If there's one thing you can say about the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, they sure do have plenty of rock there. Why, there the very bones of the Earth protrude everywhere in bluffs, boulders and bedrock flats, with rocks, stones and gravel of various shapes and sizes in abundance! So it was easy for me to quickly collect a box of small, stone shards -- mostly limestone and sandstone -- just by cruising down the dirt roads on the outskirts of town.

On Saturday morning before Gate, I drew Aviana aside and showed her my rock collection. She took one look at the shards and exclaimed: "A stone circle!". Whoa, this lass is SHARP!!! Now understand: I hadn't even revealed my plans to her before showing her the rocks, yet she divined my intentions immediately. In fact, she then took my basic idea and proceeded to elaborate on it, with wond'rous results. What a lively imagination!

First, she chased down Lord Cromwell (Jeff Baldwin) and got his blessing on our little bit of "street theater". He set but two conditions: we couldn't accept anything -- money or gifts -- from other patrons for our efforts; and we had to break down the circle before the Faerie Court held its' outdoor banquet so as not to draw spectators away from that event. Hey, we could easily live with that!

Next, she helped me carry the stones to Sherwood Forest. Oh, Ye Godz: I didn't realize how HEAVY a box of 50 rocks could get -- especially when you have to carry them from one side to the other of a 50-acre site! Every 100 yards or so, I had to put the box down and rest my aching back, legs and arms. It seemed like those stones were getting heavier the closer we got to Sherwood!

Once we got there, however, it only took us about twenty minutes to raise the stones themselves (Photo, right: the completed Wishing Circle with Aviana's staff laying on the ground, beyond). Aviana quickly found a likely spot near one of the children's rides and began clearing the area of leaves, twigs and other debris. Then, while she set the circle with her staff, I popped over to one of the drink vendors for some libation. I really wanted some Mead to do it properly, but they only had hard cider available in Sherwood. [Sigh]. Ah, well: any old port in a storm, I figured. Back at the circle, we ran through a quick, mostly silent, dedication -- and then to work: first, the quarter stones; then the "navel" (i.e. altar) stone. Next, Aviana showed me how to make trilithions with my rocks, then together we raised an inner circle of "Watchers" and an outer circle of "Sentinel" stones...

And the circle was complete!

Now the real fun began. As soon as we began working, we started to gather a crowd. In fact, it was almost all we could do to keep curious patrons from walking through our circle before it was completed!

Aviana helping the children make their wishes come true...

Ben with a lovely lass during a photo op at the circle...

Aviana offers a pinch of fairy dust to a young lass to make a wish...

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