OK, some bits were slightly off, but then they hadn’t rehearsed as such we learned at the end of the evening. Just given the scripts and told to go for it. My favourite parts were the kamikaze pilot sketch, The Meaning of Liff, the dancing rhinos, Simon Singh, Robert Ince, whoever imitated Prof Cox & the band at the end. OK, it wasn’t totally my kind of music (blues/jazz type) but I did enjoy it and the fact that Dave Gilmour & Gary Brooker were on stage playing together had me in awe. A Whiter Shade of Pale at the end was brilliant.

I was almost crying from laughter in parts but it didn’t escape me that these people performing were (in the most part) close friends of Douglas Adams. Although they were there to celebrate his birthday they must have all wished that he was there in truth.

Importing all my blogs also showed me that when I began blogging I had only a hazy idea about categories & tags. So I find myself with far too many categories that I now realise should have been tags. I know there’s a ‘category to tag’ converter but can’t be bothered with it right now. A job for another occasion.

Tugging hooks of pain,

straight-jacketed sanity.

Anguish. Vengeance. Mine.

Silent seeker;

Still.

Striped paw

Measured, deliberate,

Oh so slow.

Stretches

Extends into lush green grass.

Elongated body,

Tail low,

Eyes intent.

A flash of fur;

A charging cat

Leaps high…

But misses

Prone on the loamy ground, eyes gently closed, I inhale the primeval scents, feeling them burrowing deep into my lungs and spreading through my blood, allowing them to consume me. The warm earth in this lonesome place has its own special aroma that mingles with and complements the spiciness of the ferns and the sweetness of the grass. This combination I feel is just for me, mine alone. A special gift from Gaia herself.

Slowly I open my eyes to the grandeur of the walls around me, their trunks of many hues rising high into the blue. I focus on one to the right of me. By turning my head slightly I can see the texture of the bark, almost feeling the roughness passing under my fingertips. From the darkest brown of the outermost layer to the creaminess where the bark had been stripped away all the shades of colour blended perfectly creating patterns humans can only try to imperfectly emulate.

Bringing my focus back from the tree I see shades of blues. Stems of bluebells standing tall against the shorter blades of grass are scattered naturally throughout this glade of trees. They are the reason I come here.

I turn over onto my stomach and rest my chin on my hands to get a better view. Up close I can see the veins of darker blue tracing delicate lines of life through the petals. The clear, blue shades of the bells are shown up perfectly against the darkest green of their blade-like leaves. I can watch them forever, losing myself in their palette of blue, watching them shake gently in the soft breeze.

Movement. I see a glossy shell of lacquered black, multiple legs scurrying it between the blades of grass that spring from the fertile soil. Spindly legs carry a spider along a leaf on its journey to spin a plate for a future meal. A glimpse of red reveals a ladybird crawling past my arm. I gently place my finger in its path and lift it up to take a closer look. It wanders over my fingers as I turn them to prevent its fall back to the ground and I count 7 black dots against the blood-red background. Suddenly the wing cases open and I catch a swift sight of the clear gauze of wings before the ladybird flies away.

Rolling over onto my back I allow my mind to drift up through the gossping leaves into the air above. Whisps of white clouds pass by me as I float serenely around the peaceful recesses of my unconsciousness. My body sinks into the soil and I merge with Mother Earth.