Vespula Vulgaris (Common Wasp) on Oak (Quercus R)

He's really having a lovely time, licking the edge of the oak leaf. For why? I have no idea. This is full frame pretty much out of the camera, with only a minor cloning to erase an annoying oil spot. Oak trees carry more species than any other UK tree, and there is always something to find in mine.

We had a delightful walk along Frocester Common today, in bright sunshine and with only light traffic about. Strolling across the escarpment we visited Hetty Pegler's Tump, or Uley Longbarrow. And it's at this point I have to have a little rant.

I'm a pagan. It's a terms that encompasses a lot of spiritual paths, including my Druid one, but you do tend to get tagged under the umbrella with the assumption we're all alike (cf Christianity, Islam, Buddhism etc). It would likely have been "pagans" that left all the rubbish inside the long-barrow. But not my pagans.

I removed the expired tea-lights and candle stubs wedged in between the dry cotswold stones. I couldn't do anything about the soot blackened capstone, nor the heat-riven damage to the sandy limestone walls. I couldn't do anything about the thick red smear of paraffin wax that ran down the side of the inner door, now sealing the inner chambers.

Ok, so the longbarrow is as "original" as Stonehenge. It's 5,500 years old but it's been excavated, rebuilt and refurbished many times. In the strictest sense, it is the grandfather's axe of what was once there. But if you're a pagan, and find connection in the sacred landscape of your ancestors, why despoil it so?

Sigh, and /rant

In other news, oh my... looks like the lawyers in the US are going to have a very lucrative Yule and New Year... I suspect it would be as well to stay off the streets over there, and seal up your windows for a few days. I hope it all goes well for you guys, but if I was a betting man...