On the Road Again The Gathering #5

A focus point for many members of the Family at a Gathering is the full moon celebration. I have never been sure why, but some, it is the reason why they come. For the majority, especially for those who can only make it for a few days getting there for the full moon celebration is always their target. It is almost always a night of good food, drumming and dancing. For me, other than being up past midnight, in a clearing with the moon shinning so bright that one could almost read - the full moon has no special significance. Except of course for the fact that my family is there and are happy.

The full moon at this Gathering was exceptional - it was clear, bright and so full that it almost filled the sky. It was a bit cold but nothing too uncomfortable. I spent less time than normal at the main circle fire in part because my good friend from Salt Spring arrived well after dark. By the time we had hung around with each other up at the road, waiting for her stuff to get settled, the party was well underway. Then a bit later I met a couple on the road who had a bit of a problem that that they needed to talk to someone about. It could have been anyone - I just happened to be there. It was a bit complicated and took sometime to sort out. By that point I was tired and so after making a somewhat cursory visit to the fire, I went off to bed. Perhaps I am getting too old to spend all night dancing beside a raging bonfire..

The next few days drifted by in their usual unstructured haze. People, abet somewhat slowly, continued to arrive and as usual even more people started to leave. By Monday morning there were significantly fewer cars on the shoulders of the dirt road. While there was no real rush in me getting back to Duncan, I started to get a bit anxious about how to get at least to the highway. My back had been well taken care of and felt reasonably fine. The thought however, of walking 10 kilometers before reaching some sort of major intersection was more than I wanted to consider. I was relieved that by Monday night after supper I had tentatively gotten a ride on Wednesday morning at least to Nanaimo. Which was great and I felt as if I could relax, a bit. I am always conscious of the fact that not everyone is as obsessive about punctuality as I am.

While the planning and anticipation about going to and getting to a Gathering are exciting, the leaving for me is not. As readers of this blog are aware, I do not separate well. It is always difficult for me to leave friends and family, especially after being immersed in each other’s lives for 7-8 days.

By 9:00 on Wednesday, I was packed and had most of my stuff up by the road. There was a bit of a panic as I couldn’t find the person who had offered me a drive and I started to wonder if he had left without me. Which of course was silly – he was not even up. At some point he must have noticed me sort of shadowing him so he confirmed that he was still going but that he would not be leaving until after lunch; which meant that we would not be leaving until sometime after 2:00. I found it incredibly difficult to hang around doing nothing, feeling as if I no longer belonged there. I wanted to stay for ever or at least another few days but knew that was not a possibility; I had already backed my bags and figuratively gotten on the bus leaving town. Eventually long before noon I said good bye to my friends and went up to the road to wait.

It was a long wait but eventually my driver (who had had immigrated from Russia), someone from Vancouver who was incredibly positive focused and a young brother from Seattle were all up at the road at the same time and away we went. It was close to 3:00 when we left and of course we had to stop at Gold River for junk food. It felt as if we would never get on our way. When we did get going it was an enjoyable drive, folks were chatty and relaxed. My fellow back seat passenger from Seattle had some interesting stories and asked equally interesting questions.

We had left a lot later than I had hoped. I was a bit concerned being let off somewhere near Nanaimo and it being dark. I really didn’t want to sleep outside on the side of the road. It looked like rain might be a possibility and I felt tired and more than a bit grubby. Sleeping outside would not make me feel any better or any cleaner. However B.C. had just increased the speed limit to 120 KPH which meant that my driver was comfortable going 10 or so kilometres a hour faster than that. The drive did not last nearly as long as I expected. We got to the turn off to the ferry about an hour before sunset.

I  called my son to tell him where I was. He offered to come and get me, It was a generous offer and I appreciated  it but it would have been a hassle for him to pack up the kids just at bedtime and go for a two hour drive. Besides I had done so little hitchhiking that I wanted to make sure that I had not lost my touch.  I hadn't. Within a few minutes a mid-90's Cadillac stopped. The front door was broken, so I sat in the back seat. It was nice being chauffeured in a big old car that was (with the exception of the door) in great shape. My driver was a middle age man, a lawyer who was about to embark onto a rather interesting and very challenging new career. He had just been employed as part of a team that would investigate complaints against the police. As he had already worked as both a prosecutor and a defense lawyer, he understood the issues. If everyone on the team was as well trained, experienced and committed to the process as he was, I would be very optimistic as to the success of the program.

As happens so often, the drive ended too soon. There was so much more we could have talked about. I suspect that when my driver stopped to pick me up, he didn't realize that his new passenger would have enough of a working knowledge of the courts to engage in a detailed conversation of how the law worked. I am always amazed at the diversity of my drivers. I am equally amazed at how they challenge me to draw on all of my experiences to fully engage them in our time together.

My driver dropped me off on the outskirts of Duncan, I could have walked to my son's but I was lazy - so I called him and fifteen minutes later I was back home. Another Gathering to remember, more memories to file away for those cold and rainy days of November when the glories of the previous summer are almost lost and the upcoming one too far away to dream of.