The Lion Sleeps Tonight

An ice sculpture I made 

We walked into the inky blackness of the vegetable garden leaving the lights of the house behind us and set the telescope down where the paths converged. Up above us the heavens glittered. As our eyes adjusted, the scene above became less black, more silver, as the fainter stars became visible and the long blur of the Milky Way appeared. I oriented the scope towards the planet Jupiter, the brightest object visible. The only sound was the whirr of the electric motor as I centred the small ‘finder scope’ on it, then a few fine adjustments to locate it in the middle of the main viewfinder. The greenish globe jerked into view, and as the others took their first peek there were gasps of awe. We could see the bands that bisect it, but the “red spot” (actually a swirling age-old storm bigger than the Earth) must have been on the other side. Four of its moons, no more than bright dots, formed a line, three on one side of Jupiter, one on the other. The largest of them, Ganymede, is bigger than the planet Mercury. Scientists in the 1600’s made their first crude measurement of the speed of light using these moons.

Recently planet Earth completed another revolution of the Sun, or it did if you happen to follow the Gregorian calendar. (The Chinese have to wait another 28 days before they get to celebrate the first day of the Year of the Horse). It’s customary at Pilsdon to celebrate this event with a candle-lit three course dinner, after which everyone gathers in the Common Room for The Quiz and an open revue session of song, dance, games and spoken word leading up to the midnight fireworks. It’s probably similar to how the Victorians had fun, with no TV or radio, and everyone offering something to entertain the group. That analogy perhaps gives the impression of a rather worthy but joyless occasion, whereas in fact the opposite was true. We were in high spirits, and all without a drop of alcohol!

A Penguin

Alcohol was in more plentiful evidence at the nearby Monkton Wyld community the previous evening (not that I could partake as I was returning to Pilsdon the same night). By a huge shiny dollop of coincidence, a large group from Machynlleth, mid-Wales, had decided to come all the way down to Monkton Wyld for a few days - and I knew some of them well from my sojourn in Wales this year.  So I was invited along to their animal-themed fancy dress birthday party.  I had no costume but realised that I could just shake out my mane and it was immediately obvious what I was. Some face-paint daubing later and I was a bona fide lion ready to mingle with the penguins, tigers, fish, dragonflies and amoeba (I was tasked with painting the amoeba’s face... not an easy commission, I’m sure you would agree.)

A Fish

Over the next two days, four of my friends from the group came to visit me at Pilsdon and were given the grand tour of the site, a welcome opportunity to show them my winter home and chat about plans for next year. It was good to be able to link for the first time my Welsh world with my Dorset one. And somehow the thought of returning to my caravan in March seems less daunting now - I have friends up there waiting for me to return.