Where ever you go… There you are.

So nestle down my lovelies i am bout to tell you a story about my last weekend in the UK..

Okay time would have enabled me to tell this one long before, but she is such a lovely one I;d thought I’d hold on to her for a while…and I guess the PTD got me down for ahwhile but I am back RAHHHH! (to the folks) we’ll I have been meaning to let you in on all this but never got round to it 🙂

My last hurrahs in Europe started offically with Nowhere, the Euroburn in spain… not much to say about that because it is difficult to explain to one who hasn’t been, I like the description I got fromn tribe, it refers to Burningman but to Nowhere as well… It is kinda like extreme campimg with music, art and fire, the rest you will have to see for yourself.

Nowhere was well different for me this year than last, maybe you remember? last year I rocked up knowing no one and was adopted by the london Collective. This year I knew practically everyone, worked on gladys the fire spitting fireengine the entire spring, and attened meetings and pre Nowhere parties because I was in London, I also was alble to recruit a crew of people I knew from travelling in Morocco last year before I met any of the London crew to coming out Nowhere this year, they were my icing in the cake (sophie, kathy, stephano, I am so glad you came and you are part of my life) Oh so blessed was I to meet the people I did the year before too, as they opened up a whole community of friends and aquainteses I couldn’t have known otherwise… but I digress.

After Nowhere I flew up to London and met Ninja Adam the same day to see Mogwai in the city center… ( we have a habitual problem with this band, not one time goes past that we didn’t see them together)… as a matter of fact I have seen them over 8 times and it gets better and freaking better ever time 🙂

That itself would have been a fine send off, but no!

Not enough for the squirrel… I demanded nothing less than a free party in brighton with all my friends there.. I had grown quite close to Brighton the last few months since my return from india.. The free parties in the fields of southern england were such a highlight for me that I wanted to recreate one for my last send off,

soooo, we looked for a place to hold the party and came across a group of sound people already setting up in a cove of a public forest near to the city… Perfect we thought! we’ll just set up with you, combine parties and have a rip-roaring good time…

Or so we thought…

So off to get supplies,
CIder- Check
fish and chips in the belly -check
freinds arriving from all over london and converging at my friends house- check
speaker stacks-check
more cider-check

Oh goodness its all falling into place, we all get into my friends van and head to the site..

OH NO! the police are there and they have reports of a “rave” happening tonight in the woods, they ask to search the car and proceed to search the people as well.

I am feeling a sly bit cocky, when I am talking to nice officer woman, she asks me if I have any drugs on me… Nope I say beaming! search me my dear, and as she does she discovers a little a-korn filled with K- oops, a “present from someone I had met earlier that day on the level ( a park in brighton proper) Oh shit poop…. Oh shit..

“we are going to have to take you in for this”

“what?! ” it was a gift I have no Idea what it even is inside, please officer lady it is my LAST WEEKEND IN BRIGHTON..

NOOOOOO!!!

I am cool, calm and collected, glad that none of the others in the van have anything that would get them into trouble.. Taking one for the team, I surrender and head down to the station with Brightons finest.

Once inside the station I realize this is not America,the cops inside are jovail and nice, I tell them the story about the “gift” I was caught with and they believe me whole heartily, I tell them what’s inside and they take my word for it, No testing which would have kept me in there all night…

I go through all the booking process and pretty much reslove my self to being in there through the morning, but instead of locking me in a cell awaiting a call from the uppers, they chat me up in the main room, about the weather in california, how this guy went to America once with his girlfriend and had the most amazing time, and then they started…. “Please Say the Rights in American”

“OkAy”, I say a bit annoyed but well willing to play along,

In a deepended voice..

“You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will and can be used against you in a court of law.”

I click my back heals together and salute, laughter roars thoughtout the precinct.

“Again, “Again!”

“Okay, ” I say reluctantly, but loving it cause these guys are having a good time.

“You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will and can be used against you in a court of law.”

Laughter roars again and I am taken to a side room with offers of tea,

‘looks like you’ll be out of here in a hour” says a deputy with a big bushy moustashe, and kind eyes..

Hmmmm, I wonder why?

“Oh we believe this was given to you as you said, and all your friends are here, can’t miss your going away party right?”

“Nope” that would be really sad..

“We do have to give you a caution though, if you get caught with a substance again here in the UK you WIll stay all night and have charges pressed.”

“No Worries!, Officer you won’t be seeing me again…”

My friend Sam the driver of the van had also been taken in for “theft by finding” of a breathlizer test they found in his van, we both got released together at about three in the morning and made a suprise attack on the party going on in my hounour on top of the highest hill in all of Brighton..

The lights of the city twinkled below, the gray sea was looming far down the hill, and just an hour before the jailbirds arrived.

Arockalypse did.

So sorry if you haven’t met Arokalypse before, the most rockingest theme camp of all of Nowhere, with their Never-ending Libations and grooves, and tunes, they kept us rocking through out the whole event. ( and I must say they had the least set-up/ most fun ratio I have ever seen)

They had hours’ before made the crossing over to England, driving through France, rescuing lost ladies, and not to metion being the last rockstars on site,

Monkey Jon,Austraulian Jess, Dangerous Dave, Ya’ll made Nowhere then miraculously showed up, provided the Bar (stacked to the brim with donations from the other camps), brought the sound system, brought the capret, and brought the “money” (monkey jon knows what I am talking bout) then proceeded to rock it all night long, or at least what was left of the night.

Nooners came out of the wood work, Helen over there, Sara over here, Dougaul magically appears, I am massive smiles in between dancing Twinks and Rich’s, Ninjas and Hares. rolling around, on the carpeted meadow, we revel in the night that rapidly escapes..

Impromptu joy and goodness was what I was after and it was delivered thanks to the rockingest crew this side of the pond….

Morning comes in with a grumble, the skies start to shift and move at record speed before our eyes, below we see the clouds shift into stormy ones, abover the storm we are safe right?

we all a watch in wonder as the sun rises meekly in the east and is gobbled up by the ominous clouds racing across the sea, it becomes apparent we are screwed and next for the rain attack..

As the rain moves in we grab tarps and huddle underneath, maybe 15 people holding tight togeher for warmth to stay out of the rain, the closeness of us all make us giggle and laugh about Nowhere which happened only days before.

More rain comes, we sit and then cover with the make-shift tent/tarp.. Thank goodness dougal warms a stick on the fire and sets it in the center of us to hold up the tarp and also to hold on to as it give us warmth.

“Love LIve the warm stick” we cry,

Huddled we grasp the warm sitck until it gows tepid, and someone probably dougal) puts another one out there in its place…

“long live the warm stick!”

we all shout, huddled together, against the rain, with renewed warmth from our new stick we are content and suggled against the elements..

But the rain finally has its way with us, and we are forced to take refuge in Dougal’s Pikey van, safe and sound and warm.

I couldn’t have written a script for a better going away party, My friends and our experiences are stranger than fiction anyway..

YAY for the London Collective, Brighton, and Especially

Monkey Jon, Adam, Brother Hare, Australian Jess, Michael,Dangerous Dave Helen, Dougal, Kathy, Sam the VAn and all the others I can’t seem to say right now

I love you guys and miss you dearly.. Thanks for making my adios so freaking great.

‘less the getting arrested part’ but hey

who’s complaining.

certainly not Squirrel.

Maybe because I have been such complete crap at keeping up my blog, or maybe because I have spent far too many weekends in fields with pikies listening to the most amazing grimey dub step this side of the pond, maybe it is just to teach this overly enthusiastic smiling squirrel a hard life lesson about planning, keeping hopes up and expecting all to turn out as planned, well it doesn’t matter because the universe in the last two days has completely shite all over my lap, and I am left in a state of bewilderment, and awe at the ability for everthing to come crashing down in a matter of 24 hours.. What is there left to do but smile about it and get on with it, plan B I would like to call it..

So what are these detremental goings on that have occured, well lend me your ear.

I know now that my good bike karma has been used up, funny after six years working for the man at a bike shop you’d think you’d have enough good bike karma to last you at least two years, but offically and unfortunatley mine has gone full circle and I am left with nothing more than a crumpled, squashed top tube on my lovely lass, and a basket full of parts. I left my bike locked up on a railing for the past few days and when I brought her down to get safely inside for my extened absence I noticed some damn rude boys had tried to theft her, not sucessfully but those persistant buggers did such a great job at trying to get her, that they indeed destroyed her beyond use, the top tube is crunched like a stomped on soda can, oh kind of the way my heart felt when I saw what had happened to my baby. No worries though right?! She served me well, and I can hopefully get the frame replaced from the lovely folks at Cannondale when I rock back to Chicago, did I mention how much I Love my Cannondale?!

The new color of the ’08 cyclocross frames are Brown right?!

Oh dear and if that just didn’t poop on my day it gets better!

Today is/was departure day for the Fantastic Gladys, the Green Goddess that was converted into a fire spitting beast, We were to drive her down to Plymouth and take a 36 hour ferry ride into Bilbao Spain. Everything was going smoothly, I even got over to the meeting place at Doubles the night before just to be chipper and ready for a day of loading and preperation before heading on the road. We were to be first on site at Nowhere, setting up the first camp, unloading impossible amounts of gear, dancing around in a rockstar fashion by the slowly waxing moon, but alas, the ol’ Universe had/has other plans for me.

On a mission for the last groceries and money changing I some how managed to Lose or get thefted my wallet which contained 200 pounds, my Drivers license, Passport and all my chances of leaving as planned on the ferry. OH POOP! of all times for this to happen,
I am gutted, screwed, and at the mercy of the American Embassy to get me and emergency replacement.

Please, please, please.

I promise I like America, and I promise to be happy to be back in the states at least for a little while if the Embassy will grant me such a favor.

peeps wish me luck.

it can’t get any worse,

by the way, big count down to the re-emergance into the home of the free, Is anyone going to be in Chicago when I get back on the 17th?

would like to arrange some $1.00 bottles of PBR at the L & L or some other equally seedy pub..

love you everyone, and see you soon.

Hopefully I will be going to Nowhere on Friday but should have ample time to keep ya’ll updated on this little fiasco..

xxoo

sister squirrell

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