two &half sunsets ago, i went out to obtain groceries. i wound up chasing an impressive flurry of fireworks several miles out of town. all along the way, i saw east-facing cars wedged in pockets of gravel, flashing their hazard lights, as the people perched on them stared at the sight i was hoping to catch at its base.
when i finally found the source, the show was mostly over; there was a peculiar gathering at some Methodist church-cum-campsite somehow inspiring or inspired by the fireworks. considering the line of mostly-empty booths, the impromptu serenade of Pearl Jam covers by some guitarist with a folding-chaired audience, and the terrible steering of several giant gocarts, i would say this was some regular event. celebrating what, i've no idea, but i parked in some hopefully inconspicuous spot between a largish white building possibly used for washrooms and a truck that was also largish and white - i think i hoped my car, white but small, would be camouflaged - and wandered around for a bit.
there was definitely some sort of party happening. several sorts, actually, going by the multitudinous turnout. and the way that, even squinting in the glow of bonfires and the headlights of those leaving after the show's end, i could sort of suss out section breaks. there was a place with lots of decorated campers, one with various tents to their right, and a veritable sea of shiny darkened cars all over everywhere else. it was too dark to read the signs directing traffic or separating settlements, but it was almost like stumbling upon a convention for nomads. which, for all i could comprehend in the dimness, i had done.
aside from the confusion of chatter - and the certainty that someone from the prominent police presence was going to arrest me for Blatant Disregard of all the white-fonted signs capslocking about registration - my foray into the loud and multiscented was absolutely phenomenal. i knew no one, but this crowd, despite the glaring recognition that i did not belong, stood out amongst all the other throngs into which i've before stumbled; i walked away feeling phantasmagorical and so alive.
though i suppose the part where i sped around deseatbuckled on dirt roads for twenty minutes afterward, screeching along to Led Zeppelin and thrusting my head out of my car's sunroof, screaming ecstasy at the farmnight, had something to do with it.
(mission accomplished, by the way: i loaded $56 worth of food into the back of my bruised automobile; my, aren't a lady going to be gargantuan in a week)
