Argy Bargy (ENG)

Argy Bargy

You may have heard of Stonehenge, the circle of massive stones older than the pyramids of Egypt, dragged from Wales, now sitting quietly among the rolling green hills of Wiltshire, England. Every year the Druids come to renew the old rituals. But you may not have heard of the Barge Inn—a meeting place, a refilling station for the barge boats that glide along the Kennet and Avon canal which passes outside. There are over two thousand miles of canals across England and Wales, built during the Industrial Revolution, carved through the land before the railroads.

In the dark of night you might see a swan swimming silently as the stars and the moon are reflected in the water. I was there when a group of people rushed outside—a UFO above? No, it was Elon Musk's satellites all in a row that were causing the excitement. But it isn't worldly satellites that bring people to this place—it's the Celtic music, the comfort of a friendly fire, and the stories of crop circles.

I've been there at both the summer and winter solstices. Celebrated for thousands of years under moonlight and meteors, troubadours have now taken the place of shamans. Christmas carols and folk songs, or sometimes a reggae band. I arrived with a limp and crutches, and left with a bag full of magic, wondering what caused the geometric patterns in the fields of rye—was it extraterrestrials, or the extra cider? Was it the woman sitting quietly in the corner, or the grey man parked outside in his Subaru, smoking a Peter Stuyvesant?

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