Over

And suddenly, it's over. I gaze across the site, down into the hollows, over the trees and up to the stone circle and think what an astounding amount of co-ordinated work has gone into building this city for just four days. On our field the theatre tent comes down, the science tent comes down, our music tent comes down. Later the helter skelter will be taken away and the pink climbing castle will be unbuilt.

It's incredibly hot for packing up - our hottest day here yet - but in stages we are dismantling our own tents, gradually losing our shade and gradually adding to the piles of stuff to be got off the field. We wash things, sort, tidy and pack up our kitchen. We try to make some shade for the instruments and move them as the sun moves.

The plan for Bristol-based people and me is to put all the baggage in a car going to Bristol, with maybe one person with the driver. I'll get to Bristol somehow - bus? train? - stay the night, then take the heavier of my two bags to Oxford tomorrow, and come back for the other another time.

I wonder how that can possibly work with the amount of baggage heaped up on the field waiting for the car to be allowed on site from the car park. I look up and see two of our team about to leave in a camper van with lots of space. Others tell me they are going to Oxford. 

What?! 

They aren't, but they are going to Charlbury, and the direct train link from there to Oxford takes only 17 minutes. Rapid plan change.

It's hard work but it involves hoisting my bags onto my front and back only four times - onto the train and off the train, onto the bus that goes from outside the station and off the bus very close to my front door. Tonight they are back home and so am I.

It's over. Did it really happen?

Picture from the very small hours of this morning, long, long ago.