BAck in Oxenton!

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after exactly a week I return to my ancestral home - or at least, where I was stuck between aged 9 and 19 years...

Shaving my head in a moment of realisation last Tuesday night caused quite a stir among my firends and relatives - even our neighbour informed my parents in Switzerland, who then forwarded an e-mailed photo (of my shaven bonce) from my Grandparents in Avening back to our neighbour by the next day! HOw useful is modern tech, hey?!

Stopping to see my brother in Avening was a good place to break my journey South, but I still had a long way to go to the Big Green Gathering, and was finding it impossible to buy a full ticket at suc h late notice - and in the end I just rode to Sidcot Baha'i Arts Academy for an evening talk and meeting with old friends, then followed folk from this summer's intensive Ruhi course back to Cranmore Tower.

... let me explain - last summer I had the unprecedented chance to study 4 books of a 7-book study sequence, for the empowerment of Baha'is all over the world. These were hosted by an amzing Baha'i guy called Farhad, in his own demesne in Cranmore - consisting of a HUGE tower on top of a hill, several bedrooms and a gathering space, and surrounded by woods, fields and dirt tracks.

Last summer was a great success- and this year again many young Baha'is from all over the UK and abroad gathered there to study these Baha'i materials. I had hoped to tutor the courses myself all summer - but providence had me unqualified - hence the scooter tour all summer.

HOwever, I did stay there for 2 nights - playing songs for the group evenings, and for their study components, and genereally helping-out with practical tasks like fixing and re-erecting a collapsed gazebo (don't laugh - it was huge!, and some of the poles had to be re-moulded to fit...).

On Friday night I drove with about 20 of the young BAah'is there to Sidcot - where we saw the final show of a week-long residential arts camp - where folk were learning everything from singing to web-design to creative dance to sculpture,- and presenting their work on the final evening. The show was spectacular - and I camped-out that night with my old friend Andrew - then in the morning we both set-off for the Big Green Gathering in Cheddar.

Riding up the awe-inspiring Cheddar Gorge was a fitting introduction to what awaited us at the top - field upon field of bustling, alternative-minded people with their stalls, stages, sounds, smells and saunas... though my ticket was only for Saturday, I stayed to help with my friends' sauna right up til this morning - when we packed it all away.

I can barely begin to recount all the fabulous experiences I had these days,- highlights were:
seeing Seize the Day perform - on Saturday and Sunday - and bumping into Theo (core member) as he inspected our yurts this morning:
Spending time with my friend Helen from Brighton - letting her toddler play with friends while we chatted and I got to soothe her with my new Indian Head Massage technique:
Turning

the waggle-taggle gypsies

into a punk song with Kayvan and Oran on Monday evening:
HEaring Adam recite Rumi's saucier stories on Sunday night:
Seeing the moon cupping Venus perfectly along the elliptic, as the sun set on Sunday night - making me more aware than ever before of our earth's suspension in the cosmos:
Answering MAstermind questions on the Baha'i Faith last night, as our companinos fell gently asleep all arond.

Popping-in on my maternal Grandparents in Avening on the way home (Joe is presently returning fomr Brighton), I de-briefed all my stories and caught-up with the latest family and international news- and now am preparing for an easy ride to Syumonds YAt and KAt's 25 birthday tomorrow.

I bid you all good night - and just wait for my Welsh adventures!

P.S; the map for this leg and my projected travels in Wales is attached to the previous journal entry. IF you have trouble finding it just click
Map1 - Brighton to CheltMap2 - Chelt to Wales via Somerset

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