The torch winds its way through the SIM. Stopping here. Stopping there. Sometimes plodding along. Sometimes whipping like a rapier.

At times it moves like Justice - slow, ponderous, thoughtful in its motion. Beheld in all its glory.

At other times it is but a blur, with barely enough time to glimpse the flicker as it flashes by on its eventful journey.

It has a meaning. It is the tie that binds the diversity that is the SIM. It joins us. It makes us one, if even for an oh so brief moment.

It is here - then it is gone.

It is symbolic of the theme of this years Equinics - Memorials.

We mourn the loss of someone, of something. Then we rejoice in the memories left behind. We live with our memories; and from time to time we re-visit them, briefly, ever so briefly, as life unfolds around us and demands our time, our attention, our resources. But we take time now and again to memoralize those things from our past that are important.

So the torch lands in Vermont, the Pastures Of Green, and the small number of dedicated players that make up this very old residency gather around the flame. We think our thoughts of those we have left behind: a smile, a grin, a laugh, a tear or two as memories take control for an instant.

And then we move on, the spell broken; with miles to go before we sleep we pass the torch around and each and every one holds it high, the bright flame reflected in their face.

And then it moves on. A brief pause in its journey.