Since Brockwood Park School is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a grand reunion, and since volunteers are required to help with the expected 500 odd visitors, the opportunity is seized to spend 3 weeks slaving in the kitchen and sleeping in a tent in the shade of a 500 year old oak tree.
A whole day off is offered each week and the shifts are 5 hours or so ... a special kind of holiday and a chance to be part of an amazing event with philosophers round every corner ... some remembered from previous visits, some encountered for the first time ...
Two key addictions are confronted early on - WiFi notionally available but not so easy in practice, coffee hard to locate and requiring a trip over to the Centre or a personal stash (or indeed the purchase of a large quantity to leave out for the other coffee seekers) ... the addictive mind also has the chance to cope without, of course! As the reunion proper begins a coffee and cake corner appears in the marquee ... twin addictions catered for at a reasonable price ...
As for slaving, the kitchen job is swapped for the garden, since garden volunteer David does his back in and requests lighter duties ... meaning plenty of sunshine and fresh air along with a variety of physical tasks to strengthen the body and prepare garden and grounds for the visitors ... work which switches again during the five days of the reunion as all hands are required on deck to keep the show on the road ...
Wonderful to watch the reuniting students and teachers from the different generations, all tasked with the modest aim of creating a new kind of human ... to what extent Krishnamurti's vision has been achieved is explored with those with experience ... an ongoing experiment perhaps ... and heartening to hear the optimism of young students already reshaping the world ... the main task of we elders perhaps to listen, learn, and get out of the way ...
Meanwhile a reunion within the reunion occurs with returning summer work party folks, which is nice ... along with days off spent reuniting with family and friend ...
As settled weather arrives after the event and clear up, a dear friend arrives at the station for a trip to Dartmoor and her reunion with friends from fondly remembered summers of childhood ... poignant since three of four parents have passed in the last year or so ... the main event, an old community ritual, Beating the Bounds, shared with a hundred or so locals, incomers, grockles and a camera crew ... a strenuous enough amble over the moors, a picnic at the top, tea in the village hall to finish ...
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