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elfsSaturday, Omaha and I decided that we were going to go to the Oloteas Samhain ritual. She had a meeting in Kirkland for about an hour beforehand, so Kouryou-chan and I dropped her off, went over to the Longhouse, registered, and had just enough time to say "hello" to about six people before it was time to pick her back up. When we finally got to the Longhouse properly 4:30 had rolled around.
Shortly after we all got unpacked we ran into Yamaarashi-chan, who was there with her mother and some of her family; at least one sibling had had other things to do. Still, it was nice to see that![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yaoifangirl is still keeping herself in good shape, since it must be hard for someone her age to have diabetes. Kouryou-chan was ready to go swimming, and the Longhouse pool is one of the warmest we know, so she immediately jumped in and, with the help of a noodle, floated about, practicing her kicks and long arm-strokes and stuff. She had a lot of fun. The pool was quite full though for most of the afternoon, but it's hard to object when there are so damn many pretty people in there.
Still, dinner came around and it was time to get out.fallenpegasus even showed up, I suspect mostly for the company and a decent swim. We geeked, briefly, about Charlie Stross's new novel; he's gotten to read it, and I can't wait to. Dinner was a potluck affair, with some very delicious stews thrown in, very October-y in flavor. shemayazi and her partner showed up, as did the inestimable Kaeli and her partner, as well as her two children, who are both Kouryou-chan's age, and pretty well behaved all the same.
The ritual was interesting. It was the Samhain ritual, asking the dead for one last visit before they pass on to the spirit world. I don't hold much for or against the practice, but I was respectful and attendant. Yamaarashi-chan went with me; nobody else from her family wanted to go out in the cold, so it was just her and me. She had misplaced her coat so she stood in my oversized sweater and watched. Omaha held onto Kouryou-chan, who was respectfully silent through the whole ritual. As it turned out, the weather was perfect: cold but not freezing, with wisps of clouds framing the moon in that Halloween movie way, and lightning in the clouds off to the north. Part of the ritual involves naming the names of those who died, and after family members people listed their lost pets and a few celebrities (and never was the original form of that word more significant than after they were dead, for Ray Charles and Christopher Reeve do deserve to be celebrated), but it does take a bit of brass to invite the ghost of Ray Charles to a pagan celebration.
Afterwards, we lounged in the gathering area, a few of us, snuggling and cuddling, but then Kaeli learned that one of hers had disappeared into the pool "with a friend," and in a panic we all discovered that she was okay, everything was under control. But Kouryou-chan wanted to go swimming too, so we finally all got into the pool. Omaha and Kaeli stayed out and chatted by the side, though; it was nice to see Omaha laughing, life's become too serious lately. FallenPegasus got into the water with the rest of us and Kouryou-chan spent the evening swimming back and forth. That was all right with me; she'd conk out in the car faster.
Eventually, and after fending off three attempts to pull me into the Temple to Pan-- I always feel weird accepting offers like that, even from people I'm already well and truly intimate with, if there are other friends and lovers of mine in the same space, and I've never been able to quite reconcile the fact that it's okay and I'm not perceived as playing favorites, and besides, I had the kids to worry about-- we got Kouryou-chan out of the pool (after she got one smack to the back of the head by an inflatable beach ball tossed by some girl on the other side of the pool), showered and dried off. Kouryou-chan was upset because I had forgotten the book light she wanted so she could read on the way home, but we gave her headphones and kid music, and she fell asleep before we even reached the freeway.
Shortly after we all got unpacked we ran into Yamaarashi-chan, who was there with her mother and some of her family; at least one sibling had had other things to do. Still, it was nice to see that
yaoifangirl is still keeping herself in good shape, since it must be hard for someone her age to have diabetes. Kouryou-chan was ready to go swimming, and the Longhouse pool is one of the warmest we know, so she immediately jumped in and, with the help of a noodle, floated about, practicing her kicks and long arm-strokes and stuff. She had a lot of fun. The pool was quite full though for most of the afternoon, but it's hard to object when there are so damn many pretty people in there.Still, dinner came around and it was time to get out.
fallenpegasus even showed up, I suspect mostly for the company and a decent swim. We geeked, briefly, about Charlie Stross's new novel; he's gotten to read it, and I can't wait to. Dinner was a potluck affair, with some very delicious stews thrown in, very October-y in flavor. shemayazi and her partner showed up, as did the inestimable Kaeli and her partner, as well as her two children, who are both Kouryou-chan's age, and pretty well behaved all the same.The ritual was interesting. It was the Samhain ritual, asking the dead for one last visit before they pass on to the spirit world. I don't hold much for or against the practice, but I was respectful and attendant. Yamaarashi-chan went with me; nobody else from her family wanted to go out in the cold, so it was just her and me. She had misplaced her coat so she stood in my oversized sweater and watched. Omaha held onto Kouryou-chan, who was respectfully silent through the whole ritual. As it turned out, the weather was perfect: cold but not freezing, with wisps of clouds framing the moon in that Halloween movie way, and lightning in the clouds off to the north. Part of the ritual involves naming the names of those who died, and after family members people listed their lost pets and a few celebrities (and never was the original form of that word more significant than after they were dead, for Ray Charles and Christopher Reeve do deserve to be celebrated), but it does take a bit of brass to invite the ghost of Ray Charles to a pagan celebration.
Afterwards, we lounged in the gathering area, a few of us, snuggling and cuddling, but then Kaeli learned that one of hers had disappeared into the pool "with a friend," and in a panic we all discovered that she was okay, everything was under control. But Kouryou-chan wanted to go swimming too, so we finally all got into the pool. Omaha and Kaeli stayed out and chatted by the side, though; it was nice to see Omaha laughing, life's become too serious lately. FallenPegasus got into the water with the rest of us and Kouryou-chan spent the evening swimming back and forth. That was all right with me; she'd conk out in the car faster.
Eventually, and after fending off three attempts to pull me into the Temple to Pan-- I always feel weird accepting offers like that, even from people I'm already well and truly intimate with, if there are other friends and lovers of mine in the same space, and I've never been able to quite reconcile the fact that it's okay and I'm not perceived as playing favorites, and besides, I had the kids to worry about-- we got Kouryou-chan out of the pool (after she got one smack to the back of the head by an inflatable beach ball tossed by some girl on the other side of the pool), showered and dried off. Kouryou-chan was upset because I had forgotten the book light she wanted so she could read on the way home, but we gave her headphones and kid music, and she fell asleep before we even reached the freeway.
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Date: 2004-10-24 04:13 pm (UTC)I think Mr. Charles would understand. "Dat's cool."