strange_complex: (Wicker Man sunset)
strange_complex ([personal profile] strange_complex) wrote2006-05-01 07:58 am

May morning

We totally made it through the night: me and Spiky Neil playing Worms and Puzzle Bobble, and then [livejournal.com profile] oxfordgirl joining us for the ritual viewing of The Wicker Man, and by then it was 4am and time to start phoning people like [livejournal.com profile] redkitty23 and [livejournal.com profile] stompyboots to chivvy them up and out for meeting at the tower.

It rained, but the freshness was perfect, and we walked in clutching sprigs of cherry blossom, me feeling more alive and alert than I think I've ever felt on May morning before, despite having been in such a state of extreme tiredness on Saturday that I was seriously afraid I was about to suffer internal organ failure or something.

And we had the best spot ever, right at the base, and when the Hymnus Eucharisticus rang out, I gazed up through the rain at the impossibly looming tower, held my blossom aloft and felt the hush and the still and the awakening summer all around me, and remembered all the previous times and the powerful magic of the morning and cried softly to think I might never be there again.

And then it was a damp picnic and dancers in the Radcliffe Camera Square, and some guy taking pictures of me and [livejournal.com profile] oxfordgirl laughing and waving our blossoms, and a physical manifestation of Apollo, and champagne and free hot chocolate and giggling at the extreme spaced-outness of [livejournal.com profile] stompyboots, [livejournal.com profile] edling and Cat WINOLJ.

And then it was home, and crash and burn, and my fingers feel like putty now on the keyboard. I think I may possibly need to sleep for a very long time, very, very soon.

But I'm so glad I did it, because I LOVE OXFORD. And it tears my heart to think I must leave it all behind. :(

This post brought to you by sleep deprivation and Piper Heidseick champagne.

[identity profile] angeoverhere.livejournal.com 2006-05-01 09:50 am (UTC)(link)
As ever, it sounds amazing. If you'd like company in trying to find beltane/mayday celebrations Oop North, then I'm more than happy to oblige.

[identity profile] thebiomechanoid.livejournal.com 2006-05-01 10:41 am (UTC)(link)
Good stuff.
I went to a maths and biology lecture : )
AND the buses were off so I haad to walk!

Lucky you!
(seriously though it sounds superb)

[identity profile] kernowgirl.livejournal.com 2006-05-01 11:25 am (UTC)(link)
Oh, dang. Something else I never did... Although I used to love hearing about it at work the next day. Glad you had a great 'last' one. I don't recall anything of the kind at Leeds, but then again, I never looked for it.

[identity profile] purple-peril.livejournal.com 2006-05-02 09:20 am (UTC)(link)
Blessed Beltane Hon!
I am sad that I never saw the choir on May morning when I was at Oxford. We in the Arthurian Society were always off at the Rollrights to see the dawn, which was lovely in its way, but I do rather wish I had heard the choir just once.
I considered going along this year as I was in the country, but decided it would be something I would like to share with someone, rather than being there all alone. Besides which, I read on the internet that the event is 'not open to the public'. Is that true?