Dancing in a field

GOD how I want to go dancing in a field again! It's been faaaaar too long since I did that.

Regular readers may have noticed a comparative lack of posts this month - and for that I apologise. I've been somewhat distracted wallowing in memories of The Gathering. My iPod playlist is currently set to one I've named The Gathering, which is a collection of a bunch of my favourite dance tracks from those dancing-in-a-field years. Hallucinogen's awesome LSD has just finished, and now I'm on to Gamemaster by Lost Tribe. Sigh. Fuck I miss those days. We created magic, I was part of a great big wonderful family, there were moments of true bliss, true power, true angst and true joy and sometimes I wish... I just wish I could go back. Just for a visit.

I've spent the entire Christmas holidays so far building my new website - The Gathering - the Canaan Downs archives and it's turning into quite a mission. Thank goodness I was so thorough with the original Gathering website - I have all sorts of good stuff I can re-use. But it's important that this site has heaps of new stuff too. I think the stories and new photos are going to be pretty fascinating. I've been getting all kinds of tales sent to me already, and each one is a different take on TheG. I love it!

I've slipped into my normal holiday mode of (very strange) sleep patterns. I get up at 2 or 3pm, then I work on the website non-stop until about 4am, read in bed for a hour or so and then go to sleep at 5am as the day is dawning and the birds are doing their early morning sing-song. I'm really going to have to wean myself back onto somewhat normal hours soon, or I'll never get to work on time when we go back.

I was planning to do gardening and other "house" projects during the day, and the website at night, but this has not yet happened because this summer has officially (according to me) become the Worst Summer Ever (following the Worst Spring Ever and the Worst Winter Ever). It suddenly occurred to me the other day, as I was sitting at my computer wrapped in jumpers, icebreakers and thick socks listening to the wind howl around the house yet again, that we might not actually get any decent summer weather at all - this could be it - and then we'll be back to horrible horrible winter again. OhmyGod.

Anyway, so there are shitloads of things I need to do around the house and garden - like rescue or replace all my indoor plants that I have neglected over the past few months - and get pathway lights for my garden so I can actually see where I'm going in the dark - and tie back the large Leucospermum bush/tree which is leaning so far over that my flatmates can hardly get through their front door anymore - and tidy up the garden generally (heaps of weeding) - and get rid of the moss on the terrace (oh, for a deck!) - and throw out all the old dead pot plants and get some shiny new ones - and at least mow a pathway across my 2ft high lawn so it looks like it's an artfully created "wild meadow" thingy... you get the picture.

But so far this "summer" it's either been freezing cold, raining, blowing a gale, or a combination of all three. Even on the occasional sunny day it's generally blowing a gale which is no fun for gardening. Bleagh. Today was a classic NZ day. When I woke up (at about 2pm, ahem) it seemed like a lovely sunny day. "Crikey! Today is summer! Better get out there and make the most of it!" I thought. But by the time I had actually made it out of bed it was absolutely throwing it down, the streets were flooding and there was a nice icy breeze from the south. An hour after that, lovely and sunny again. This is such typical New Zealand weather. 4 seasons in one day - and any time you go anywhere you have to take gear for every possible eventuality - from sunburn to frostbite pretty much. Heh.

Anyway, ramble ramble - you can tell I haven't written for a while - I'm quite out of practice.

I think where this began was that I WANT TO GO DANCING IN A FIELD AGAIN. I even had a look at the Uprising website last night - and the ferry bookings - but I've just left it too late (it starts tomorrow) - and anyway WebWeaver NoMates has no-one to go with, which isn't really much fun. Wish I had a single friend who'd be willing to do crazy stuff at the drop of a hat sometimes. Ah well. Maybe we'll keep an eye on how Uprising goes this year, and if it sounds good maybe I can persuade the gang (plus assorted sprogs) to all go next New Year and dance together in a field like we used to do.

Technorati tags: The Gathering, dance party, rave, New Zealand, Canaan Downs, Takaka Hill, archive, outdoor dance parties, Uprising.