After leading everyone in hip-hip-huzzahs for the King and Queen of (something) and explaining how their plan to have a mock wedding turned into a real one, the organizer of the fairy ball explained some of the other mysteries of the event. The most important one: what this was and why the Court of the Fae was this strange area full of clearly human-made mounds. The whole property was his parents', and this was their BMX track. So now you understand that wooden tower back at the very top of the hill; it was there so you could start your race with a plummet down a slide and then a big hill before riding your bike into the narrow trail through the woods. And this Court of the Fae area was the ... whatever that part of the BMX track where it's all just little hills that you jump or turn around on is called. We felt considerably more at ease that we weren't doing some silly (but good) cosplay on, like, a burial mound or something. We also wondered, jeez, what was this guy's parents' deal that they had the space and the willingness to build a BMX track? The area with the dance floor the organizer later explained had been his and his brother's ice rink in the winter. I assume by the trick of hosing down the area with water and letting it freeze but still, man, even for Grand Rapids Suburb people that seems like a lot.
He did give us some good advice about things not to miss, though. One of them: the trail through the woods, which he advised walking both by day and at night. We would take the chance both times. Our daytime --- well, fading twilight time --- saw us just the once wander off the trail because the strands of fairy lights and the white banners hung from branches where the trail split weren't enough of a hint for me. FAE came to my rescue in figuring this out. We also passed a couple of BMX obstacles, mostly little wooden triangle ramps. One was more of a trapezoid, and that on a long path of twelve-inch-wide boards that were too narrow to comfortably walk on; they must be a heck of a thing to bike on.
Our twilight walk, starting from the Court of the Fae, came to a halt a little bit before exiting. A couple guys came back the opposite way warning us that the wedding had started and if we continued we would come out right int he middle of it. This was no exaggeration: the trellis for the other end of the trail was exactly where the wedding couple and officiant were gathered, so it wouldn't even be like we might be seen in a few snaps; we'd have to walk right between them. We waited where we were, watching from far enough in the woods that hopefully all anyone noticed is some of their pictures a grainy, shaded raccoon mask floating six feet in the air. I didn't set out to be a cryptid in a fairy wedding but if that's the path life has taken me, I am content.
At night, before the end of everything, we walked the path the other way and it was nice and somehow easier to follow in the better darkness, with the strands of lights making a much less ambiguous path. There were a couple spots where a branch got dangerously close to the trail, but I think all of them were wrapped in either lights or white cloth so you had a good chance not to bonk your head. It left me thinking what an incredible project laying all this out and cleaning all this up must be. Some quirk of fate had almost everyone walking the trail this time taking the same path we did, going from where the wedding was back to the Court of the Fae. Near the end a couple of people walking the other way, coming from the Court of the Fae, felt unsure. One said ``I think we're walking the wrong way,'' since everyone was going the opposite direction. I assured him, ``There's no wrong way to walk the path. Falling down, that's the only wrong way.'' It seemed like a good spontaneous line but felt wiser for being said to people walking an obscure path at a fairy event.
I talk about the trail so much though not because it was where we spent the most time --- it was maybe twenty minutes all told, between both walks, not counting the time spent haunting the deep background of people's wedding photos --- but for how much it impressed a tone on me. This was a space to explore, a place to discover things, alongside people who worried they were going the wrong way.
Back to Christmas pictures; hope you like.
Looking past the Christmas tree at some of the many plants ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunnyhugger's mother keeps in the sun room.
bunnyhugger getting ready to deploy her film camera on the proceedings.
And then here she's just looking good as a blue alien. Can you spot me in this picture?
bunnyhugger about to discover she has a tripod! Again, can you spot me?
The bottom of the Christmas tree, cleaned out of presents and with a couple baubles that fell off by themselves or with the assistance of the cat.
A close-up picture of the tree from inside the sun room, looking out.
Trivia: Astronaut Ed White had a Zeiss Ikon Contarex Special 35-mm single lens reflect camera on his spacewalk, and exposed 40 frames during the Gemini 4 flight. The film was Ansco D-200 transparency color with a nominal exposure of 1/500s at f/11. The first twelve frames were definitely exposed during his spacewalk. Frames 13 to 17 may have been exposed during the spaceflight or after White had returned inside; it is not clear which. Frames 18 through 28 were taken within Gemini after the spacewalk. The remaining twelve were blank. Source: Gemini 4: An Astronaut Steps Into The Void, David J Shayler. Almost none of the pictures were ever published, and none widely; almost all published photography from the flight was taken by Jim McDivitt, command pilot.
Currently Reading: His Majesty's Airship: The Life and Tragic Death of the World's Largest Flying Machine, S C Gwynne.
