2007 … in the rain.
Silbury was undergoing a technical and difficult conservation exercise. The rain made the job in hand even more difficult and precarious than it otherwise would have been. I recall it being discussed in the Red Lion at a Gathering/Picnic I had been invited to by a man I had known as a teenager, who had disappeared out of my life for decades but with whom I had recently become reacquainted. On that wet afternoon, the man who must remain nameless of course, managed to upset me to the point of trauma – not too long after our paths diverged again but I hung onto my anger for way, way too long. Then last year I learnt the man had died … do I regret the anger I allowed to gnaw away at me? Yes, of course I do. It was only back in summer (in between lock-downs) I asked my good friend to pull in at the WKLB layby. We walked over to the barrow (here you need to know that I had first visited WKLB/Silbury with the above mentioned unnamed man so the association remained). While my good friend went searching for wild flowers on the far side of the barrow I spent some time looking over at Silbury which appeared to be nestled in a field of golden, sunlit barley. I forgave the man I had been angry with for so long. More importantly I forgave myself … for the wisdom I had lacked. And felt gratitude for being alive, standing at a place I had loved for so long.
Forgive those people from 2007 Fachtna, most of us have all been subject to a miscarriage of justice at some point in our lives. It’s gone, let it go.