I still don't believe in signs

For the last twelve years, I've gone to The Gathering for Life on Earth, a local weekend Pagan camp, every summer. This was supposed to be my thirteenth Gathering... I'm not superstitious.

This year's theme was "The Fool's Journey", as often symbolized by the first card of the Tarot deck.

This year was going to be the sixteenth Gathering. The sixteenth card of the Tarot deck is "The Tower".

Ominous.

In retrospect.

Everyone was getting ready for departure on Friday: packing sarongs and drums, and stockpiling snacks and alcohol. The board of directors, all volunteers, had scheduled events, prepared tents, organized meals, and had a wonderful event ready for us all. All that remained was to pack the truck and drive the beautiful Sea-to-Sky highway. And then, on Tuesday night:



Rock slide on the only good route to the camp. The alternative route changed the trip from less than three hours to more than six, on a day with good weather and no traffic.

For days, news trickled in: It'll be cleared by midnight on Wednesday. It'll be cleared by Thursday. It'll be cleared by Monday, at the earliest... on the membership email list, people with small children, medical conditions, and the lack of extra gas money started talking about not being to attend if the rocks weren't cleared.

We can't move rocks with our minds. If we could, our combined focus would've had those rocks dissolved by Wednesday night. As it is, the rocks that weren't supposed to be cleared until Monday at the earliest were cleared very late on Saturday night. Maybe we can speed up someone else moving rocks.

The board of directors tried everything to save the weekend, but in order to save the Gathering from possible bankruptcy due to cancellations, they had to cancel the Gathering.



We replaced it as best we could with the UnGathering: a schedule of house parties, bar-b-ques, beach trips. It was fun: people I don't normally get to see, potluck feasts, even some drumming and dancing... but it wasn't the same.

One week ago today, I should've been coming back from the Gathering. I still feel disconcerted that it didn't happen.