Stonehenge

Didn't watch the live streaming yesterday, can't imagine how that would work.

I recall one particular summer solstice when I was at Stonehenge, close to a specific stone. Placed my hand against it, something happened, difficult - perhaps impossible - to describe without sounding like a lunatic, but extremely positive. For this reason, I dismiss words on the matter, only to say that no intoxicants were involved, nor was it a part of the group experience.At some point I would like to return and try again. The other thing that might be interesting would be to touch the same stone at Winter solstice, see if anything similar occurs. But eh, flights to the west country? Swindon airport?

Let's park that one for a while.

It was a sweet day yesterday, R and I went for a proper walk, picked up a bit of litter... It's sad to see that more humans = more crap strewn everywhere, but that was the only tiny downer about the day. The nature reserve or park or whatever it is remains very pretty, all silver birch and beech and hawthorn, lots of willows because it's just that bit boggy...probably why it hasn't been built upon. Wild pea and tiny orchids among the wildflower hoards. Left a little something out for the fair folk last night as one does.

And here we go, through the gates of Summer!

Rant

What a fool I am.

I did it again. I went on to FB again, just to wish mates a happy solstice, write nice things to chums who are feeling low, just the usual.

Unfortunately, I simply never really get what the usual has become.

Without doubt, I just saw the most stupid meme in the history of my life on the internet. For my own self respect, I won't copy the effing thing here, only to paraphrase that if you don't want to read JK Rowling, if you want books that have fewer white people, no slave-elves, no banking goblins (that needs respelling I'm certain) read Ursula Le Guin.

I want to explode. Or make someone else explode. Ursula Le Guin is one of the greatest fantasy writers of all time, read because her stories are strong, her vision is extraordinary, her characters are real, her writing is superb. Her writing would have been all of these things even if we did not find her character admirable. She is not great because she is the antithesis of JK Rowling (itself a deeper question) she is great irrespective of any such comparison of morality. If it one day transpires that she had some pretty unsavoury faults, it does not change the fact that her work is superlative.

Oh, I am sick of people endlessly maydaying the good ship Virtue. The box-ticking is ridiculous, the desire to censor insane, all to be part of the tribe. Well, maybe the tribe is puritanical, censorious, and above all completely inauthentic. If you cannot respond honestly to Art without knowing whether it comes from an ideologically sound source, you are not responding to it from your own self, you are responding from the place of your social construct, the mask you make to fit in and be accepted. The only genuine thought or feeling behind this is fear of rejection.There's no real creation in that. In fact, there's nothing real in it at all.

Anyone out there, by all means read Ursula Le Guin, she's brilliant. Read her because of that. It's enough.

Note to self: FB for birthdays, then get off or go mad.