The past five days have been a complete adventure for me. Wednesday and Sunday were thirteen-hour marathons of driving with my RV trailing behind my truck. The days in-between were filled with fun, awesome presentations, and some super excellent food. Somewhere in all of that, I wound up initiating into the Ovate grade, which I am still floored over. And there was my telling of the saga of the Screen Door Boar and the Bardic Initiates around the Saturday night fire. But the best part? That’s extremely simple. It is the people.

Every Gulf Coast Gathering has afforded me the opportunity to get to know several folks. I count many of these people as family. And they are far too numerous to name without me leaving off a name or two because I have an old man’s memory. Each of them has played a role, in one way or another, in my life. Whether they know it or not. And that goes just as well for the “friends of OBOD” folks who attend as well. I am deeply honored, and quite lucky to have these people in my life.

When people ask me about these OBOD retreats, I typically respond that I can only talk intelligently of two – the Gulf Coast Gathering and the East Coast Gathering. There are other camps elsewhere, and while I am quite confident that these camps are just as warm and welcoming as ECG and GCG, I have not attended those before. If you are an OBOD member and wondering if it is worth your time to travel to a camp, I would emphatically say “YES!” The people you meet there will be tied into your life in ways you could never imagine possible. All you need to do is open your heart.

For me, a huge part of what Druidry is about is connectivity. With the land around, with the Spirits of Place, with the Spirits of Ancestor, with the Gods and Goddesses….and with people. All of that connectivity helps to define the way we live, and the depth that we love at. And its not a one-time walk on a pathway either. Its a lifetime exploration. For me, that’s the easiest way to define life. Its not an all-encompassing way to see things, but it is a way to START to see things.

Let’s be realistic, Life is complicated in so many ways. With local, county, regional, state, national, and world politics, changing laws, and the ceaseless news cycle – its easy to get bogged down with things that can be crazy, bewildering, and sometimes downright depressing. But boil all of that away, and what you have left are the things that matter. And for me, that’s the people I know and cherish, the Spirits of Place, my Spirits of Ancestor and the Gods. My Druidry helps me to weave and strengthen those connections. And all of that culminates in these OBOD gatherings. And when members of my extended family are missing for whatever reason, there’s that feeling of an empty chair around the fire, and I can literally picture them in that spot – laughing and smiling along with everyone else.

So, while I did go to Gulf Coast Gathering to initiate into the Ovate grade, and was thrilled to do so, it was the people that made it memorable. To be able to hug people I look up to, people that I call friend, and people that I call family – that made all the difference between an initiation and a moment I will cherish forever in my life. Having friends and family there was all the icing on that cake-like moment that I needed. And being able to entertain my friends and family with the telling of the saga of the Screen Door Boar and the Bardic Initiates was the final cherry added to the mix. I did enjoy making my friends and family laugh at the silly antics of a moment from the previous year.

–Tommy /|\