Solstice festival

I’m having smoothie and coffee for breakfast ..loud music is coming through my window ..I look out and see Anastasia hosing her deck ..I howl at the daylight ..and her dog howls back. Now I’m walking mindfully along Anapamu street ..reaching upper State street at about the place where the parade goes around the bend to Alameda park. There’s a sea of humanity. I hear the sound of drums ahead ..I enter the park from Sola street ..pass by the vendor tents ..there's Rastafarian ..Indian tapestry halter tops ..and tons of jewelry shops. I get a solstice button that looks like an exploding supernova ..which is the theme of this year’s event ..which is subject to every variation of interpretation ..for me ‘everyone’s a star’ works best. Now I’m sitting in the square by the gazebo ..eating watermelon someone handed me for free. Eventually I hook up with Carol and Skylar ..they’re eating nachos and drinking iced tea. Now I’m dancing in the drum circle ..feeling self-conscious ..but there’s no reason ..just revelry. I begin to relax ..my legs loosen ..my hips unwind ..and I’m moving in rhythm. Everyone is smiling ..my jaw slackens ..and I’m grinning like a fool. There’s belly dancers ..Polynesian dancers ..Sufis ..twirling dervishes ..and gypsies. I’m not like any of these though ..more like a refuge from the sixties. I lean over and shout that twenty years of Grateful Dead concerts are paying off. Now the sound of a flute weaves in and out ..and I hear laughter ..colors swirl around me like taffy ..I move fast ..I move slow..I take a water break ..Injun Joe offers me some grass ..I pass it along ..someone hands me a tambourine ..I hand it to someone else ..don’t want any encumbrances ..not another thing to make me feel self-conscious again. I’m swaying through the afternoon this way ..endorphins kicking in and feeling no pain ..I break for dinner ..BBQ tri tip ..elote (corn on the cob) and lemonade ..I’m walking more fluidly now ..feeling grounded but untethered (?) Now I’m resting under the Norton tree and chatting with a girl named Noella ..who she says she gets the strangest comments from the guys leaving the beer tent ..things like ‘take me to your kasbah’ ..or ‘lets f**k’. Her feet are bare and so is her midriff ..but it's no excuse for their behaviour. She says something about her friend from Jamaica that I didn't quite get ..so I just say ja mon ..and tell her I’ve never been there ..I say goodbye to everyone and walk home after sunset.