Fragments

The weekend was mainly spent in the Forestof Dean, with twenty or so friends & their children. Total group size, of course. Now that the children aren't really children any more, it's noticeable how the adults' interests and behaviours are beginning to diverge. Previously, our group was bound together by our need to care for and amuse our children. Now that they are self-sufficient, our own characters are beginning to grow again or to revert to their original, child-free forms. Some friends we had grown close to are beginning to pall, as our new interests and enthusiasms are so different from theirs.

The Forest is a strange place, with scattered houses & settlements everywhere, replecting the mining and industrial history of the area. Our walk was along one of the many disused railway tracks that litter the Forest, with spoil-heaps and unidentifiable industrial ruins beside them, hidden and covered by trees.

The weekend away followed the format of the 15-20 previous weekends that we have all spent together. Most of us arrived at the hostel on Friday night, and stayed up late, talking. On Saturday the stragglers arrived, and some of us walked or cycled around the Forest while offspring hung around the hostel and sulked. Saturday night we had a group meal, with talk and drink and argument, before falling tired into bed. Our Sunday was something of a washout, this year, as it was pissing down in no uncertain fashion, with thunder and 25mm rain in the morning. So Moonface & I returned home....to tomorrow's entry.