The Lair of the Emerald Serpent

Every year this serpent greedily awaits the annual celebration of freakishness that is the Fringe Festival. Every year is an opportunity to raid the war chest and see an assortment of strange and crazy shows. This year was no different with the exception that the indulgence reached excessive levels even by my own decadent standards

The usual quota for the last 8 years or so has been 20 shows per year give or take 1 or 2
This year for the first time ever I passed the 30 mark. But due to all sorts of chaos and craziness, I never did manage to post about a single one of them.
So what better excuse is there than the usual congruence of days and dates in February and March to indulge in a little trip down memory lane. Next year will be one of those pesky leap years but this one was not so this is the perfect occasion to remember Saturday 9th February.


( Stars and bars )

At this rate, it looks like the serpent will never catch up with the gossip in Cyberia.
Been back lurking in the Lair since Saturday but hardly ever online with access to a proper big screen and keyboard.

This should have been the week for catching up but there was the distraction of the annual heritage festival. Missed many events due to events at the Dursleys but there were still a few tasty morsels left for this week. Notre Dame University put on far too many tempting evening lectures with titles such as "Journalists and the first draft of history", "Australia, Trump and the American Alliance" and this evening's offering "Heroes and Villains, crime and history" on the subject of celebrity criminals and Dodgy Donald didn't even get a mention.

I will have to pass on the annual ritual of the university guided tour due to work tomorrow.

It was a fun week of fake news, alternative facts and grovelling deputy sheriffs. Even managed to plant a few weeds in the Lair while listen to scary stories on the radio about the blasphemy laws in Pakistan and how even the laid back Indonesians are turning into a bunch of feral fundamentalists. That Saudi Orb of Darkness is leaving its trail of destruction everywhere.

So here is hoping that this month sees a return to the usual serpent abnormality. Funny. It took several week's absence from the Lair to realize just how much I miss it.

Got so much catching up to do with dusting, mopping and generally restoring some order to the crazy chaos. Who knows, I might even manage to invite Petunia over when she is feeling a bit better.

Today was the last day of the International Arts Festival. For five weeks the city has been like a hive buzzing with all sorts of artistic activities. There's been circuses, cabarets, freak shows, fireworks, dance, music and all sorts of strange theatrics.

Way back in the middle of January I took a detour to see the Cthulhu trees of Russell Square get their tentacles tamed and transformed into The Pleasure Garden

There were rickety bockety circus tents and ramshackle caravans and assorted buildings popping up everywhere and looking most magical and mysterious indeed.
There was a sense of expectation in the air, a sense of wonderful things to come.

( Fringe Binge )

There’s more to life than battling bitchy cane toads. It is just such a pity that they are so invasive of both time and space. Toads with long sticky forked tongues and big black ribbons on their heads are even more monstrous. Worst of all is that all the grand plans for next year’s overseas adventures have to be put on hold. Even the annual slink down to the gorgeous Eden Vale cannot be counted on.

But it has not stopped the Izzie slinking about the art galleries, going to plays and watching weird movies and plotting assorted zombie adventures for August

Had two recent movies on the wish list and chose “Snow White” to see first as it likely has the shortest shelf life in the cinemas. One big advantage of the day job is the ability to take advantage of all those off peak specials. The cheap movies before 5pm is a favorite. It’s even better when the pimply young things behind the ticket counter give Izzie the senior’s discount.
Now if only the bus drivers would be so nice. Could save a fortune.

Snow White definitely could do with a lot more daggers and razor blades. It needs some serious slicing and dicing and half the film should have remained on the cutting room floor.
Loved the little Snow White as a twelve year old. She was pretty rather than beautiful and was far more convincing as a gorgeous caring soul than her later pale vampire incarnation.

But the real star of the show was Ravenna. From her Trojan Horse number to her strange tastes for flesh and milk baths and those wicked twisted magical powers. Now why Ravenna had blond hair just did not make sense. The pair of them should have swapped wigs. Loved the whole Dorian Grey stuff of sucking the vitality out of young virgin girls and turning them into shrivelled empty shells. She would make an excellent dementor. Those flocks of cranky birds and her costumes were also most impressive indeed. But aside from the magic mushrooms in the fairy forest, the rest of the story was pathetic. Gotten rather tired of Lord of the Rings and Narnia wannabees by now. Got so bored that the Izzie actually fell asleep several times during the movie.

Never even seen any of the Twilight movies other than those awful trailers and never got further than the first book but still could think of nothing but sparkly vampires every time the silly bimbo appeared. And yesss we know it is a fairy story but it is a bit hard to swallow that a pampered princess who gets locked in the north tower of Hogwarts is able to escape, navigate her way around the castle in the dark, slide down the sewers, escape the giant squid and swim to safety. The Joan of Arc ‘saving people’ thing got ever so tiring. The whole thing was definitely a very derivative painting by numbers affair. Too many goblins running the show.

The same day also paid a visit to a certain old lunatic asylum for the last days of the Shaun Tan Suburban Odyssey art exhibition. Unfortunately due to the presence of hordes of squealing rampaging beasties, the Izzie was not quite in the mood to appreciate the spookiness. Once again lots of crows and strange monster like beasties passing themselves off as trees.

But the big one we are saving for tomorrow. Friday 13th would have been perfect but had other unalterable plans that day. A certain beastly artist works have surfaced from the dungeons of darkest Paris to surface on the outskirts of suburban Perth. Well not quite. That place is far too Dursleyish to be deserving of his demonic doodlings
So far the grand plan for tomorrow is a morning with the dinosaurs of Scitech before pottering off to admire the art of other beastly creatures

Here’s hoping that it is a toad free zone

The Izzie has been absent from Cyberia for nearly a week now. Too much sensory overload in mundane muggle life without completely blowing the circuits by slinking about in Cyberia
Decided to be a bit adventurous last Wednesday. After reading a fascinating review and watching a wonderful trailer, could not let a certain Roman soldier come to town without paying our respects. Turns out that he was lurking in only one location.
Wednesday was their cheap flicks day. Resisted the temptation to slink there straight from work. Nothing less than a good ten minute shower to scrub away the toxic vibes from that mad house would be sufficient

It’s amazing what an effective and reliable mood enhancing device lots of warm water can be.
At 2.10pm was standing at the end of the road waiting for the bus and within thirty minutes was standing on the pedestrian overpass at the Leederville train station. Must do this cheap movie thing more often.

But best of all was having time for a proper coffee before the film started just after 4pm
Was a bit miffed that the movie had been moved from the big screen to one of the smaller cinemas. But the screen was not quite as tiny as it seemed from memory.






It was even better than the trailer promised. The protest marches, live reports from the Roman bread riots and rebel insurrections on “Fidelius TV” and hordes of slimy senators and assorted sleazy creatures made it a most fascinating tale indeed. There were also the cute little touches of bunches of soldiers hanging around in front of a wall covered in graffiti such as "Illegitimi non carborundum" or shady senators doing deals on their mobile phones.
But what was particularly impressive was that after the first five minutes or so you could forget that most of the dialogue was some 400 years old.
It so brought back memories of that wonderful version of Richard 3rd starring Ian MacKellen.

The serpent had only one complaint about the drama. With the might of the SS behind him, lots of evil green lightses and hordes of Volscian soldiers on the rampage, there was absolutely no excuse for Ralph Fiennes not to nuke those Romans back into the stone ages starting with his bimbo wife and that annoying fat little kid of his who was always playing soldiers
Vanessa Redgrave starred as the hero soldier's mother and she was a right old dragon. Occasionally she looked uncannily like Maggie Smith in her Minerva McGonnagall incarnation.
Hoping to see another star studded film later this week (Margin Call). Wonders what Shakespeare would have done with sub prime mortgages and credit default swaps.

Izzie is in a strange place. Just finished on Friday the last page of a camel leather journal with a rose quartz stone inset on the cover and hand made paper on the inside. Gorgeous but not friendly to emerald ink or quick quotes quills. It was like writing on quicksand

It was our last day of the fringe binge. The actual festival finished on Sunday but due to work commitments, Friday was our last day of festivities
All those plays and cabaret shows meant that visits to Cyberia were far and few between and most squiggling got done offline in the leather note book. But now there is just over a whole week between it and the serpent’s very sacred day of Wednesday 29th February. This day is worthy of the first page in a bright shiny new notebook preferably at Cottesloe Beach while listening to This Mortal Coil’s “Song to the Siren” at sunset and reminiscing about the last Wednesday 29th February way back in 1984

So this week will be hopefully devoted to catching up in Cyberia. The last few weeks have been a total sensory overload, so much so that the Izzie was sometimes almost psycho.
Just a quick count, must have been 16 or so shows in the space of 21 days. Four of those were booked in advance and the rest were last minute cheap tickets.
With this particular festival the locations were as much a star attraction in their own right as the shows. Izzie is a strange creature with an unusual habit of adopting what we call ‘sacred sites’ for want of a better word. It turns out that the old treasury buildings were very high on the list. This serpent would even go to see George Bush or John Howard if they were to make an appearance in such a place. Lucky that most of the performers turned out to be of a much much higher standard than those two

It turned out that the first very much anticipated event got ruined due to the nasty 42 celsius sizzling stinker of a day. Returned the following Monday not to attend a show but to just lurk and linger in the Treasure Chest and absorb the magical aura of this historical location. Monday nights are very quiet in downtown Dursleyville and it was wonderful just sitting around on the old crates sipping a glass of Solo with ice and reading “Chamber of Secrets”. The wines were far too decadent in price to indulge. But we would save such indulgences for the very last week

Ended up not enjoying some very good shows due to irrational panic attacks and sensory overload or just plain sizzling stinking hot horrid days.
Sometimes would just go to the kitschy box office caravan and book a show based less on the content and more on the location. After three or four shows in the Treasury Cabaret, got the craving to visit the old postal hall which was the original post office and the point from which all distances in Dursleyville are measured.
Just walking down the very long labyrinthine entrance past corridors and strange halls plastered with fringe posters and mysterious passageways was an adventure in itself. The show “This is what we do for a living” was good too as was the chance to snoop and slink a bit later. Decided not to do the mad rush for the bus at 10.15 but to lurk and linger and soak up the spookiness
Was back in the same place on Friday for two shows with wonderful titles “She dances in the dark” and “City of Shadows”

The latter starred Rachael Dease - a local version of Lisa Gerrard and a sort of chamber orchestra with spooky strings. It was based on pictures of crime scenes and suspects from Sydney in the 1920s. The music was ethereal, spooky and beautiful but there did not seem to be any story or structure. Seen some of the pictures before in an exhibition about femme fatales at the turn of the century. Some of the scenes seemed suspiciously reminiscent of the old treasury itself with bodies on stair cases or in corridors and elegant archways. Was strategically located near a doorway bearing the script “Newspaper House” and an archway hiding a few desks and cubicles.

They were a bit over the top with all the bodies and mug shots. Every single one of those pictures could be the basis for a fascinating story but there were so many that it was serious sensory overload. Particularly fascinating were all those 1920s car crash scenes with the ancient vehicles
The one thing missing from the festival was a ghost tour, spooky stories tale of these amazing old buildings and goblin lurking grounds. Turned out there was some such thing in the south west wing which had sold out ages ago. It was called Pollyanna. Not a happy clappy story as you would think from the title but a story of a girl murdered at her birthday party and all the audience got to play detective wandering from room to room deep in the heart of goblin territory

But the two best shows of all turned out not to be on the goblins territory at all. One was in the Spiegeltent which is an amazing relic from the 1920s. Izzie just loves art deco kitsch. It was Bunga bunga Burlesqueconi starring three drag queens and a Sylvio Berlesconi impersonator with an uncanny resemblance to Paul Keating.
There was another crap show there last Monday called “Glamazonian” Normal price was $25 which was the same as BBB. Izzie got cheap tix for $15. But it was worth it just to get our nose inside this amazing glamorous tent.
Next time the serpent slinks about in the city, the old treasury buildings will be off limits. Will not be able to sit there and sip a plastic glass of Vinacious “Snake Charmer” Shiraz and offer ickle Wormtail a sip like last Wednesday.
There is still the yuppie festival gardens done up in Steam punk style. But that is a tale for another day

Wednesday was an icky sticky disgustingly muggy day. It was too miserable to slink around after work so just returned to the lair to scrub the scales and indulge in a long serpent snooze
Woke around 4.30pm and had the choice of clocking up another Buy Nothing Day lurking in the Lair, doing a bit of decluttering and some squiggling in Cyberia, or a visit to The Treasure Chest and the Caravan of Kitsch to see if there were any last minute cheap tickets for the freaky Fringe Shows. Figured that the serpent can snooze any day of the week but there’s only three weeks of Fringe festival freakishness.

( Freaks, picnics, flying puddings and promises )

Had been so so looking forward to Thursday and Friday last week. The first was the day of the big fireworks show on the Swan river and usually consisting of endless coffee crawls, reading, squiggling and slowly pottering down to the river for the big event at 8pm
Friday was the day of having our hot little hands on a ticket for the Fringe Festival held in the very elusive and exclusive Old Treasury buildings
What should have been a good six hours of squiggling and coffee drinking, due to the ridiculous weather with the mercury at an obscene 41.9 celsius turned into a last minute trip to the shuttle bus down to the river

Had been snoozing and it was very tempting on waking at 6pm to linger in the serpent sack instead of listening to the Late Night Live story about Walmart in China
And it did seem to be getting hotter and more horrid in spite of sunset being shortly after 7pm
Got to thinking that this time next week or even next day would be regretting the decision to lurk in the Lair especially as the cost of going down to the river was zilch due to the free shuttle buses just ten minutes walk down the road

Soon realized why it seemed so hot and horrid. The sky was all cloudy and the weather was all nasty and steamy. There was a thunderstorm brewing which is the worst of all possible weather for a critter like Izzie. Instant onset of murderous crankiness and general irritability.
Arrived just after 7pm which turned out to be insufficient time to calm down and return to the present moment. Intended to bring an umbrella as shade and ended up leaving it upstairs. Turned out to be necessary as protection from the rain which started half way during the fireworks. It was funny that we got two Sky Shows for the price of one as the lightening and thunder competed with the puny human efforts at producing sound and fury

In itself it would have been very entertaining but the Izzie was just too hot and bothered and totally troppo.
Got the shuttle bus back around 8,45pm. It was pretty packed and had no aircon but we ain’t going to complain about a freebie
It was so very very different to the previous year which was wonderful. The expectations for next time contributed in no small part to the disappointment this time. As the serpent likes to say “Blessed are those who expect nothing for they shall not be disappointed.” Or as Dorothy Rowe so wisely says “Most suffering is caused by attempting to make reality repeatable”
And silly Izzie then made the mistake of looking forward to a feast of culture and goblin goodness at the fringe festival on Friday
It never got as hot as Thursday but felt much muggier and oppressive.

The day started well with a visit to a Korean restaurant which we will call “Kim Il Jong 2”
Discovered the place in July when they had a bunch of winter specials including sizzling mushrooms which were seriously delicious. The summer version has the hot and spicy version of the same dish. Took a chance and it was reasonably mild. They first serve four pretty plates of pickles along with rice which are a bit of a lucky dip. They are never quite the same each time. A particularly tasty incarnation included seaweed and garlic flavoured pickled cabbage
The main dish is a sizzling plate of assorted mushrooms. Must get adventurous and try the tofu soup some day. There are not too many kosher dishes on the menu. Guess that North Korea is the place to go if you want meatless meals

Followed that by a visit to the very kitschy Cabin Fever cafe. Must have been a good hour there. It was emerging out of the cool darkness into the icky sticky daylight and a city infested with humans that was so awful and appalling
First taste of things to come was a quick peek at the Old Treasury site. Some silly smart arse know it all proclaimed that the venue would be opening at 7pm
Silly Izzie should have gone and got a second opinion. Just like the day before, turned up just after 7 and it was simply not enough time to wind down and be in the present moment in time for a show that started at 8pm

This place normally off limits to the general public had been converted into a kitschy little corner with a 1970s caravan selling fringe tickets, ground covered in astroturf and assorted crates and pallets everywhere plus potted palms and banana plants.
Not exactly a good advert for plastic lawn as it was as hot as hell. Got to thinking that our last visit to this sacred site in November the weather was also overcast, hot and muggy but not half as disgusting

Had been so so looking forward to the show with the most fascinating title ‘Hot pink bits” Pickled pink bits was more like it especially as the presenter was a Kiwi not used to such ridiculous weather and she lost not time in telling us so. Poor thing was wearing a very lacy, flouncy and very tight black and pink dress which would be a bit pickly in the best of weather
It was very good but there was no air con and the Izzie was once again too agitated to enjoy it properly. Did return to the scene of the crime on Monday which was a gorgeous cool 33 maximum and in the low 20s by 5pm which was the actual opening time of this strange location and not 7pm as that smart arse know it all had declared. Was especially enchanted by the three mysterious boarded up doors on the second, third and fourth floors that just led to doom. Turned out that in the old days when the goblins were lurking in the old treasury buildings, they had a bunch of mainframe computers they needed to get rid of. The easiest way to do this was to just put a big skip on the ground and push them through the window which they then boarded up with plywood
Spent a good two hours there just lounging about as well as buying a ticket for another show on Friday. This one is a parody of film noir detectives.
Will be back again tomorrow evening at 5pm hoping to get some last minute cheap tix but just slinking about enjoying the ambience otherwise. At least not having to be at work at 7am on Thursday morning will mean that a 9pm show can be on the menu if there is anything cheap or interesting

Got three weeks to feast on the freakishness that is the old treasury building before the yuppies invade and turn it into some snotty six star hotel

Two days free of goblin enslavement and how different as chalk and cheese.
Thursday morning started on a seemingly bad note. Ever since applying for extra income protection cover through the superannuation fund insurance they have been pestering the Izzie with all sorts of nosy snooping questionses. The latest indignity would be a visit from one of their vampires at 10am.


Turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The long overdue Putz Blitz could no longer be put off indefinitely. Was too lazy to mop the floor and tidy the kitchen on Wednesday night but was amazed at how much it was possible to get done in less than 90 minutes on Thursday morning. In the end she did not come into the house but was happy to grab her serpent snack in the garden where Izzie was sitting when she arrived

But it proves yet again never to underestimate the power of an externally imposed deadline.
The next item on the schedule was to visit the newly opened grocery store just up the road. But that could wait a little longer. A certain Betty Windsor was on a quick visit just a bit further up the road and it would be interesting to watch the drama.

There was cops everywhere and folks on the street who all looked like they were returning to work or going home or whatever. So Izzie obviously just missed the motorcade and the green lightseses. But that was coming. She still had to return from her morning of munching on sultana scones and kangaroo stew

Was getting ever so nostalgic passing the very large chemistry centre with the enormous BHP logo on the top. Been wanting to sniff out that place for years and managed to get two visits in the space of a week back in August. It was absolutely fabulous even if it did not happen to be the bright shiny new state forensics lab amongst other things
Got to thinking not for the first time that the Izzie lives in an excellent location so near many interesting things and a lot of them within walking distance

There were a few stragglers at the entrance of the school grounds where Lizzie was lurking. A few news crew and camera people were still around hoping to get some happy snaps after the ceremonies
One of them said she would be leaving around 11.30. But it did not take that long. Suddenly a bunch of cops on bikes appeared out of nowhere like a bunch of worker bees leaving their hive on a serious mission. That was an unmistakeable sign that there would soon be a bit of action
Being opposite the entrance to the school proved to be the perfect snooping spot. It’s hard to speed when turning a corner. She was in the second car in the motorcade. A most undignified nasty black suburban assault vehicle. It was a royal Range Rover with only a red crown on the number plates. Guessing that she to be seen to support the British automobile industry even if it means being seen in clunky black crap rather than a more dignified and elegant black Mercedes Benz

Got a pretty good lingering glimpse of Her Royal Greenness. A pleasant change from that hideous glow in the dark pink she was wearing the day before which the usual groupies all adored - of course.
But it was the manouevres of the men in black and the countless cops that was really most fascinating. There's never been so many big wigs in downtown Dursleyville all at one time.

The day before they arrived at the airport in the middle of rush hour. It certainly would have been a spectacle to see the green light motorcade to the city. Amazing what the powers can be can turn on when the occasion demands it.

Pottered off back to the newly opened supermarket. Really it was most inconsiderate of the Queen not to drop in and cut the ribbon. After all it was on her way back to the city and any opposition to the evil Coles and Woolworths needs all the endorsement it can get.

( more meanderings and musings )

It's been a strange week indeed. Done a whole bunch of things differently than usual. It helps being on holidays and not having to bother with mundane activities such as work. It also helps that there's a heritage festival currently on at the serpent's favorite lurking ground. Not quite a coincidence. Been timing holidays this time of year to coincide with the festival since it began back in 2005 or so.

For the first time this year, finally made it to City Farm - a crazy hippy place built on what used to be an industrial waste land. Some 20 years on, they have finally achieved certified organic status for their gorgeous gardens. But things are changing and not for the best. Looks like the old VW Kombi van ambience will get upgraded to some nasty Hummer.
A lot has happened in 6 months including the building of a bright shiny new cafe which is nearly completed and some bright sparkly new loos. But they got rid of the cute and quirky bush dunnies. A sad day indeed.

Chatted with the lady who makes the most gorgeous beeswax candles. She'd wondered what on earth had happened to the the serpent who used to slink there ever other week and is probably one of her best customers.
After that, lurked around the gardens and sat in a secluded spot facing north, perfect for soaking up the sunshine and smelling the sunflowers.
Was trying to decide between listening to the Science Show on the radio or reading "The Rational Tarot"
In the end did neither as the peace and quiet was interrupted by one of the volunteers picking the same spot to munch her lunch
She came across as quite bubbly and friendly at first but it did not take long for the serpent to suss that here was a drama queen on steroids
She was telling Izzie about how she'd been unemployed for several months now and used to work as a security guard but they gave her a hard time because she was a girl.
Then her boss was picking on her and being unreasonable so she left because it was all too much stress. She then worked as a volunteer at City Farm but when some young things wearing balaclavas turned up and she tried stop them and the cops wouldn't answer when she rang on the mobile for help and then her former boss found out where she was now working and started hassling her and how she was being persecuted for being a whistle blower and even ASIO would not help her, Izzie soon sussed that the woman was a total nutcase.
A professional victim always on the receiving end of awfulness and psychopathic bosses etc etc, overworked and underappreciated etc etc.

Anyone who even mentions ASIO (the Oz version of the CIA) and who expects them to help - it's big time bells and whistles. What's the world coming to when you can't even trust ASIO - she wailed. Anyone who trusts the spooks or considers their pitiful existence worthy of the spooks' concern is almost certainly a few sandwiches short of a picnic and most definitely not the brightest light on the Christmas tree

Forty minutes of persecution and paranoia was more than enough for Izzie. There's enough crazies at the day job without having to endure it while on holidays
Made a get away and got the train to Fremantle for an afternoon of churchyards and choirs

There's an old church that we'd often seen on one of the buses and it looked most interesting and like there was a big garden at the back. Will have to sniff and peek there one day thinks Izzie some two years ago. So to find that it was listed as one of the places taking part in the heritage festival was just the excuse a serpent needed. Both the church and meeting hall would be open from 3-6pm on Saturday and their new amphitheatre would be playing host to a bunch of local choirs and musicians
Got there just after 2pm before all the crowds and pottered around the gardens and old hall which was actually the original church built in 1880 or so. They had tea and scones, hot dogs and bubbly wine on sale. There were also lots of photo albums and pictures of old parish events. Scattered around the hall were little round tables with red gingham tablecloths - just the sort of thing you'd associate with Gypsy fortune tellers. The sunlight was streaming in through the windows

Looked down some of the side streets with old rickety bockety houses and thought what a beautiful and magical place it was. The perfect spot for peeking at a dark shiny new tarot deck (courtesy of a certain Cat)
So not only got to unwrap and drool over the Dark Angels tarot deck in the gorgeous garden with the local church cat lurking and lots of wormwood, sage and silvery grey curry plants but also planted the various plastic wrappings in one of their rubbish bins.
Then later sat at one of the gingham table cloth tables with a cup of tea and scones once again drooling over the deck sorting the cards into the good, bad and ugly. Well - not quite - the sublime, subtle and ugly was more like it. Put 33 cards in the gorgeous pile and 15 in the ugly and the rest in the middle.
Seriously strange and spooky angels indeed and very gothic. We thinks they were very happy with the location of their 'earthly revelation' to a certain serpent.
The alternative culture vulture activity of the day was a graveyard tour but had been on that last year. It's always best to do different things for each festival. No point in touring the graveyard for the fourth time at the expense of peeking in these pretty churches for the first

After getting acquainted with the angels, it was time to listen to some music and see what other nibblies were on offer. A glass of wine with a hot dog was the princely sum of six silver sickles but since the serpent wasn't having any sausages but onions only, they made that only 4 and added that you could get extra glasses of bubbly for $2
In the end had 3 glasses and it was quite nice too.
By that time, it was sunset and soon time to go slinking back to the city and the bus.
It is so rare to visit a beautiful magical place and to know at the time that it will be a day remembered for the next 10 years or so if not even longer. So many happy times are only recognized as such in hindsight. Already the memories are up there in the serpent hall of fame along with Bridgetown and other sacred sites
It is sort of paradoxical that the more present you are in a particular place and time, the more vivid the memories remain of the place in the future.

There was more wonderful feasts for the senses on Sunday too but will save that for another post
Suffice to say that today was Do Nothing day. Sometimes you just need time to let all the mystery and magic turn into memories and to not overload the old grey cells