The Fifth Edinburgh Gathering
We met in May again, to celebrate birthdays and friendship. And to splother and have fun.
This year we had a new piece of music composed for the occasion by Brontebiro, The Edinburgh Waltz, which is featured in the video. The programme included a visit to the Cook School in the Borders to experience Scottish cuisine and a literary fancy dress party, where people had to dress as an author or a character in a book.
We also had a newbie. Wolfhome joined us for the first time, so here is his account of the gathering.
This year we had a new piece of music composed for the occasion by Brontebiro, The Edinburgh Waltz, which is featured in the video. The programme included a visit to the Cook School in the Borders to experience Scottish cuisine and a literary fancy dress party, where people had to dress as an author or a character in a book.
We also had a newbie. Wolfhome joined us for the first time, so here is his account of the gathering.
My first gathering
by Wolfhome
I had been warned about the stairs. They seemed to go on forever. Flight after flight of shallow steps. After what had seemed like half a day in FF’s car, travelling from the wilds of Leicestershire to the centre of Edinburgh, those stairs were never ending.
On Friday, 31st January 2014 I had posted my first comment about the Quick crossword. The clue for 5 down now reads: Where fuel is mixed with air in a petrol engine (11). When I first encountered it, the clue had read: “Where fuel is ignited in a petrol engine, and the solution was carburettor”. That clue, and the comment it provoked me to post, were the sparks that set in motion the sequence of events that led me here, through the door at the top of those interminable stairs, into the arms of SpanishScot, and to my first Edinburgh Gathering. I had been warned it might be overwhelming, that I might feel a little out of place. I didn’t, I wasn’t. I had walked into a roomful of friends. To be sure, they were friends I’d never met, but they were friends nonetheless. Friends I had first encountered over two years ago, when I posted my first comment to the Guardian Quick crossword.
The next morning, I was woken by a dawn chorus of double decker buses. For a while I thought it was the wind was trying to rip the roof off. It was probably the most disconcerting moment of my time in Edinburgh, that, and the moment I set of an alarm in the Scottish Parliament Building, but that is another story. A new day, and new faces Brontebiro and Auntycraft, Starrock and Deelfi - it was disconcerting, no one looked exactly how I had imagined they would look, although, they certainly weren’t strangers.
By the morning of the day of the gathering, I was beginning to think I wouldn’t get a chance to see anything of the city of Edinburgh. A short walk from SpanishScot’s flat, there is a statue. That statue is not of a King, nor is it of a poet; it is the statue of a scientist - James Clerk Maxwell. If you don’t know the name remember it, for Maxwell is the father of the modern age. His contributions to physics are as important as those of Newton and Einstein, and he was born in Edinburgh. On that Thursday morning, before the gathering got going, FriedFish and I went exploring. We found the statue of James Clerk Maxwell, and we found some of the book sculptures. We found Edinburgh. We found a city without the reserve, and anonymity of London or Birmingham. Edinburgh is a city proud of its heritage, and confident in its future. A friendly, welcoming city, a city I could grow to love.
And so to the gathering, and yes, perhaps, that was a little strange. For at the gathering I met a badger, and over there by the door, I saw Cleopatra checking her iPhone. FFyshie was waiting for Godot who, once again, failed to make an appearance, (as did ZooshMariah much to Brontebiro’s relief). Daisy Buchanan, the epitome of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ was reclining on her chaise longue. Gandalf the Grey cast a spell over the proceedings, while Cruella de Ville enlisted Captain Hook’s help in the creation of a Dalmatian hide coat. The Sheriff wasn’t shot, and Wigan Pier was, well, Wigan Peer… Yes, that afternoon was a little strange, but the QCC song was sung, and the birthdays were celebrated, and the splother flowed as freely as the wine.
And so with Pinot Grigio, Birthday CAKE, and margaritas my first gathering drew to an end. Cranachan, patatas bravas, pork pie, calamares, and cheerios, and memories, lots of memories. Good food, plenty of wine, good friends and too little time. Some faces were missing, Johnny Solstice wasn’t there, neither were SeaSal, nor LondonBBG, but there will be other gatherings, in other places. There will be other opportunities to meet friends, and if I can, I will be there. It may have been my first QCC gathering, it will almost certainly not be my last. Did I feel out of place? No, and if I was overwhelmed, it was by the generosity of SpanishScot, FriedFish, and MrsMatisse and everyone else who made my first gathering so memorable.
On Friday, 31st January 2014 I had posted my first comment about the Quick crossword. The clue for 5 down now reads: Where fuel is mixed with air in a petrol engine (11). When I first encountered it, the clue had read: “Where fuel is ignited in a petrol engine, and the solution was carburettor”. That clue, and the comment it provoked me to post, were the sparks that set in motion the sequence of events that led me here, through the door at the top of those interminable stairs, into the arms of SpanishScot, and to my first Edinburgh Gathering. I had been warned it might be overwhelming, that I might feel a little out of place. I didn’t, I wasn’t. I had walked into a roomful of friends. To be sure, they were friends I’d never met, but they were friends nonetheless. Friends I had first encountered over two years ago, when I posted my first comment to the Guardian Quick crossword.
The next morning, I was woken by a dawn chorus of double decker buses. For a while I thought it was the wind was trying to rip the roof off. It was probably the most disconcerting moment of my time in Edinburgh, that, and the moment I set of an alarm in the Scottish Parliament Building, but that is another story. A new day, and new faces Brontebiro and Auntycraft, Starrock and Deelfi - it was disconcerting, no one looked exactly how I had imagined they would look, although, they certainly weren’t strangers.
By the morning of the day of the gathering, I was beginning to think I wouldn’t get a chance to see anything of the city of Edinburgh. A short walk from SpanishScot’s flat, there is a statue. That statue is not of a King, nor is it of a poet; it is the statue of a scientist - James Clerk Maxwell. If you don’t know the name remember it, for Maxwell is the father of the modern age. His contributions to physics are as important as those of Newton and Einstein, and he was born in Edinburgh. On that Thursday morning, before the gathering got going, FriedFish and I went exploring. We found the statue of James Clerk Maxwell, and we found some of the book sculptures. We found Edinburgh. We found a city without the reserve, and anonymity of London or Birmingham. Edinburgh is a city proud of its heritage, and confident in its future. A friendly, welcoming city, a city I could grow to love.
And so to the gathering, and yes, perhaps, that was a little strange. For at the gathering I met a badger, and over there by the door, I saw Cleopatra checking her iPhone. FFyshie was waiting for Godot who, once again, failed to make an appearance, (as did ZooshMariah much to Brontebiro’s relief). Daisy Buchanan, the epitome of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ was reclining on her chaise longue. Gandalf the Grey cast a spell over the proceedings, while Cruella de Ville enlisted Captain Hook’s help in the creation of a Dalmatian hide coat. The Sheriff wasn’t shot, and Wigan Pier was, well, Wigan Peer… Yes, that afternoon was a little strange, but the QCC song was sung, and the birthdays were celebrated, and the splother flowed as freely as the wine.
And so with Pinot Grigio, Birthday CAKE, and margaritas my first gathering drew to an end. Cranachan, patatas bravas, pork pie, calamares, and cheerios, and memories, lots of memories. Good food, plenty of wine, good friends and too little time. Some faces were missing, Johnny Solstice wasn’t there, neither were SeaSal, nor LondonBBG, but there will be other gatherings, in other places. There will be other opportunities to meet friends, and if I can, I will be there. It may have been my first QCC gathering, it will almost certainly not be my last. Did I feel out of place? No, and if I was overwhelmed, it was by the generosity of SpanishScot, FriedFish, and MrsMatisse and everyone else who made my first gathering so memorable.