Alex took us on an all day hike today. Mostly we visited our favorite places, like the stream and the singing grove.
We had lunch in the back meadow on the far side of the lake. Our task was to find the prettiest flower to decorate our buffet which was laid out on blankets. Some girls got clever and used spells to enhance the flower they picked, making it bigger, more colorful, fancier.
I didn’t do anything fancy to the flower I picked (a clover flower), but I did put it on a rock with the Brighten spell written on it. It made the flower look fresh and lively for the entire lunchtime.
On the far side of the meadow was a cave we’d never explored before. Alex told us that native peoples had used the cave for thousands of years and if we were lucky, we might find some artifacts. Sandy found what might have been a piece of charcoal. Probably wasn’t a thousand years old, though.
In the evening, there was another bonfire, but this time it was a closing ceremony. We sang our favorite songs and shared our favorite memories of the summer. For the final bit, we stood arm in arm, circles in circles around the fire. We wished everyone well in their next journey. As we did, the color of the fire changed from red to blue, then slowly faded out. Tiny bits of light fell from the sky to land on us like snow. Eventually, we were one huddled, glowing mass. And then it all faded away.