I’m going to a music festival in Brussels on May 27 and 28.  This is a photo from last year’s event.  Can you pick me out in the crowd? Not likely, especially since I was in Canada at the time.

Nothing special about me going, you might say.  Until I tell you that the Core Festival is about EDM … or electronic dance music.  Techno!

Most folks in Osseghem Park in late May will be in their teens or twenties.  Then there’s me – slightly older.

“You’re going where?!” is a refrain I’ve heard from some of my contempories. “You’ll be surrounded by kids falling down drunk, or high as a kite!”

Well, I suppose that’s true for some of the revellers – but certainly not all.  We thousands will be coming to love the music and the light show and the dance.

And oh … how I intend to dance!  I’ll throw my arms and legs out in any available direction.  I’ll get tired a lot quicker than the young’uns but so what?  I’ll rest a bit and then flail some more.

This afternoon I was walking in Ghent and came upon this:

O my God … Core is in my heart and in my city, at least on paper.  The poster called me, stopped me, and made me jump up and down.  “I’m going!”  Me … old fart.  Me … the newest of Ghentians.  Simply me … no better or worse than anyone else.

Look at who’s playing at the festival – marvelous DJ’s (that I’ve never heard of).  The closest to me knowing one is “Joy Orbison” but I think I’m mixing her up with somebody else.

I just stared at that poster.  Look at me – creating new realities in a new country.  Why not?

***

I love the story about the man, the cliff and the strawberry:

One day while walking through the wilderness a man stumbled upon a vicious tiger.  He ran but soon came to the edge of a high cliff.  Desperate to save himself, he climbed down a vine and dangled over the fatal precipice.  As he hung there, two mice appeared from a hole in the cliff and began gnawing on the vine. Suddenly, he noticed on the vine a plump wild strawberry.  He plucked it and popped it in his mouth.  It was incredibly delicious!

I won’t be in any mortal danger in Osseghem Park. But – my God – those two days are going to taste good!