Ah, the first time... you're never prepared for the first time...
...I sure as hell wasn't!
My first Gathering was awesome. I was new to the community, and Terry had taken me under his wing and introduced me around. I showed up with another first timer from this area, and we'd driven down together, neither of us with the foggiest idea of what to expect! What struck me the most was the relaxed, casual atmosphere it had. Everyone there (except us virgins, of course) had been doing these for some time, so they were already in that comfort zone. They took it all for granted, like it had always been this way. That was amazing. We hung around munching and chatting for a while before anything started, and as people straggled in. It was cool. You quickly get the feeling that you've known these people for a long time. Many of us are on the same wavelength, and/or share a brain on many subjects, so it's nothing at all to be carrying on a conversation and have someone finish a thought for you and be dead on target.
But when play actually started...
Nothing could've prepared me for it. It was a dream come true, to be sure, but that's part of what made it such a shock for me... it was actually
REALLY HAPPENING! And, as I've already mentioned, the others at the party were veterans at these things, so when play started, it was no big deal to them. The first gal got up on the Flander's Bench, casual as could be, and was restrained. No problem. Then, they started to tickle her, and it was like locusts had decended! There were four, five, six people working this gal, and she's just loving it. I couldn't even bring myself to play, I was so stunned. I kept sitting there, waiting for her to scream for them to stop, like it was all going to fall apart and the moment would be gone. But no. She kept digging it, and they rotated around, and it was just freakin' COOL. Laughing and teasing, jokes exchanged, just cool. Freakin' cool. And I'm sitting there, trying to make my brain function through the mush of telling itself that what was happening was really, really happening. I sat at the head of the bench and fanned her, ready to jump up and try to stop all these people going at her, because most of the time I was waiting for the freak out and catastrophic end... that never came. Freakin' cool. And that was just the first of several scenes that night.
I've spent the following several years getting really spoiled by knowing and playing with most of the coolest people I've had the pleasure of meeting in my life, all around the country, and coming to live by the words,
"Life is GOOD"
Among others.
Like "Freakin' Cool", for instance...
