The Chronicles of Sir Thomas Rhymer Oisin Leaf

2012: Rites of Passage, Transitions, A New Era

leafworks — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 02:56:11 +0000

After quitting my job in April 2011 for a trek around the world – flying from Denver to L.A., visiting family, then off to Australia making new extended family, road trip around with new extended brother Bluey – Canberra, Snowy Mountains, Melbourne, the amazing Queensland and New South Wales coast, living in Brisbane becoming a tour guide and active crew – teaching the history of Captain Cook, scrubbing decks, sailing, climbing masts, and sailing around a portion of Australia on the historic HMB Endeavour replica. Flying back to America for a bodypainting shoot in Denver, just before flying off to England to help run the summer field school at Saveock, building a iron age roundhouse and excavating ritual offering pits, and searching for an iron age burial. Tarot reading and bodypainting at Three Wishes Faerie fest, and then flying back to America dead broke to assist the Irish in building the Dragon effigy at Burning Man: Rites of Passage. Little did I know this would be the start of a major Rites of Passage in my life for the year to come. A faint loss of hope at moving to Europe, I was prepared for a new life in Ashland to open a fairy shoppe and mermaid temple. However the Burn was much more transitional than i expected as i met my twin flame and lifemate. Enroute to dropping her off to the airport she invited me to move in with her in Ireland. So I tidied my affairs in America, and mysteriously found an additional refund check for my 401k in my Colorado P.O. box making the journey possible. I vended Faerieworlds and did side jobs to afford to go back to Ireland. Visited my mom and did some work for her only to see hint that she was getting alsheimers and questioning how much longer she’d be with us. Ireland was amazing and so was the relationship, as I soon found proposing to my love atop the Hill of Tara at the Stone of Destiny.

On a tourist visa, I hunted for work but without right to work, was handicapped and only able to work the magical communities doing tarot, body painting, and some revenue from my American business doing web design, online ads, and selling some photos.

January 2012:

A New Years celebrating Irish style in Kilkenny with my Love and her family started the New Year afoot with family in mind. They say what you do on New Year’s is reflectant of the year to come. Rites of Passage into new family. As my three month tourist visa was ending, I had to go back to the States for a 3 month waiting period before being able to go back to Ireland. We hit many spots around Ireland as I didn’t know when I’d be back – exploring Kilkenny and on the way back visiting the legends of Fore: where the monastery sits in a bog, the mill exists without a race, the water that flows uphill, a tree that won’t burn, the water that won’t boil, the anchorite in the stone, and the stone that was raised by St. Feichin’s prayers. Petitions offered to the fairy tree and sacred well. We then went on to the Loughcrew Passage tomb for an indepth meditation on the magic of Eire. We then visited the Pale Ditch and Ring Fort to seek out the Tuatha de Danann at the Spire of Lloyd (Famine Lighthouse) to learn about the struggles of immigration and people’s. With the rains of change pouring down on us, we were off to St. Colmcillie’s Well to offer more petitions for our life ahead of us. A visit to St. Columba’s church capped off the evening as did some tea and dessert. The following day more petitions and prayers ath the holy well at Clonabreany and exploring the grave yard across the street while contemplating life and death. We capped off the day with a walk on the beach at Ballygannon knowing from here on out we’d be living on the coastlines together. We were off to explore Ardee at the site of the Battle of the Ford – time of Queen Maeve and Cuchulainn battling Ferdia. Explored the Hellfire Club, Hill of Slane, St. Brigid’s Shrine in N. Ireland, we capped off our life in Dublin together and exploring some sacred sites until my unknown return. A flight back to America – my love came with me to meet the family … alas, mom was really losing her memory and we seriously began questioning how much time we’d have left with her. We Figured at least a couple of years as she was spritely but just losing her memory. Last minute we decided to elope, and had a simple handfasting on the beach in Sullivan’s Island, SC and legally married. My older brother Bill married us and delivered an amazing ceremony. We kept it simple and spontaneous, with me, my love, my mom, brother, and sister-n-law. We still planned on marrying next year for family and friends in Ireland and other parts of the world, but figured mom wouldn’t be able to travel to them, and not knowing how long she’d be around, at least she could be part of our wedding now. Then a spontaneously honeymoon road trip down to St. Augustine and then to the Keys/Miami so my daughter could meet her new step-mom. We explored the St. Augustine lighthouse, visited the Fountain of Youth, and drove around the everglades looking at cypress and alligators with the adult kids. Kayaking in the keys at John Pennecamp reef, and a nightcap in Miami Beach. Back to Charleston, with a pitstop at the ruins of an old sugar plantation sweetened up the end of our honeymoon. My love was back off to Ireland to finish University, and I stayed in South Carolina doing odd jobs and spending time with mom.to afford passage back to Ireland.

February 2012:

Helping and spending time with mom was nice especially not knowing how much longer we’d have her, but didn’t calm the heartbreak of being separated from my wife while doing odd jobs for return passage to Eire. Weather-proofed and painted a back patio and garage, accounting and tax return services, web design and development, blog ads, sale of some digital photos, yardwork, raking, cleaning gutters, painting the house, landscaping, gardening, drilling a well, and installing a sprinkling system … i was on my way back to getting to Ireland.

A visit to the ancient “Angel Oak” tree gave me wisdom and advice for the journey. Later that month I flew out to Oregon to move my van back to Colorado as it sat atop a friend’s mountain who was about to move and therefore had to be moved. A blessing of a short visit with extended family and friends all along the way as I drove from Ashland, past Mt. Shasta, into Northern California, for a treacherous winter weather snow and ice, dust storms, and overheating drive across the Rockies back to Denver where the Van would live until my return from Ireland later that year. I stored some things in my RV in Colorado Springs, and packed up for Ireland.

March 2012:

Back in Dublin in the arms of my love. Residency (1 year) came easy and absolutely free as I presented our wedding license to immigration and within a month was issued my social insurance number so I could work. However, work was not found anywhere. I continued to sell digital photos, list online ads, and sell things through Amazon. Continued to do tarot readings and bodypainting at events where i could. Tried selling at the Ferocious Mingles Market. Explored Dublin, blogged, and wrote reviews I got paid for while my love was finishing university. We began culinary experimentations with baking and new dishes, as well as lauching a Foodies blog. We made our first sushi together.

I began to explore the Maritime history of Ireland and its heart in Dublin. Attended the free Edibles exhibit at the Science Center. Toured the Jeannie Johnston. Understood the struggle of Ireland and the Great Famine. Learned of the importance of Family and that of extended family (friends). Struggles of diversity and independence.

Occupy Wall street and the Irish version of Occupy Dame Street as it had to be cleared out for St. Patty’s Day parade. Attended my first St. Patrick’s Day parade celebration in Ireland. Riverwalk hikes and exploring the parks, home seemed to be in Dublin. I was in love all around. Learning more of the ancient legends of the Tuatha de Danann, I explored for its representation in the statues, artwork, and iconography all throughout Ireland inspired to write a book on it which I began. We became part of the Love Dublin festival. Some hopeful prospects with work teased us but did not deliver, especially as museum jobs seemed possible. Something was not letting us totally settle down in Dublin. I questioned why this was.

April 2012:

A visit back to Kildare to visit Brigid’s holy well and to tap back into my spirituality. Visited the nun sister Mary who graced us with the Brigid’s flame and blessings. A return back to Kildare with my good friend and new brother Rob Wildwood who visited us in Ireland and we were off exploring sacred sites together all around the world it seems predestined. Off we went to Trinity Well in Carbury to seek out the hazelnuts that the salmon of wisdom ate, and see the source of the Boyne. We explored and meditated atop a faery hill in Carbury after which were invited into a farmer’s house for tea and a lesson of Irish history. He liked us so much he lent me a book on Irish mythology and history.

Culinary experimentations led to me trying to create my own coconut spread and burning out the blender in the process. Exploring monuments, parks, and castles became a weekly activity. The Dragon’s Den contacted me for Pirate Relief funding for a chance to come on the show and do a pitch for 500,000 pounds. So much of the month was indulged with business plans, accounting schemes, projections, and goals. A good performer friend of mine joined the crew and project, and we were off on a crazy bus ride to England to audition for the show. We were offered a slot on the show and things looked good even though we were all desperately poor at the bottom of our barrel struggling in Ireland with no income. Our good friend Rob came and joined us for dinner and excitement on the prospects of BBC’s Dragon’s Den and gifted us transport around town. Hard at work working out networking, Q&A, business plans, and the pitch consumed our activities as did us volunteering for helping run Shakefest festival at Charleville Castle.

Alot of work between Pirate Relief and Shakefest consumed most of April, with job hunting and not finding anything caused more economic strife and struggle, but the gleam of hope that our dreams could be fulfilled in months to come and income would flow again soon. Shakefest – a celebration of bellydance and folk culture was an amazing project to be on as we helped our good friends Terri and Smiley with. A fundraiser at the Culture Box teased the Dublin patrons with a nice taste of what was to come. Another volunteer opportunity with the Tall Ship Races in the fall enticed us to investigate as well with networking possibilities for Pirate Relief. We were gifted free tix to the Wax Museum from the Love Dublin Fest, and got to view some interesting exhibits while being enticed also to volunteer for the Festival of Fires. We figured helping all the others with their projects would be fun, bridge network connections, and karmically help us mutually in the future. A weekend up at the Hill of Uisnech for more Tuatha de Danann explorations and building of fairy seats, wickerwork spirals and mazes for the festival so we could attend the festival for free. This also gifted me the ability to vend the event. Sacred visions upon the hill showed again the importance of family, community, and kinship – flickers of a new life to come here in Ireland for us.

May 2012:

We lost the Dragon’s Den pitch as our producer backed out and the BBC wouldn’t let us go on without all of those involved during the audition. Too late in the game for changes. So a change of stream occured in May as our hopes were crushed. The universe however must have deemed that to be for some reason. More explorations this month of Dublin, hard at work volunteering with festival preparations, and other events as well as Pirate Relief funding plans. We tried online fundraising for Pirate Relief which didn’t work. Home experiments with cooking new dishes, and growing some indoor gardens with the first harvest of a giant salad mushroom and some tomato flowers.

Facepainting at the Festival of Fires provided some funding for the month as we were still dirt barrel poor. the festival was amazing and meeting up with friends and kin there provided great fun. The next day we were off with Terri and Smiley for some prep work for Shakefest at Charleville Castle. Got a indepth tour of the castle and its grounds and where we’d be hosting a Faerie Glen and Madhatter’s Tea Party event for the kids and afterhour adults. Another promotional event that evening at a local hotel to spread word about Shakefest and celebrate the arts. On the way back to Dublin, we visited segments of the Tain Trail and learned about Queen Maeve. We visited the infamous Corlea Trackway and made friends with the custodians who had an amazing project prospect for us with a living history museum and park that was in the works on surrounding lands. They wanted our help if it comes into focus to help build re-created roundhouses and viking ships to sail up to the event. We were more than excited with that prospect. Karma seemed to be floating our way.

We then explored Ardagh and headed off to Queen Maeve’s hillforts and palace. We explored the history of Etain and Midir a love story that has alot to do with our own living myth and love story. Rathcrohan was amazing. We really enjoyed seeing the faerie mounds, hill forts, and climbing down into the passage to the underworld in the Cave of the Cats to the Morrigan’s palace. Monuments to the Children of Lir also showed us more mythology. A visit to Cork was fun filled as we bonded with more family and extended family. We shop-sat at my love’s mother’s brass shop while she was out of town and began working on our lost wax casting wedding rings as we carved wax effigies of our rings we wanted.

A weekend in Tullamore provided much work clearing the area for the Madhatter’s Tea Party and Faerie Glen as we built faerie houses, set up the tea party table, and the DJ booth. We tracked down a candlemaking wax supply shop and made some sand candles on the oceanside to sell at our booth at the upcoming Shakefest. The following week prior to the event we headed to the castle to stay over and start building our theme camp collecting vines and botany for decorations. With no budget, we scraped by with what we could scavenge to make an amazing fun place of entertainment. As weekend and event approached things were looking great.

Come the event we had a fabulous time, presentation, and event. Community was built and friendships made. Made a little from facepainting and sales to struggle through next month, but jobs and employment were much needed. Next month my love would be finishing university and new paths of what to do and where to be would need to present themselves.

Our friend Rob came over from England to join the party and then kidnap us for a journey around the countryside to explore sacred sites. My friend Carl came from Colorado and joined in the adventure. We went to the Shannon Pot, the real source of the Boyne, in search for the hazelnuts of the salmon of wisdom. We met a local artist who gave us a personal tour of the countryside, monument, faerie hills, ring forts, and tombs nearby as well as a farmer’s allowance to climb down into the swallow holes on his property. The following days me and Carl explored Dublin, the parks, and the botanical gardens. He treated us to a local play and we attended a film on the struggle of immigrants in Dublin.

JUNE 2012:

Pleas from family to return to the States to come visit mom began as it appeared mom was spiralling down, showing signs of alsheimers, and not being able to take care of herself. My love finished up her university at the beginning of the month, so we were technically free to relocate and go elsewhere. Jobs weren’t coming our way. My love got a very part time job waittressing at Eddie Rockets (fast food diner). With the museum jobs being dead-ends, Pirate Relief on Dragon’s Den cancelling, I was trying to figure out other arenas for me to find income. June was when I went full style Viking and exploring this medieval era. Early in the month my viking friend Rob took me to a Viking fair in the park in Castlewellan, Northern Ireland. It was quite boring. So off to explore sacred sites and holy wells for the books we’re writing. We explored Struell Wells, Nendrum Monastic Site, and hunted for Oisin’s grave.

We finally found it (3rd time I’ve ventured in these fields and hadn’t found it before). After meditating at the stone tomb, Rob saw across the valley by the sea a fairy hill lifting up with a court underneath so we ventured forth and drove to find it, hopped over farmer’s fences, and climbed to its top and within the fairy thorn at its base. Magical site. Didn’t know what it was at the time, but internet research that evening revealed it was indeed a famous fairy hill and entrance to the otherworld as Tiveragh Hill. Much of the month spent doing more monuments and wanderings around Dublin, visiting the giant nude statue of Queen Maeve. Corlea trackway had a wetlands conference they guested me into to talk about the site needs, Barry J Raefje, and wetland archaeology. We networked about the living history park in the works. Then so deemed the universe to plant the seed of life for me and my love unknowingly to us for a baby boy soon to come. A ferry/bus ride over to York where Rob offered to give me a lift to Cornwall for Three Wishes Festival was long and tiring. It however was very important I attend 3 Wishes as was given an opportunity to make some money facepainting and tarot reading at the event.

Since it was my only form of semi-reliable income opportunity, had to take it. My love couldn’t afford to come with me and needed to stay behind and work her fast food job. Once in York, got to explore some with personal tours by Rob. Haunted Pubs, Pagan Moot discussing ceremonial magic, and exploring Jorvik Viking Museum and archaeological site. A Viking poetry night was had. We travelled down to visit Glastonbury enroute to Cornwall visiting the Chalice Well, White Spring, meditations in the Goddess Temple, Brigid’s Hill and Beckery Chapel, fairy trees, an ancient Yew, and the sacred grove of Dundon Beacon. On the trip, I crashed in Rob’s van while he was in the motel, and brought my own ration’s for backpacking fare. At 3 Wishes, was blessed to bodypaint Alice Spacedoll for her performance, and the first nude bodypainting at that particular festival.

Fun and frolick had with the fae as we won the Guiness Book of World’s Records most fairies in one place contest, blessed with visits of mermaids, and dancing in the fields. My vending didn’t do so well as the weather was foul with lots of rain and wind. As a wandering merchant, hard to find somewhere dry to setup or sit down. Drum circles, faerie raps around the fire, concerts and performances. I made a bit, but not enough to do much more than break even after budget travel. We stayed at the Clifdene afterwards then over to Jacqui’s site to view the recreated round house and excavation. Great touching base since wasn’t able to do the field school this year. The roundhouse was fantastically finished and setup for demonstrations and living history presentation. We then headed down to Porthkidney beach to visit St. Uni’s well and make petitions. Onwards to Penzance to visit my friend Anja and on to St. Madron’s well with more meditations and offerings had at the well and wishing tree. We drove on to visit Lanyon Quoit, Men at Tol, and Chun Downs. We visited the mermaid cove by the sea. On to visit friends at Roughtor in the Bodmin Moor and shown by friends a un-marked holy well. Roundhouses and ring forts scattered the Bodmin Moor. We spent the night dining and crashing over at our friends space the Mystic Surfer’s Healing Center. The next day the Summer Solstice Celebrations and druidic rituals at Stonehenge for an all night party joining up with Rob’s friends for the night.

Back in Dublin, we were off to explore the coast while auditioning for the role of a viking for the upcoming tv series “Vikings”. Had a wonderful visit with our good friend Anja from Cornwall and Germany while she was in Dublin showing her visit around the city.

JULY 2012:

Expanding my interests in Viking culture … my good travel mate Rob Wildwood invited me to a aunthentic Viking festival in Norway with another opportunity to do face painting (traditional style) at the festival to make some money. Hopped another ferry/bus to Bradford where he picked me up and we ventured onward to Denmark with me as a stow-a-way in his van. I crashed in his camper van while he stayed at hotels, and we had a great visit with one of my colleagues from the Endeavour in Australia. Got to taste Denmark food. The Viking Festival in Norway was amazing, everyone dressed traditional, crafts, battles, rites, and rituals. Not knowing Norwegian, it was a bit difficult to present my art, but I got a few wanting facepaints. Had a most excellent experience.

Back to Dublin for a Freak Picnic in the Park and clubbing at Ireland’s only Goth night Dominion with extended family and friends. Exploring the area around Dublin was focus for part of the month as we spent time in Howth, Malahide, and St. Anne’s. Attended the Dublin Viking Festival and a night at Funky Seomora – a non-alcohol dance and fun night. Rob came to visit us again in Ireland to join in the activities with us and our friends, and we drove down to the Wicklow Mountains, St. Kevin’s Way, Glendalough, and visiting St. Kevin’s well. We visited Newgrange again and explored the ancient burial mounds of the Tuatha de Danann. News of Mom this month was worse, so we decided we’d wrap up life in Ireland, put things in storage, and head to South Carolina in September to help caretake her and spend some time with her since we didn’t know how much longer she had left. Universe was pointing us that this was what needed to be done.

Started to believe we weren’t getting job opportunities/offers due to this. We sold our car and mom sent us some money to make it back. We also needed to move my van in Colorado by October as our friends who were watching it were moving – so timing was perfect. Unfortunately all plane tickets before October were extra expensive so we began to creatively find routes back to the States. Also had to figure out breaking our apartment lease for this move. News of the death of my old University mentor Bruce Grindal was told to me and my friend Tara in California. Death comes in threes, really hoping this is not the case.

AUGUST 2012:

Since we didn’t know how long we would be gone, and now without a car had to find places to store our household belongings and furnishings – we took buses and lifts from friends to move our 1 bedroom apartment into our good friend Randy’s shed in Wicklow, my love’s brother’s house in North Dublin, and parent’s house in Cork. Rob was a wonderful hand in helping us move some of the stuff and we were able to borrow our old car back for a day to do some moves. In process, my love started getting sick often and we didn’t know what was going on.

With the move on focus, we had to wait till later in the month to go see her physician in Cork only to find out she was pregnant. That was a twist just as we had bought tickets to America and got rid of our apartment since pre-natal and delivery is free in Ireland and not in America. But already too committed to heading to America to take care of mom, we proceeded with moving stuff. In process We got to see Wicklow mountains, Wexford, the Kennedy Homestead, Waterford, Ring of Gullion, Slieve Gullion, and Cork in the process. Time in the Slieve Gullion passage tomb was well explored as we hiked to the other tomb and the mystical lake that turned Finn’s hair to white. Visited the BallymcDermot passage tomb as well as a final visit to Loughcrew and the Hill of Uisnech.

We had our going away parties as we found solution to our travel dilemmas by being stow-a-ways in Rob’s van on the ferry to Scotland, with a chance to visit our extended family in Edinburg and flying Iceland’s Airlines $595 one way special from Glasgow to Denver with a 2 day layover in Iceland for free. Our apartment packed up by the 19th we were ready to start a long backpacker’s trek to America to caretake and visit with my mom – our future undetermined when we’d return to Ireland or how long we’d be staying with mom in America. Lots to do to wrap up our lives in Ireland and move my stuff out of Colorado to South Carolina. The journey began. A wonderful few day visit with our family in Edinburgh, we got to explore the sites of the Scottish countryside as our wonderful sister Jasmine/brother Dan took us all around when they weren’t working and drove us down to the airport in Glasgow. We visited St. Ronan’s Well, Rhymer’s stone where he was lured to Faerie by the faerie princess on the white horse, Rhymer’s tower, Melrose Abbey, and Smailholm Tower. A day in Edinburgh with St. Andrew’s Square, the Fringe Festival, the Elephant House wher harry potter was written, Edinburgh Botanical Gardens where Rob joined us again for explorations. We capped off the evening at the Banshee. We explored the Rossyln Chapel where the Davinci Code was filmed, explored the forest and river, hunted for the cave where William Wallace hid, Edinburgh Museum, St. Anthony’s Chapel, well, and Arthur’s Seat, and St. Catherine’s Well.

On the plane to Denver, a stop off in Reykjavik Iceland at an affordable B&B/hostel. We explored the lands of Icelandic elves and trolls, volcanic moon rock landscapes, hot springs, geysers, and steam vents. Visited viking houses and tromping grounds. Crossed the land bridge from Europe to North America. We touched base in Denver, picked up by our extended sister Christina and given refuge for our severe jetlag. On to Colorado Springs, we began hastily clearing through my RV to prepare for our move to South Carolina stocking up on clothes, gear, and household needs and preparations to sell the RV.

Once going through it we started to contemplate whether we could drive it across the country for a easier and more responsible journey cutting off Colorado and also since my love was having not only morning sickness, but altitude sickness, seemed to be the best bet given our new situation we weren’t sure how it would turn out or where we would be. Would we be in South Carolina a long time taking care of mom? or just visit and spend some time with her then fly back to Ireland and have the baby back in the homeland? Additional stress atop all the moving issues, RV, vehicle, and life decisions needed to be made. We rushed as fast as we could to clear through the RV, sell things at the flea market so we’d have more travel funds as we would be crossing the country with no emergency funds. Wanted to properly show my love Colorado, but time didn’t really allow it, which added stress and disappointment.

SEPTEMBER 2012:
On focus was getting across the country safely and comfortably with our new unexpected condition atop the priorities as well as getting to mom to help her with her alsheimers. Fate had it (and the Universe looking after us) by delivering a flea market sale at a friend’s warehouse where we were able to setup and sell alot of stuff for our journey. Was able to give us a space to see extended family and friends properly since we had to rush to get out of Colorado. Since we were all missing the burn this year, those of us not able to attend, had a small gathering at the Firm to burn a mini man. The RV was starting to look too expensive to take across the country like we originally expected, but was able to move it to a storage yard that was much cheaper.

Got to have lunch with my old co-workers and touch base with my community in Colorado. One afternoon we did get a break to see the Garden of the Gods and Manitou Springs before leaving. Up to Denver to do our last flea market and by morning all of our stuff to sell was stolen from the rack on top of my van. With nothing to sell, and the universe seeming to prompting us to just leave the state, we took the message and hit the road. Heading south to New Mexico, we pitstopped at two hotsprings – the Well, and Las Vegas hotsprings.

New Mexican fare, we headed down south to Roswell, passed through my old tromping grounds, saw the UFO crash site and fad filled downtown, on to Bottomless Lakes to camp for the night. A racoon attack later, back on the road, pitstopped at Carlsbad caverns and onward into Texas.

Fredericksburg (German town), and then a stopover with some good Burning Man family in Austin. We hit hurricane struck Louisiana with a intended stop-off to see friends in New Orleans, only to throw the clutch and break down in a rural town outside of New Orleans. We were unable to contact anyone to fix the vehicle as town was in disarray from the hurricane that happened the previous week. We got stuck in a bad neighborhood stranded at a shut down mechanic shop with shady people scoping out our van waiting us to turn our heads so they could steal something. Our friends came to the rescue and we got a rental van to load our possessions into and drive onwards to South Carolina.

We pitstopped for a swim at Ponce de Leon springs for our dose of the Fountain of Youth waters for rejuvenation. Staying at our extended brother Brad’s house in Tallahassee, got to see extended family and friends, have some thai, and see my old tromping grounds as we headed onwards to South Carolina. The next day a long drive to mom’s arriving near midnight. Prior to our arrival, our family had taken mom in to a Doc-in-a-box to find out what was going on with her and she was diagnosed with severe dehydration, anemia, a bruised rib, and a UTI. Just in time to take care of her the next day on the 20th as my brother and sister-in-law had to work the next day.

The rest of the month got to spend some quality time with mom and help her with getting better as well as finding prenatal care for my love and figure out what we would be doing with our new arrival next year – job hunting, house hunting, car-shopping (since we were now car-less), and looking into medicare.

We also realized mom was alot worse off than we expected and started shifting focus from visiting her for a few months to realizing we needed to move to South carolina for a longer period of time than we originally thought. Transitions obsessed us and stress came frequently. Mom’s health quickly declined.

OCTOBER 2012:

I got a part-time job as a zombie at the local horror house for Halloween month and started looking for professional jobs, houses/apartments to move to, pre-natal care, car shopping, and where we would settle so we could help caretake mom. The universe found us a Toyota Sienna Van for $2000 that seemed to meet our needs. Early october mom’s health and condition declined more severely as her meds the doc-in-the-box prescribed didn’t seem to do the trick. We took her back to the doc-in-the-box and they said she was fine, it was just her dehydration issues. The next day we found her passed out and rushed her to the hospital’s emergency room to get checked out. At first they thought we were being silly and it was just old age. But they ran blood tests and found she was diabetic, had leukemia, her UTI was still bad, and she was still suffering from dehydration. They hospitalized her.

The Universe found us a free mechanical hospital bed on craigslist for her, so me and my brother tossed it in my van and set it up for her hoping she’d be home soon. That same day I got a phone call from a defense contract firm for an interview. Mom got transferred to downtown Charleston hospital for blood transfusions and treatment. It became obvious we wouldn’t have her for but a few more months. The interview was successful and I accepted the Army job in Columbia, with relief our life issues and income problems would soon be solved, medical, prenatal, and we’d be close enough to come see mom every weekend and my love could stay down during the week to help watch over mom. Mom’s health declined more and more. It was a different interpretation every day: sometimes we’d think we would only have for a few days and other times for many more months or years. It was most stressful and emotional.

Mom was then transferred into Rehab for treatment, frequent doctor appointments, and therapy. I started my new job on the 22nd. That week, it was really hard to figure out mom’s condition and she started to say she was going to passover soon. We put word out to family that they should come visit her asap. Within 3 days of work in Columbia, the Universe pointed us out to a house to rent and we quickly moved into it during our commutes back and forth to Mt. Pleasant to help with mom. As the world prepared for Halloween, we saw mom begin to show signs that she was ready to head to the spirit realm herself, and that disturbed us all. Very emotional. We threw her a Halloween party on Halloween as her grand-daughter moved up that week from Georgia to help caretake for her. My love stayed down while I worked in Columbia to help caretake too. My brother and sister-in-law were constantly in the center too … so mom was surrounded by family. She had a great Halloween and we all started to have hopes for her.

NOVEMBER 2012:

Early November Brother from Los Angeles came in and my daughter from Miami came up to visit her. She was surrounded by her loving family. They were only able to stay a few days to a week and during that period, as we were taking my daughter to the train station, at 5:30 in the morning, mom passed away silently in her sleep. We were in shock and sadness. A few days later, mom was cremated and we had a small funeral/memorial/ scattering of her ashes on Sullivan’s Island beach to see her off to the other side.

We mixed her ashes with our dad’s and scattered them into the ocean. The rest to be scattered in New Mexico next summer as per their wishes. It was quite magical as we left after scattering the ashes seeing a giant cruise ship pass by real close and visualizing mom and dad jumping aboard for one last cruise. Our extended brother Rob from England came to visit us. The rest of the month was spent working and clearing through mom’s stuff and getting her house ready to sell. We escaped to Faerie Con to try to get the sadness out of our being. It helped us release our grief and sadness. Knowing mom is happier and re-united with Dad. We took our niece with us and went up to Maryland for the convention. En route we visited my extended sister Kay for a ghost tour of historic Occoquan. Saturday and Sunday had a great time at the Faerie Con with family, extended family, and friends.

Moving furniture, furnishing, clearing out mom’s house, and moving everything to Columbia for us, forwarding our mail, and slowly disconnecting from Mt. Pleasant/Charleston we had to start over with finding prenatal care and where we want to have our son Cian delivered. We had Thanksgiving by ourselves in our new home in Columbia.

Since we don’t know a soul in Columbia, and have hardly any friends in the state its been a bit lonely for us. We cooked up a free-range turkey, greens, sweet potatoes, and pie for the two of us to dine on. Since we don’t have a kitchen table yet, setup two craft tables we makeshifted into a table for us on the porch. With no proper table or settings, was in no place to invite anyone over if we could. It was lovely nonetheless. We started to explore Columbia and its local parks, river walks, and restaurants. My cousin Marion also passed away this month.

DECEMBER 2012:

Santacon was soon to happen in Charleston and Savannah so we began to scavenge thrift shops for toy parts and began making misfit toys after work. Hopes high we’d make some friends with local community at the Santacons we were to attend. Down to Charleston for more moving of stuff, we also attended the Charleston Pirate Ghost Tour which was most excellent. We attended Charleston Santacon with our niece for an extroadinarily fun time … my older brother and sister-in-law also joined us later in the evening for the festivities which was grand. We helped our niece move to her new place in Sumter. My younger brother and his partner Angela gave birth to Winter, a bouncing baby nephew. On the 16th we headed down to Georgia for the Savannah Santacon where we met up with my old roommate and friend Dame Darcy. Got to see historic Savannah, Bonaventure cemetery, The Peacemaker, and its beaches on Tybee Island. For Xmas, it was solitude again, just me, my love, and Cian in the belly.

We went up to Hot Springs North carolina for a soak, Blue Ridge Parkway, viewing hillbilly houses, and some solitude and serenity in the Old Smokey Mountains. We made a nice dinner of roast orange duck for the two of us (3 with Cian in the belly) and set out a table setting for mom as we felt her presence lately. My company had a few holiday dinners and celebrations and some extended 4 day weekends off. So we took advantage of the time to explore the southeastern U.S. which my love is very new too. My daughter had a day and a half off, so we headed down to Florida to visit with her over New Years and ring in the New Year for our focus this year on family, community, and nesting. Enroute we had a nice stay-over at Daytona Beach for my last swim in the ocean for 2012. Celebration with the daughter with fireworks as we cheer in the New Year.

As we drive back from Miami for a long journey back to South Carolina i realize 2013 will be an equally long adventure as I had last year. Hopefully no more deaths or downfalls. This coming year is supposed to be a time for healing, peace, new abilities, family, community, and love. Cheers! Happy new year!

Chronicles: 08/16/12

leafworks — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 21:28:07 +0000

Chronicles: 08/16/12, a set on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Follow the Chronicles of Sir Thomas Rhymer Oisin Leaf McGowan on August 16, 2012 as he explores Loughcrew passage tomb’s rock art, and tromps in the rain atop the Hill of Uisneach in counties Meath and westmeath of Ireland. The tales will be published late September here: www.technogypsie.com/chronicles/?p=453. In the meantime, enjoy other tales and adventures at www.technogypsie.com/chronicles/ or travel tales at www.technogypsie.com/reviews/. Information about photos and use can be obtained at www.technogypsie.com/photography/

07.06.12: VT – Norway

Leaf — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 20:40:57 +0000

[ Chronicles: A Viking Tale, the Beginning of the Journey ]

Friday, 6 July 2012
Borre Viking Marked, Borre, Norway

A startled rising, Sir Thomas Leaf was up around 9′ish as Sir Rob Wildwood was knocking on the vardo’s door. The adventurers then packed up their gear, unplugged, and headed off to Borre, for the Borre Viking Marked. This was soon to be Sir Leaf’s virginal entrance to Viking culture as he would walk back into time amongst these warriors who shared bloodlines with him. The explorers made a pitstop along the way for some grub, which equated to some sausage and fries (which Sir Rob graciously treated the penniless bard to as they were well over 150 kronos each), then on to the Market. Down the road to the seaside marina, just past the Viking museum, Our delvers pulled into a small parking lot as the bustle of Viking merchants were running around gathering up their gear to bring to Market. Sir Rob was able to find an ideal spot for his caravan, close to the gate, though had a hard time finding where to check-in with the village guardians. First stop was over to Sir Rob’s tribe who had an “Invite” for Sir Leaf’s presence at the market as well as for the Saturday feast. Sir Leaf then settled into a place to lay his blanket in order to do bodypainting Viking style .. Beautiful shaded forested park at the foot of some Viking burial mounds was the setting for this festival. The ‘plastic’ tent camping area was out of the village just near the mounds, so Sir Leaf settled himself in Sir Rob’s loaner tent, and started making up his painting palette in seashells as paint holders and sticking with traditional colors based on Woad, madder, indigo, onion, charcoal, clay, etc. based on his research of Viking era paints. The Color spectrum the best he could deduce in Viking times was essentially red, yellow, grey, white, black, blue, green, and purple. He made up leather wrapped paint brushes that were more “period” looking. Sir Rob Wildwood lent the penniless artisan a tunic, patched pants, and leather shoes (which strongly reminded Sir Leaf of Native American moccasins), and a claw tooth knecklace with a Thor’s hammer in its middle. One thing Sir Leaf noticed immediately with the drumming in the village, chanting, tents, clothing, style, etc. was that “Viking Culture” looked almost identical to Northern/Northeastern Native American culture. He was quite shocked. He had always heard of the similarities, but that idea and imagery never really sunk in until now.

With no kronos, The adventurers headed off to the town centre to get some currency exchanged so Sir Rob would have some buying power and Sir Leaf some change to give to his customers. Currency exchange was expensive (or seemed as such), as he only got 59 krones for 15 Euro. That was all he had to my name at the moment, so exchanged it as would need to give some change while face painting he thought. Back to the festival, all in Viking gear and dress, Sir Leaf wandered with Sir Rob into the village market, and Sir Rob settled him into his place to vend next to his friend’s tent. Sir Rob found Sir Leaf a great log upon which to draw a sign on, and got him the translation in Norwegian for face painting, runes (runer), and bodypainting. Sir Leaf Basically charged 20 krona for simple runes on the cheek or hand, 50 krones for face painting or designs, and 150+ for body painting. Absolutely no bodypainting requests all weekend (could only gather that was because Norway was too cold (even for mid-summer), Norwegians were too conservative of a culture to undress for fashion and the event today was too rainy was Sir Leaf’s thoughts). The weather relatively bounced from overcast to sunny with light rain showers (misting) during the day on into eve. The skies never turned dark so Sir Leaf wound up vending to almost 9 pm as the market was open very late. Sir Leaf made roughly 620 krones for the day. His clients were primarily kids wanting face painting or runes, especially as the public came in and made their requests for their kids. Sir Leaf did paint A couple of adults who ventured over. He tried sticking to Viking designs and runes, though a few in the course of the weekend wanted tigers, cats, and butterflies as they are popular requests in the modern world. No one really knows fully the designs the Vikings used as we barely know what paints/dyes they used on the skin – we just know they used face/body paint for ritual, ceremony, and warfare. Archaeologically they have found some dyes such as madder and woad that are assumed to be the dyes used for the skin, but no one knows for sure. The assumption is they would have used their typical designs and symbols for that painting. Sir Leaf tried to stick as close as possible to the archaeological hypotheses that exist out there in this realm of Viking culture.

With the water so nearby, Sir Leaf was incredibly tempted with the desire to go for a swim. Even with the rains, he was savoring the idea of jumping into the Fjord … as many others were swimming. However, after feeling the water temperature with his hand, even though it wasn’t too bad it was still very cold, and since this is a “family event” whilst nudity is not so commonplace, he did not have his suit on, and the birthday suit wasn’t a swimming “suit” option. Sir Leaf prefers to swim in his birthday suit. “Hmmmpppfff … . blah on conservativism. Conservatism and one mainstream’s sub-cultural lens of what is decent or indecent is an infection that devastates the “morale” of the world” Sir leaf thought to himself.

Enjoying this tale? Please help keep this story growing. Treat your adventurer to a chai, a drink, a meal, or cover his lodging or transportation so he can keep bringing you stories in a more timely fashion. Every bit helps … He can only continue with your help.

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Sir Leaf scored some cheap good gourmet soup from the shop in England, so later that evening Sir Rob blessed him with the favor of the use of his vardo’s stove so he could heat it up for dinner. Always wonderful to have a hot dinner Sir leaf believed. After dinner, the delvers headed off to find some of Sir Rob’s tribe and clans to go socialize with. They were blessed with good company, yummy honey mead from Poland, honey flavored vodka from Russia, and whisky shots that were passed around accompanying interesting conversations. Lots of conversation about trolls, gnomes, Icelandic elves, and Viking boats. Sir Leaf met one of Rob’s friends who had sailed before and discussed with him the Viking Project of Pirate Relief. Sir Leaf was really impressed with the simplicity and style of the “A” frame tents that the Vikings used … definitely wanting one in the near future. They are held together with pegs and boards for the frame, straw mats for floors, beds that pegged together too for a beautiful sleeping cabin. Festivity around the fire and table as the rain began to pour down from the skies. As others started to wander off to sleep as the rains came down pretty heavily, Sir Leaf and Sir Rob went off to their sleeping areas – Sir Rob to his vardo, Sir Leaf to his tent, tromping and slipping in the mud with the leather moccasins adorning his feet. Slugs galore and an anthill upon which his tent rested … it was a tricky night to keep the critters out of the tent, but somehow miraculously he was successful. A good night sleep at the base of the burial mounds with not a single haunting visit from any Viking ghost. Though Sir Leaf had wished the spirits of which would have visited him in at least in his dream sleep …

Borre Viking Marked

(note: this is an actively written blog. If links are broken or come to blank pages, it means the page hasn’t been written yet. Check back soon.Meanwhile entertain yourself by going backwards into the blog below)

Remainder of the Story, Photos and videos below the cut:

[ 7/4/12: Yorkshire ] [ 7/5/12: Denmark ] [ 7/6/12: Norway ] [ 7/7/12: Borre Viking Marked ] [ 7/8/12: The Slave Trade ] [ 7/9/12: Ferrying Across the Seas ] [ 7/10/12: Back to Dublinia ]

Viking Burial Mound

Facepainting by Leaf McGowan, Borre Viking Marked, Borre, Norway

Borre Viking Marked, Borre, Norway

Do you enjoy these tales? Want more? Buy Sir Thomas Leaf a chai tea, gas, or lodging, and he’ll tell you a tale …
Any contribution, $1, $5, $10, $20+ will help more than you can believe
and will add more adventures, photos, stories, and reviews for your pleasure …

Photography is copyright 2012 by Technogypsie.com as photographed by Leaf McGowan, Thomas Baurley, and other Technogypsie photographers. Photos can be requested and/or purchased, on a individual per photo basis, as well as permission for reproduction can be granted by enquiring at http://www.technogypsie.com/photography.html. All content of this web page is copyright Thomas Baurley / Leaf McGowan / Technogypsie.com.

In its 7th year … The Chronicles of Sir Thomas Leaf are back … The Great Walkabout Down under and Sailing the Seven Seas will be on hold in its completion for the time being due to funding & time it takes to process the photos, write, and design the pages – these tales should resume back in production come August 2012. Meanwhile, we are focusing on current journeys of Sir Thomas Leaf … hopefully (funding dependent) … live … day to day … If you’d like to see this happen, NOW is the time to pledge support or send in your donations as Sir Thomas will be journeying on the tightest shoestring he has yet travelled on … A $5 donation will buy him a chai where he can get online and weave you a tale with photos … otherwise, you’ll have to wait as fate allows publishing … But we digress … Lets begin … the Chronicles of Sir Thomas Rhymer … and a Viking Tale … This is to replace the failed funding project of the Pirates which couldn’t happen like we wanted it to so is being replaced by this adventure, which will ‘eventually’ be turned into a book …

07.05.12: VT – Denmark

Leaf — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 20:38:49 +0000

[ Chronicles: A Viking Tale, the Beginning of the Journey ]

Thursday, 5 July 2012

Aboard the Sirena: Harwich, England to Esbjerg, Denmark
Esbjerg, Denmark

Sir Thomas Leaf arose rather early that morning as allergies and sheer exhaustion had consumed his rest last night, a formula that never ceases to turn him into a snoring Viking dragon. He slipped out of the cabin in the early morn, trying to be silent as possible while Sir Robin Wildwood caught some z’s. Taking his provisions with him, he made his way up to the Columbus Lounge to make his breakfast of cream cheese / salmon muffins mini savoury eggs, and Lucazade. The ship steward however, was not happy with Sir Leaf, as apparently “no outside food nor drink” was allowed in the lounge. (Exactly where do they expect their passengers to snack on their own provisions outside of their room on this ship was definitely on Sir Leaf’s mind) Luckily though, before getting caught, Sir Leaf had finished his meal. He cruised over the World Wide Web on the extremely slow wifi connection the ship’s satellite was streaming to investigate his travels ahead and to write about the past trips. 18 hours aboard the Sirena, he was able to get a bit of work completed, slow internet or not. Sir Rob joined him in the lounge after a few hours and before they knew it, as 1 pm clocked around, Sir Leaf rushed down to the cabin for a quick shower, packing his gear up, and the explorers were off on their journey. Disembarking into Esbjerg, Denmark for Sir Thomas Leaf’s first time ever in Denmark. Sir Thomas found this trekk across Denmark to be very flat and boring, minus a few burial mounds in the fields, appearing quite similar to the countryside of farmland Germany or any other atypical European agricultural area. Sir Thomas did notate though, that oddly, most properties did not have fences bordering the property nor much livestock either. He pondered what the hiking / trespass (if any) rules were for this country.

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Sir Thomas Leaf was able to reach Lady Sanne to whom he had the previous pleasure of sailing with aboard the HMB Endeavour last summer and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef while Down Under. They arranged a meet up as she worked for a large windmill producer who’se headquarters was along the same stretch of roadway that the adventurers would be passing. A small shipping port town called “Randers”, that reminded Sir Leaf of some of the landscape of Holland. They pulled into the visitor park, awaited Lady Sanne, and had a grand reunion when she got off work. She took the explorers down to the Rander’s Sailing Club Marina café overlooking the boats, and treated the weary travellers to drinks and dinner. Sir Leaf was famished and was treated to a wonderful local fish dish he found quite savory and delicious. After dinner it was time to hit the road, sweet farewells were found, and onwards the delvers drove off in the caravan to Hirtshals where they were to catch the Colorlines Ferry from Hirtshals, Denmark to Sandefjord, Norway.

About 2 hours later, they were piled into a very extremely large parking lot / ferry waiting zone which was the size of a few football fields, for a lengthy wait to drive on to the boat. Kids at play riding their bikes, people socializing and drinking, bird shit coating a protective layer over all the concrete obviously not cleaned for years was the panorama. The Colorlines ferry was massive, so it took some time to load up, then a race upwards from where the car deck the duo set off to find a seat (hopefully with a power socket) and somewhere Sir Rob could stretch out and sleep. Sir Rob found a sleeping couch, Sir Leaf only found a chair and no socket, so he was not very happy for it was hot and noisy, very bothersome to him. Sir Leaf took a walk around the ship and found that the outside deck was abandoned with a nice bench and decided to camp out there for a bit while watching “Past Life” episodes until his laptop died. Some drunks moved to the bench he was sitting on and started getting rowdy and breaking bottles. That was Sir Leaf’s cue to head back into the ship. Sir Rob was passed out, not tired Sir Leaf just sat down and read a book on Tolkien’s theory of “Faerie” which he found to be a excellent read. The explorers arrived into Sandefjord, Norway around 1 am. Sir Leaf’s first impression was that it reminded him alot of Alaska, especially since the skies were lit up and was like daylight even from 1-3 am and the landscape very green and very forested. It felt like home to him.

Prices however in Denmark and Norway were not like home, very very expensive … a burger and chips about 160 kronos (ca. 24 Euro), Coca Cola about 89 kronos, so penniless Sir Leaf was shocked and concerned. He was in for a tough journey for sure. The adventurers arrived at the Motor Hotel where Sir Rob booked himself a room, while Sir Leaf stealthily closed the curtains and slept in the van while Rob headed up to his room. Exhausted, Sir Leaf was finally able to fall asleep ….

(note: this is an actively written blog. If links are broken or come to blank pages,
it means the page hasn’t been written yet. Check back soon.
Meanwhile entertain yourself by going backwards into the blog below)

[ 7/4/12: Yorkshire ] [ 7/5/12: Denmark ] [ 7/6/12: Norway ] [ 7/7/12: Borre Viking Marked ] [ 7/8/12: The Slave Trade ] [ 7/9/12: Ferrying Across the Seas ] [ 7/10/12: Back to Dublinia ]

Remainder of the Story, Photos and videos below the cut:

Rander’s Sail Club Cafe
* Randers, Denmark *

Iron Age Burial Mounds

Colorline Ferry: Service from Denmark to Norway

07.04.12: Yorkshire & the Sirena (A Viking Tale)

Leaf — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 20:37:19 +0000

Bradford, England * City Park

4th July 2012
* Holyhead, Wales to Bradford, England *

Sleeping on the bus, Sir Thomas Leaf had intriguing dreams of prophecies about Ragnarok. It was only a couple of years ago that Sir Leaf was introduced to the concept of “Ragnarok” while visiting the Dublinia Viking Museum. He was a bit disturbed by the twisted imagery of darkness and doom in his dreamtime when all he was doing was riding a bus. That and dreams of “secret elf business” haunted his mind. “Why these dreams” he pondered. Half asleep, he watched the bus trek through Manchester and on to Leeds. Fun sleep deprived memories of “Manchester” when he and Lady Moe went there earlier this year to audition for “Dragon’s Den”. As the carriage approached Bradford, a sense of “full circle” completion was felt by Sir Leaf. It was a full circle for many of Sir Thomas Leaf’s quests. Bradford was the site from which Sir Thomas Leaf’s adventures began and the blog tales unfolded beginning with the Tales of LotR: Lady of the Rhine. It was from that adventure in 2005 that Sir Leaf has travelled to Europe every year, without missing a single year, and with Europe becoming his second home. As Sir Leaf was dropped off at the Bradford Exchange, he stumbled off the bus with luggage in tow, at 6:30 am, into the then just brightening streets in search of a good chai and finding somewhere to get some British pounds. As he is on this journey very much a penniless bard, he only had a few Euros to change over, making him even more penniless once the currency exchange got through with him. But good blessings that he had some credit on his Starbucks card. He asked the guy at the nearest news stand where a Starbucks was located, with the guy stating he didn’t know, but that there was a Costa coffee atop the hill (there happened to be a Starbucks just behind his news stand). With dragging luggage behind, Sir Leaf trekked up the hill to only find out that this particular “Costa” did not have free wifi, but they directed him to the Starbucks back down the hill. “Ridiculous” Sir Thomas Leaf felt. Even more ridiculous he found was that the Starbucks in the square wasn’t open until 7:30 am. Luckily though, the rain clouds were at bay, stone benches out in the park in front, and the free wifi signal accessible outside the front. So onto wifi Sir Leaf travelled catching up with friends and family on Facebook. Oddly though he saw that his brother the mad Docteur Mangor had posted an exquisite tale about Ragnarok (oddly syncronistic with his dreams last night) that drew him deeper into the Viking myths of the wars between the Gods ….

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[ Chronicles: A Viking Tale, the Beginning of the Journey ]

As soon as the Starbucks opened its doors, Sir Thomas Leaf was in through the doors with a Chai Creme Frappacino (his favorite drink) on his mind. But a standup advertisement for the “Mocha Cookie Crumble” caught his attention and he decided to wander outside his comfort zone for a change in flavor sensations. “Yummy” he thought to himself. With a Frappacino and wifi, he was pretty much in ecstasy as one could be at 7:30 am with little sleep, getting blogs and job applications done until Sir Rob Wildwood arrived in his vardo. Sir Rob arrived an hour earlier than expected, so the duet of explorers were off on their journey sooner than originally planned, onwards towards the ferry terminal at Harwich. During the drive, Sir Leaf practiced sketching out Viking symbols and runes for body painting experiments at the festival. They pit stopped for a quick breakfast along the way at the “Little Chef” and then another stop-off for an ice cream from a petrol station. As they pulled into Harwich, on to a Morrison’s grocery store to grab provision for the journey, as food was much more affordable in Britain then Denmark and Norway.

With very little to no extra budget for food, Sir Thomas Leaf quickly raided the reduced/clearance section of the store scoring enough savings that he could muster out a 3 litre bottle of Cider atop a bunch of food for the festival.
From the shoppe, they made their way to the ferry terminal to board the Sirena. Check in was swift … but the line up took its time. The delvers took the Sirena’s Harwich to Esbjerg route. Onwards to their cabin, carrying the gear and supplies they’d need for the next 18 hours of passage across the sea, they unwound and relaxed in their bunks. Sir Leaf had takeaway duck egg rolls with salmon/cream cheese on muffins for dinner. He wandered atop the ship for a breathe of fresh sea air. Wandering down into the Columbus lounge he quickly discovered the ship had free wifi. Hard at work then, he went to finish his blogs about Oisin’s grave and the Tiveragh Fairy Hill. Sir Thomas Leaf was really fatigued without much sleep on the bus/ferry to Bradford, so he headed down into the cabin early and watched the most recent shows of True Blood and Teen Wolf. He began passing out to them, and Sir Rob caught his snoring. Just before bed, Sir Leaf investigated this new “anti-snoring” horrible tasting throat foam that was supposed to cut the edge of snoring, which Sir Leaf suffers from when drinking, coming off sleep deprivation, or having allergies. As this was the first time that Sir Leaf and Sir Rob would be sharing sleeping quarters, Sir Leaf was mindful to attempt to prevent any snoring from happening … unfortunately it failed. A good rest was still had by both.

Harwich, England – port view from the Sirena

(note: this is an actively written blog. If links are broken or come to blank pages,
it means the page hasn’t been written yet. Check back soon.
Meanwhile entertain yourself by going backwards into the blog below)

[ 7/4/12: Yorkshire ] [ 7/5/12: Denmark ] [ 7/6/12: Norway ]
[ 7/7/12: Borre Viking Marked ] [ 7/8/12: The Slave Trade ] [ 7/9/12: Ferrying Across the Seas ]
[ 7/10/12: Back to Dublinia ]

Remainder of the Story, Photos and videos below the cut:

Bradford Exchange, Bradford, England

The Sirena Ferry, Harwich to Esbjerg

07.03.12: Vikings?

The Oracle — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 22:41:26 +0000

3rd July 2012
Dublin, Ireland to Holyhead, Wales

It is time for Sir Thomas Leaf to embrace the Vikings and seek the knowledge of their ways. His adventuring partner Sir Rob Wildwood offered Sir Thomas Leaf a chance to experience what life was like in the Viking Era with an Epic adventure to Norway. Before beginning this “Viking Tale” … alot had to be prepared as he would be donning viking garb, learning Viking ways, eating / drinking / and sleeping in a Viking village. He also had to take his bodypainting expertise back to its origins, and learn what colors the vikings would have used and what dyes were accessible. He also had to study the Runes, symbology, and designs of this particular time period. His good Elven friend Sir Rob would be taking him under his wing, into his vardo, and onto ships for a 3 day journey sailing off to Norway for the Borre Viking Marked. Even though in general, Sir Thomas Leaf loses interest in the history of the world after the start of the Common Era, he completely gets bored after the Medieval Period. He however always has been fascinated with the Vikings, albeit not in the know about them outside of what he’s learned at the Dublinia Museum. In fact, many of his comrades always state that Sir Leaf looks quite “Viking” and sometimes many mistake his nature name of “Leaf” for the Viking spelling of “Leif”.

Packing up foodstuffs, his tent, sleeping bag, clothes, and paints together, he finished his luggage with a large roller duffelbag, small day backpack, and his satchel. He was ready to set off on this “penniless” voyage once again in company of Sir Rob Wildwood’s good will of being taken on an adventure he’ll never forget. Sir Rob Wildwood simply told him “Get your Ass to England with a week’s worth of food and you’re covered”. So here Sir Thomas Leaf sets off for a new country and a new experience. A days worth of domestic errands lay before Sir Leaf as he slowly got everything in order for travels while fighting Dublin’s soaking rain. Last minute job applications and print-out of Viking designs consumed much of his afternoon. Sweet farewells to his love Etain, knowing the future is nice that voyages such as this can be done in so much shorter time than the months to years voyages of this magnitude would have taken Viking age explorers departing from their loves for some adventuring.

On to the Busaras to catch the Bus to the ferry terminal and onto the Ulysses. Sir Thomas Leaf found the ferry ride to be pleasant. In dire need of power for his laptop, he inquired from the on-ship merchant if there was an adapter available, and as luck struck it were on sale for 70% off. He then plugged in his laptop for an evening of writing, blogging, and job hunting.

The journey across the Irish Sea went smooth sailing with no delays and in comfort and speed. As the ferry entered into Holyhead across and into Wales customs, it was pouring down rain, with a touch of cold chill. As Sir Thomas Leaf walked into the customs call he was immediately asked for his identification. The first agent questioned him with his US passport as to when he first entered the United Kingdom and how long he was staying. Sir Leaf mentioned he was an Irish resident, and after that was waved on through. Then another elderly agent pulled him aside asking if he’d ever been to the UK before, and if so, had he ever had problems with customs before. Sir Leaf said “yes he has been to the UK, no he has never had problems with customs anywhere. He was a Irish resident”. He then asked the agent if he’d like to see his residency card. The agent said “no worries, go on” and waved him on through. The passengers then switched buses, dragging their luggage out into the rain, and aboard onwards to Leeds / Bradford. After Liverpool, the bus stopped for 45 minutes break, and luckily did not force the passengers off (like it usually do), so Sir Leaf got to get more sleep and rest.

Fundraising Information

(note: this is an actively written blog. If links are broken or come to blank pages,
it means the page hasn’t been written yet. Check back soon.
Meanwhile entertain yourself by going backwards into the blog below)

[ 7/4/12: Yorkshire ] [ 7/5/12: Denmark ] [ 7/6/12: Norway ] [ 7/7/12: Borre Viking Marked ] [ 7/8/12: The Slave Trade ] [ 7/9/12: Ferrying Across the Seas ] [ 7/10/12: Back to Dublinia ]

06.11.12: LOF ~ The Qabbalah & York

Leaf — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 22:06:38 +0000

Town Gate, York, Yorkshire

11th of June 2012 ~ Part II
* York, Yorkshire, United Kingdom *

A pleasant and warm drive through Wales, slowly past the mountains and up the coast a chill covered the outside air. Entering York, Sir Rob Wildwood pointed out some sites to Sir Thomas Leaf as they entered the city of York. In the older days, this was a Roman settlement later taken over by Vikings as a center of trade, commerce, and exploration. The adventurers, travel weary, arrived at Sir Rob’s castle. After unloading bags at Sir Rob’s, the duo were uplifted with a second wind of energy reading to venture into the walled city. A local Pagan moot was happening with a caste of wizards, witches, shamans, and ceremonial magicians hosting a introductory class on the Qaballah atop the haunted Black Swan Pub. Along the walk, Sir Rob illuminated Sir Thomas Leaf with some of the more mysterious and haunting spots of York including some pubs, inns, and areas. Ghost walks aplenty line these very streets on weekend nights. Just next to the Black Swan were more excavations uncovering more of York’s Viking past. Sir Rob treated Sir Leaf to a cider as they headed up the haunted stairwell of the Black Swan into the Folk Club’s room where a slide projector and a introductory lecture awaited. Afterwards, a bit more wandering through the city, back to the Rob’s castle, a good night’s rest was had.

[ Chronicles: Jorvik and the Vikings ]

Fundraising Information

(note: this is an actively written blog. If links are broken or come to blank pages,
it means the page hasn’t been written yet. Check back soon.
Meanwhile entertain yourself by going backwards into the blog below)

Remainder of the Story, Photos and videos below the cut:

[ Chronicles 2012: Irish Pirates & Cornish Madness ] [ Qabbalah and York ]
[ 06.12.12: Jorvik and the Vikings ]

York, England

Reflex – the 80′s Bar. York, United Kingdom.

In its 7th year … The Chronicles of Sir Thomas Leaf are back … The Great Walkabout Down under and Sailing the Seven Seas will be on hold in its completion for the time being due to funding & time it takes to process the photos, write, and design the pages – these tales should resume back in production come May 2012. Meanwhile, we plan to post the current journey of Sir Thomas Leaf as he returns to Cornwall to the Land of the Fae … hopefully (funding dependent) … live … day to day … If you’d like to see this happen, NOW is the time to pledge support or send in your donations as Sir Thomas will be journeying on the tightest shoestring he has yet travelled on … A $5 donation will buy him a chai where he can get online and weave you a tale with photos … otherwise, you’ll have to wait as fate allows publishing … But we digress … Lets begin … the Chronicles of Sir Thomas Rhymer … and the Quest to the Land of the Fae … This is to replace the failed funding project of the Pirates which couldn’t happen like we wanted it to so is being replaced by this adventure, which will ‘eventually’ be turned into a book …

06.11.12: Across the Irish Sea

Leaf — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 12:45:15 +0000

11th of June 2012 ~ Part I
* Dublin/Dun Laoghaire, Ireland – Holyhead, Wales *

Intrigued by weird dreams of gates opening between the worlds of humans and fae in a “Lord of the Rings” style backdrop mish-mashed with Ragnarok apocalyptic stories of Thor and Loki … Sir Thomas Leaf stumbled out of bed dazed and confused snapping from bizarre dreamscapes to the chirping of his cell phone with a message from Sir Rob Wildwood that he was soon on his way over. The travel began this early morn as Sir Thomas Leaf grabbed his pack filled with his tent, tarp, sleeping roll, costumes, paints, tarot cards, and gear as he awaited the vardo of Sir Rob Wildwood as they headed off to the ferry from Dublin to Hollyhead. A little turned around, they were soon on the M-5 down to Dun Laoghaire. A short drive from Dublin to the Terminal at dun laoghaire … they hung out in the waiting line with no customs or border checks. It was the super-fast ferry from Dublin to Hollyhead with a run time of 2.5 hours … and swift they sailed across the Irish sea. As the waves past by … they were soon ashore … again with a short departure off the ferry, with no need to stop in through Welsh customs. On the roadway, they were off for York. A new country and landscape as the duo of delvers began to trek across the United Kingdom. A pleasant and warm drive through Wales, through the area of the walled defense cities of Conwy, and slowly past the mountains and up the coast whilst a chill covered the outside air. A few hour drive to York the explorers were on their way …

Near Conwy, Wales

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[ Chronicles: The Qabbalah and York ]

(note: this is an actively written blog. If links are broken or come to blank pages,
it means the page hasn’t been written yet. Check back soon.
Meanwhile entertain yourself by going backwards into the blog below)

Remainder of the Story, Photos and videos below the cut:

[ Chronicles 2012: Irish Pirates & Cornish Madness ] [ 06.11.12: Across the Irish Sea ] [ Qabbalah and York ]

Dun Laoighaire, Ireland

Conwy, Wales

York, Yorkshire, England

Photography is copyright 2011 by Technogypsie.com as photographed by Leaf McGowan, Thomas Baurley, and other Technogypsie photographers. Photos can be requested and/or purchased, on a individual per photo basis, as well as permission for reproduction can be granted by enquiring at http://www.technogypsie.com/photography.html. All content of this web page is copyright Thomas Baurley / Leaf McGowan / Technogypsie.com.

06.10.12: Irish Pirates, Mayhem in Cornwall, & A Castle Sieze …

Leaf — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 22:06:17 +0000

In its 7th year … The Chronicles of Sir Thomas Leaf are back … The Great Walkabout Down under and Sailing the Seven Seas will be on hold in its completion for the time being due to funding & time it takes to process the photos, write, and design the pages – these tales should resume back in production come May 2012. Meanwhile, we plan to post the current journey of Sir Thomas Leaf as he returns to Cornwall to the Land of the Fae … hopefully (funding dependent) … live … day to day … If you’d like to see this happen, NOW is the time to pledge support or send in your donations as Sir Thomas will be journeying on the tightest shoestring he has yet travelled on … A $5 donation will buy him a chai where he can get online and weave you a tale with photos … otherwise, you’ll have to wait as fate allows publishing … But we digress … Lets begin … the Chronicles of Sir Thomas Rhymer … and the Quest to the Land of the Fae … This is to replace the failed funding project of the Pirates which couldn’t happen like we wanted it to so is being replaced by this adventure, which will ‘eventually’ be turned into a book …

10th of June 2012
* Dublin, Ireland – the United Kingdom *

It has been a whirlwind of our adventurer Sir Thomas Rhymer Oisin Leaf McGowan as you followed him on several treks around Europe with the Lady of the Rhine, Exploits in North America at Faerieworlds, Burning Man, and the City of Lost Angels, and then recently Down Under with Sailing the Seven Seas … many of which tales are still being weaved and told around bardic circles … slowly making their way to this e-Chronicles … Sir Thomas Leaf upon his return from Down Under and sailing aboard the HMB Endeavour, made his way to Cornwall last year for excavating the Witchcraft Offering Pits, and then in helping slay the Irish Dragon at Burning Man, met his twin flame … and was lost in a whirlwind of love as he moved across the Great Pond to Dublin, Ireland …. the Love tale of Oisin & Etain. But we digress, the current tale in now set afoot …

Earlier this summer you may have remembered the ploy of Irish Pirates invading England for Mayhem and then returning to Ireland to Seize a Castle? It did happen, but not as it was originally choreographed due to the lack of Booty. For those who don’t know as we were in a vow of secrecy, but Captain Thomas Leaf had embarked upon a ploy to obtain none-other than the Black Pearl for Pirate Relief. He had auditioned for and was invited to air on The Dragon’s Den to face the Dragons to gain their booty to capture the ship. Alas, the act was squashed mainly by funding to get the Pirates to Manchester. An alternative ploy was launched on Kickstarter, to continue the raid … but this time taking on Charleville Castle during Shakefest. The feat was achieved, the Castle seized, A Faerie Glen explored, and a Madhatter’s Tea Party with much mayhem was had. But what about the exploits to Cornwall? Well, crew-less, but in company of fellow explorers, has set launch as we speak for Mayhem in Cornwall … into the Land of the Fae, Pirates, and Vikings. A tale with no plan and weaved as the fates and Oracles direct.

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The travel begins this very evening as Sir Thomas Leaf packs up his tent, tarp, sleeping roll, costumes, paints, tarot cards, and gear in anticipation of the arrival tomorrow of Sir Robin Wildwood who would be taking him along for a journey of epic adventure to the Viking port of Jorvik, on to Cornwall to dance with the faeries, and on to Stonhenge for the Summer Solstice celebrations. A good night’s rest was had with intriguing dreams of prophecy to fulfill …

[ Chronicles: Across the Irish Sea ]

(note: this is an actively written blog. If links are broken or come to blank pages,
it means the page hasn’t been written yet. Check back soon.
Meanwhile entertain yourself by going backwards into the blog below)

Remainder of the Story, Photos and videos below the cut:

[ Chronicles 2011: The Great Walkabout ] [ 06.11.12: Irish Pirates ] [ Irish Sea & A Penniless Bard ]

05.03.11: Brisbane Lights

The Oracle — Tue, 03 May 2011 20:48:03 +0000

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Travels Down Under:
Brisbane Lights …

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

* Brisbane, Queensland, Australia *

A pleasant sleep in his own make-shift room at his fellow Burner’s Lady Carol’s home, Sir Thomas Leaf awoke early for his shift as tour guide aboard the HMB Endeavour. Morning was busy as hustle/bustle in the city was teeming with activity as Lady Carol offered Sir Thomas a faithful steed (mountain bike) to commute into work on. Brisk fresh winter in the tropics bicycle ride across the Victoria bridge, on into the metropolis, down the Queen Street Mall, and over to the tall ship of Captain Cook’s. Checking in with the other guides, Sir Thomas donned his vest, had a cup o’ tea, and was out to meet the masses of school children excited to board Captain Cook’s vessel and learn about the discovery of Terra Incognita. Not much of a break as he speedily scarfed down some raw fish at the sushi bar across the way on a 15 minute break for lunch before greeting tourists once again for their history lesson of high seas adventures. His relief never rotated in the morning, so it was non-stop activity, a late and reduced lunch, with non-stop on the feet activity all day long. After a good day’s work, Sir Thomas admired the river and watched as a Pelican landed near the docks searching for fish. That evening the city of Brisbane was sparkling and calm with a sense of royal prestige as he rode his steed back down Queen’s street across Victoria bridge, and over to his host’s homestead. The lit up ferris wheel from South Banks parklands was a beautiful site to behold. At the homestead, he enjoyed a movie with the family and some socializing. Good times … Good times.

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HMB Endeavour, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

[ Chronicles: Fish Dinners ]

(note: this is an actively written blog. If links are broken or come to blank pages,
it means the page hasn’t been written yet. Check back soon.
Meanwhile entertain yourself by going backwards into the blog below)

Remainder of the Story, Photos and videos below the cut:

[ Chronicles 2011: The Great Walkabout ] [ 5/2/11: Koala Hunt ] [ 5/03/11: Brisbane Lights ] [ 5/04/11: Fish Dinners ]

Pelican

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Southbanks Parklands