. I watched as 5 people created a pentagram with a Frisbee. Quite a lot of energy AND fun. Then we both went to Charlie's workshop on correspondences, which was quite interesting.
Dinner Saturday night was a rather eclectic feast, with an incredible amount of both variety and food.
The Saturday night ritual was based on the correspondences Charlie was discussing in his workshop. It was a bit scattered and uneven, but fun. I think the ritual would have worked better in daylight. He was trying to weave a ritual from the 7 core values, associating them with the 7 directions. Some bits worked better than others. As I recall, east was self-knowledge, and we passed around a mirror. South was positive sexuality and there was a ritualized chase – Jackson chased Urth, which is not the metaphor I would have chosen. West was community and we did a water-sharing. North was awareness of (or attunement with) Nature, and there was a spiral dance, led by Martin, who did it well.
Sunday morning, very sensibly, they moved the closing ritual to right after breakfast. We were partly packed by the time it started. The ritual was mostly water-sharing and memories of the festival. I really like the mix of people, and felt very comfortable. I enjoyed hanging out with people, and Tam delighted me by presenting me with a beautiful necklace she made, green and white, colors I wear.
After the ritual, we finished packing pretty quickly – Martin had to do a lot of the work I couldn't. At the end, waiting for Martin to finish combing his hair, I realized I was grinning like I was tripping. The weekend was like that a long, gentle trip. Too bad the "bookends" were the rather stressful time in the car.
Left Lothlorian about 11:45, early than I thought we would. Drive not too bad at first, except for a cloudburst. In Bloomington, IL, I took a detour that ended up going through town, but since I was driving, and was fairly sure it would work, decided to enjoy it. It was kind of fun to see a new place. Got back to I39 okay, though there were a few times when I wasn't sure we would.
We stopped a little earlier than we might have, at Mendota, with 300 miles on the trip odometer, but I was feeling tired. Stayed in a fairly decent Super 8; it was cheaper than the Comfort Inn, which had a small pool but no hot tub, so we decided it wasn't worth the extra money. Ate dinner at the same place we had coming down, Busters.
Started around 9 am Monday. Just as well we stopped where we did, and didn’t try for an earlier start. Dreadful traffic through Rockford, because of construction, and bad DOT planning – this is Illinois. One lane on both I39 and I90, which we had to get on there. We hit it around 10 and I'm glad we did not try to do it Sunday night when we were tired. After that, it got easier. I drove us through Madison. Stopped for lunch at Culvers just the other side of Madison.
Hit St. Paul just around 5, and got off on White Bear Avenue, and got a bit lost – Larpentaur is NOT the street that goes through. Martin had to navigate. Stopped at Taste of Thailand in St. Paul on the way home for take-out (YUM), and got in around 6. If I had gone through St Paul, may have gotten home earlier, but maybe not, since we heard about an accident around there on the radio.
Spent Monday night and Tuesday unpacking, doing laundry etc. Two problems, the inside back door knob isn't working properly. And the dial-up isn't either, which is much more tricky. Have to keep rebooting. I am going to try a defrag and see if that helps.
And Arthur showed up to start the painting Tuesday morning.
P.S. the computer problem turned out to be the Blaster Worm, but Martin killed it. He's the one who deals with bugs in this household, online or off.
After lunch, there was a Frisbee being tossed around, and Martin joined in. I watched as 5 people created a pentagram with a Frisbee. Quite a lot of energy AND fun. Then we both went to Charlie's workshop on correspondences, which was quite interesting.
Dinner Saturday night was a rather eclectic feast, with an incredible amount of both variety and food.
The Saturday night ritual was based on the correspondences Charlie was discussing in his workshop. It was a bit scattered and uneven, but fun. I think the ritual would have worked better in daylight. He was trying to weave a ritual from the 7 core values, associating them with the 7 directions. Some bits worked better than others. As I recall, east was self-knowledge, and we passed around a mirror. South was positive sexuality and there was a ritualized chase – Jackson chased Urth, which is not the metaphor I would have chosen. West was community and we did a water-sharing. North was awareness of (or attunement with) Nature, and there was a spiral dance, led by Martin, who did it well.
Sunday morning, very sensibly, they moved the closing ritual to right after breakfast. We were partly packed by the time it started. The ritual was mostly water-sharing and memories of the festival. I really like the mix of people, and felt very comfortable. I enjoyed hanging out with people, and Tam delighted me by presenting me with a beautiful necklace she made, green and white, colors I wear.
After the ritual, we finished packing pretty quickly – Martin had to do a lot of the work I couldn't. At the end, waiting for Martin to finish combing his hair, I realized I was grinning like I was tripping. The weekend was like that a long, gentle trip. Too bad the "bookends" were the rather stressful time in the car.
Left Lothlorian about 11:45, early than I thought we would. Drive not too bad at first, except for a cloudburst. In Bloomington, IL, I took a detour that ended up going through town, but since I was driving, and was fairly sure it would work, decided to enjoy it. It was kind of fun to see a new place. Got back to I39 okay, though there were a few times when I wasn't sure we would.
We stopped a little earlier than we might have, at Mendota, with 300 miles on the trip odometer, but I was feeling tired. Stayed in a fairly decent Super 8; it was cheaper than the Comfort Inn, which had a small pool but no hot tub, so we decided it wasn't worth the extra money. Ate dinner at the same place we had coming down, Busters.
Started around 9 am Monday. Just as well we stopped where we did, and didn’t try for an earlier start. Dreadful traffic through Rockford, because of construction, and bad DOT planning – this is Illinois. One lane on both I39 and I90, which we had to get on there. We hit it around 10 and I'm glad we did not try to do it Sunday night when we were tired. After that, it got easier. I drove us through Madison. Stopped for lunch at Culvers just the other side of Madison.
Hit St. Paul just around 5, and got off on White Bear Avenue, and got a bit lost – Larpentaur is NOT the street that goes through. Martin had to navigate. Stopped at Taste of Thailand in St. Paul on the way home for take-out (YUM), and got in around 6. If I had gone through St Paul, may have gotten home earlier, but maybe not, since we heard about an accident around there on the radio.
Spent Monday night and Tuesday unpacking, doing laundry etc. Two problems, the inside back door knob isn't working properly. And the dial-up isn't either, which is much more tricky. Have to keep rebooting. I am going to try a defrag and see if that helps.
And Arthur showed up to start the painting Tuesday morning.
P.S. the computer problem turned out to be the Blaster Worm, but Martin killed it. He's the one who deals with bugs in this household, online or off.
