2.4: Inside the Fellowship: Under a starry sky

I remember particularly my last-but-one visit to Apollo. It was late summer. My days were spent volunteering: sometimes in the kitchen but more often moving chairs and tables for outdoor events in sometimes sweltering heat. I would also attend Robert’s events, not only meetings but also dining events. 

For all of Robert’s events one would dress formally. There would be teaching breakfasts and teaching dinners at which smaller numbers of students were served excellent food by other students while listening to Robert talk. Relatively little food actually got eaten because it was understood that one did not eat while someone else was talking. Robert would do most of the talking, supplemented by occasional contributions from students when we felt called upon.

Somehow a magical atmosphere of peace was created from the moment one arrived. A student would be handing out glasses either of sparkling wine or orange juice depending on one’s choice, and one would wait under the palm trees, talking softly. It was possible also to wait in silence without embarrassment or tension. Everyone smiled. I never felt I had to smile, it just happened that way.

There was a very large outdoor dining event one evening. During the day I had been part of a large team of students from around the world setting out chairs and tables, fitting lamps in trees, and placing table cloths, cutlery and table decorations. I had time to go back to where I was staying, change into a dinner suit and return as a guest. It seemed that every visitor was there, one way or another. It was not long before the sun set and the night sky, free of light pollution, showed the Milky Way arcing across pure black. The air was warm and comforting. There was a very good mariachi band composed also of fellow students. Before any food was brought out a number of songs were played, with musician M. introducing each song with a translation in English from the original Spanish. These translations, delivered in M’s calm English accent, were amusingly quirky, as translations from a passionate culture into an English-speaking one can tend to be.

At each small table were some who knew each other and some who did not. Conversation was easy and not memorable, faces lit by candle-light and the light from the lamps in the trees. This atmosphere of gentle joy was what the school was particularly good at.

My last visit to Apollo was with my new wife, who was also a member at that time, but was new to the school. Robert sent a student to check her out and presumably report back. The student was very sweet, but I never understood the purpose of that encounter. It may be of relevance that over the years I had been a consistent and significant contributor in terms of membership payments. I think I was important, but not very important.