One dark and stormy night, we set out on a journey, knowing only that the road would be long and the way fraught with dangers. Or rather that we would walk less than one mile and be home in time for tea.
We hadn't gone very far when we saw this wondrous sight, an enchanted forest, teeming with magical energy and myterious lights.* At first, I thought we'd wandered into Mirkwood and been overcome by its hallucinogenic mushroom spores.
'Stick to the forest-track, keep your spirits up, hope for the best, and with a tremendous slice of luck you may come out one day and see the Long Marshes lying below you, and beyond them, high in the East, the Lonely Mountain where dear old Smaug lives, though I hope he is not expecting you.' Gandalf, The Hobbit.
But ...
'How now, spirit! Whither wander you?'
– Puck, A Midsummer Night's Dream
It soon became clear that this was not a Tolkienesque forest at all, but a particular one of Shakespeare's. The spirits here were not malevolent, though that did not mean there was no danger – a mischievous sprite can do untold damage to those who wander unwittingly into the woods alone.
And, well, if they decide to keep you ...
'Out of this wood do not desire to go;
Thou shalt remain here whether thou wilt or no.'
– Titania, A Midsummer Night's Dream
*Okay, so this is actually just a twisted hazel up the road from my house. Close-up photo taken with light-drinking iPhone – this is not a painting, even though it looks like one. But remember this picture, because it will be a painting next year ... when I paint it. Actually, forget this picture – if the painting turns out well, I'll show it to you; if it's crap, it'll only see the inside of our recycling box.
And, finally, just for giggles:
'My Oberon, what vision have I seen!
Methought I was enamour'd of an ass.'
– Titania, A Midsummer Night's Dream
Until the sixteenth of Jelember, loonies,
WQ+M+F
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