communing with the rain

I really went to the isle of Lewis to see this (photo borrowed from here:
)


The standing stones at Callanish / Calanais. I went out Thursday morning and was suitably impressed, wandered around...browsing some of the literature in the shop I learn that one of the theories as to its existence is that is was built to track various lunar phenomena, such as the 'lunar standstill' which occurs every 18.6 years.
Later that day I heard something about some 'lunar event' happening maybe next week at the stones, and resolved to find out what it was.

The tourist office gave me a number. On Saturday afternoon, as I was about to get on a bus to leave the area, I called the number. A sleepy sounding old man answered the phone...I had no idea what to ask for and he was not particularly forthcoming. "Is something happening at the stones with the moon next week? Is it the full moon?"

"Nothing happens with the full moon. "
long pause.
"But the standstill is tonight."

Okay! Getting more information was like pulling teeth however I was able to learn that
a) all B&Bs in the area were full for the weekend
b) there is no organized expedition from Stornoway to get there
c) the last bus on Saturday leaves around 6 p.m., and there are no more buses until Monday morning.

In that case the obvious solution is to buy a tent and camp out at the stones. I mean really, if I just happen to be in a place where something rare is happening it is my duty to go and check it out, right?

In retrospect this was a somewhat stupid idea though it seemed like a good one at the time.

On the bus on the way out there I had visions of a grand pagan gathering full of entertaining crystal people. What I found was one old gnarly guy in a tent, a couple of caravans, and a handful of people in rainproof clothes hanging about with cameras. Oh well.

I set up my tent and wandered over to the onlookers. It was about 6:45 and the sun was getting low. There were differing opinions on when the moonrise actually was. I started talking to Guy and Les from England who gave me chocolate and we shivered and stared off in a southerly direction. Pointless really as the horizon was completely obscured by clouds - the wind was blowing hard and although when I had arrived the weather had seemed promising it became pretty obvious that nobody was going to be seeing the moon. This was cemented with the arrival of rain, and I retreated to my tent to read a book and eat cake.

I tried to sleep after a while but rain (which sounded like hail) and wind and unbearable coldness of the ground make it all not so fun. I'm talking insane rain. Diluvian rain. This is the last time I go camping without a mat.

Everything became worthwhile however at around 4:30 a.m. when I crept outside to pee in the bushes - the rain had stopped, there was a big clear spot in the sky and every single star that there is was there to be looked at. The brightest sky I have seen in my life, with stars like chips of ice and close enough to touch.

The next night was a little more exciting...not as many people but Les and Guy came back, this time with a largeish bottle of Scotch! Clever boys. We stood around and drank (PURELY MEDICINAL) with a woman who had driven all the way from London the previous day. As the scotch took effect we sat at the base of one of the stones and willed the clouds to part. The weather was slightly better and we could actually see the glow of the moon behind the clouds. A couple of times a silvery edge was revealed and I must tell you, I have never seen people more excited about the moon in my life. It was like the dolphin sighting on the ferry from Ullapool to Stornoway - a cheer goes up, people scramble for cameras, grown men giggle and tear down the decks in order to see the school as it passes.

However those glimpses were brief and as fun as it was to stand around in the pitch dark drizzle staring at clouds, I went to bed.

Currently in Portree on the Isle of Skye, still trying to catch up on sleep (and having the weirdest dreams in the process) but happily I did not get a cold.

Other recent adventures involve falling in a bog, and a long philosophical discussion with a group of complete strangers in a hostel covering everything from serial killers to feminism to archaeology and the nature of the universe. I couldn't believe we weren't stoned.