I didn't actually go to the Heartland Pagan Festival this year. My wife, who was one of the founders, went, but like Bob Dylan says, "I used to care, but things have changed".

Unfortunately, my wife pulled a Barbaro Saturday night - stepped wrong and broke her foot. She came home Sunday with orders to stay completely off it for three days, then see a doctor again.

I knew that packing up the campsite was more than one person could handle, so I went out Monday to play Tetris with the car. An un-forcast rain storm arrived a bit before I did.

We made short work of what remained, and headed out within the hour, still under rainy skies. On our way out, more than one of the traffic guides made sure to tell us "State and Local Law Enforcement are out in force and stopping people!!!". What a twisted way to finish off what should be a nice weekend.

How bogus. As a motorcyclist, I'm reasonably paranoid about The Man, and I keep a pretty sharp eye out. I hadn't seen a police car West of K-7, and I'm not sure where before that I might have seen one. On the way home, I didn't see one until Prairie Village.

So what was the deal? Did somebody see a car drive by, and assume the worst? After all, the police are supposed to be out in force on Memorial Day Weekend, keeping an eye on everybody, not just "us". Was the Tin Foil Hat Brigade on Security Duty for Monday?

Cynicism has never failed me in dealing with the H.S.A., and I fear that the truth is it's a bit more effective to tell us that "They" are out to get "Us" than to just treat us like adults and say "please drive safely and be discreet". A good scare ought to keep the bong out of site and keep the speed down. What a paternalistic mindset - and what a poor way to deal with community morale. Give the entire Pagan community the impression that Camp Gaia is under siege, and the cops are staked out Branch Davidian style around the perimeter.

It's not the first time Pagan Paranoia has cropped up at Heartland. Here's a piece I wrote on the subject after Heartland 2, back in 1987 titled "Pagan Persecution".

If the HSA's relationship with local law enforcement is such that it's plausible to tell people things like this, someone on the board is doing a very bad job. May I suggest contacting Kerr Cuhulain and the Officers of Avalon for some advice?