bitter basil, (hozier)

august 15, 1969 - evening

diary of judy carver (DO NOT READ)
august 15, 1969
dear diary,
when fairytales tell stories of falling in love, they conveniently leave out the friendship that blossoms before. it provides a cushion - so that you don't even notice yourself falling until that's all you can do. the love, the appreciation was already there. it only takes one look, one touch for it all to change.
it was at the pond in bethel. maybe there was something in the water, or maybe it was the pot, but the way he held me felt so surreal. the coldness of the water made it so that his hands were my only source of warmth . it shook me. i wanted so badly to look away - and yet at the same time, he was all i wanted to look at. he's all i ever want to look at.

i am in love with andrew hozier-byrne. i don't know what that means.

- judy

the van park was a rather run-down clearing a few miles from where woodstock was to be held. judy parked her van next to bea's and stepped out, andy in tow. before them was a sea of large cars (and some motorbikes), people from all walks of life climbing in and out, hugging, smoking, living.

it was writing fuel for judy.

bea looked towards the distance and saw billows of black smoke rising from further down the clearing. "i think there's a bonfire in the middle somewhere," said bea. "you guys wanna check it out?"

"er... won't they get mad?" andy asked apprehensively.

"what do you mean?" judy asked. "nobody makes a bonfire just to keep it all to themselves." she quickly got a picnic blanket from the car, folded into a neat square. "come on, andy."

he realized he may still have a lot to learn about america.

they trudged through the tall-ish grass to the source of the smoke, where only two men sat. "room for three more?" asked judy with a smile.

the first man looked up from the fire, slowly putting out his cigarette as he eyed judy. "for sure," he said kindly. "i'm august." he gestured to the other man, who saluted. "that's eddie."

judy laid down the picnic blanket next to august and plopped down criss-cross applesauce. "i'm judy," she introduced.

bea smiled and sat down on judy's right side. "i'm bea."

andrew sat on judy's left, creating a barrier between her and august. "andy. nice to meet you lads."

eddie snickered. "'lads?' where you from?" he asked.

"ireland, actually," andy responded. august let out a soft 'oooh.'

"it's better than either of us can say," bea joked, nudging judy gently.

judy nodded in agreement. "we've got two virginias between us," she snickered.

eddie and august laughed boisterously at judy's joke. "two virginias!" august choked out. "you're too much, judy."

judy smiled and rolled her eyes, pulling a blunt out of her back pocket. "you ever used a bonfire to light a backwood?"

"you can sure as hell try," was eddie's response.