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damontSo, finally, I get to post about How I Spent My Weekend At SRWC. The weather cooperated most spectacularly. (Partly cloudy and breezy on Saturday, less breezy on Sunday, kind of hot but not humid, and nowhere near as bad as it had been during the week. And the nights were clear and blessedly *COOL*... and the full moon didn't hurt matters a bit. If we get weather like that for the entirety of Pennsic I will *not* complain.)
Friday: Got up way too early, finished packing, picked up some necessities, finished loading, headed for Bowie. Road construction caused the trip to take TWO HOURS instead of the usual 60-70 minutes, and had I stuck with my usual route it would have taken even longer. And the weather Friday was oppressive, unlike the rest of the weekend. Arrrrgh.
Got to Casa Houghton, finished loading Cody (aka The Van The Same Size As The Van The Size Of France), picked up Danny from school, grabbed lunch at Burger Thing, and about 1500 we were off to the races. Except that there were five backups in Maryland and two more in Pennsylvania before we got to Allentown, where we stopped to get some groceries at Wegmans. There I found Kutztown Soda & Bottling Works birch beer in 24-ounce plastic bottles -- I'd only seen the 12-oz glass bottles before. And the flavors included *diet* birch beer -- I hadn't known they made one. It's made with Splenda, and found out that I prefer aspartame (Nutrasweet) to sucralose (Splenda) in diet birch beer: the sucralose tastes too fruity to mix with birch oil IMO. I drove from Allentown to the site; we got there about 2015. Set up the tent in the twilight, which meant that much shoring up would be needed Sat. morning. I was tired, thirsty and hungry, which makes for a somewhat cranky Evan, and I was picking up on everyone else's tiredness/thirst/hunger/crankiness too. And taking a chunk out of my shin (OWWW!!) did not help matters.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
montuos showed up after a time. Finally got some food and drink, then went over to our camp to set up *our* stuff. Got the air mattress inflated, bedding on, all that. What with one thing and another it was 0200-ish before I went to bed.
Note of interest:montuos and I have some difficulty sharing an air mattress due to weight differential. But this weekend we found that putting the bed sideways on a slope, and having the heavier person sleep on the uphill side, helps quite a bit. (I suspect it would also help if we had a waterbed-like box frame around the mattress, but we didn't. We slept okay anyway.)
Saturday: got up at 08-something, not enough sleep. Wandered down to the main hall in order to use the flushie; on my way out of the hall Olwynn ni Chinnéidigh spotted me. Now I'd heard strong rumors that she was getting her Laurel at this event. We exchanged hello-hugs of course; I was good and gave nothing away. She had a couple folks in Horde camp from Abhainn an Iar (Stierbach's westerly proto-pre-incipient canton) who were interested in doing their heraldry. I said I'd be willing to help. Later on I had just located Evil Kirsten and the Fabric Dragon booth and was going back to White Wolf and the Phoenix to tell them, when Olwynn waylaid me and dragged me to Horde camp to meet the canton folks. While talking heraldry with them, Mistress Rowena heard me and came out of her tent to talk heraldry questions with me about the new camp walls -- she had some really old blazons and needed to know what they probably looked like. Getting pulled aside to answer odd heraldry questions turned into a recurring leitmotif for the entire event.
Got back up to WW&P just in time to see them grab Olwynn off the battlefield and take her down to her vigil. Spottednazrynn shortly thereafter, and talked to her for a bit. I got to introduce her and montuos to each other too, as the latter and alphaggek were going down to obtain some Pennsic Chocolate Milk which a merchant had for sale. After a quick trip back to camp, went down to the vigil and met more of Olwynn's household comrades. siobhan1214 and Rowen went by, so I was able to tell Siobhan that I had birch beer for her. h3salthea also came by, so Kayleigh was able to introduce us to each other. Eventually I got to the head of the (very ill-defined) "line" and was able to go in to see Olwynn. I hadn't realized how much it would mean to me (or to her!) that I could be present for her Laureling.
One thing I've noticed in some people on their vigils is anxiety about not being "peer-like" enough. Heck, I recognize a lot of that in myself. But in some ways we are our own harshest critics, and also fail to see that all the other peers have flaws too -- we're not alone in this boat.
Went up to the dayboard and munched on a few things. Siobhan saw me and said they were going to be getting musicians together soon. So I went back up to our camp and got instruments, declining an invitation to go swimming. That was probably a mistake. Between the heat, a mild lack of sufficient fluids (you go through a lot more when you're outside than when you're inside) and the half-nighter the night before, I started to feel not so well. My malaise was compounded towards the end of the music rehearsal when I realized that I frequently couldn't find a part to play that would both balance the ensemble well *and* not overtax my rusty recorder skills. And I couldn't find a way to successfully integrate the slide trumpet into the sound at all. So instead of playing at Court, I went to find something to drink, and then to veg for a bit. I did continue the heraldry motif du jour by helping Rowen out a bit.
My apologies tosiobhan1214 and the others... but I really should've gone swimming instead of going to play; that would have cooled me off better, and put me in a situation where I felt less uncomfortable. As it was, I was feeling unhappy on top of not totally well when I finally got to Court. I spotted nazrynn and went up there, sitting next to h3salthea. After a short while both of us seemed to zone out a bit. Eventually A. got up and moved off to the side, and soon after that disappeared. (Note to h3salthea: I apologize if I seemed too standoffish or otherwise off-putting. From your LJ I understand a large reason why you left; but if I contributed to your discomfort, I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional. Can we try again later, perhaps indoors and in a smaller group setting?)
Since I wanted to stick around for Olwynn's Laureling, I was there for the duration of a very long court. I did get up a few times to use the facility, and at one of those points crossed paths withbunnyjadwiga for about the fifth time that day. We figured we'd get a chance to sit down and talk later on. Olwynn got Laureled, and Rowena spoke for the Laurels which was just the best thing right then. The current kingdom A&S champ also got laureled, and two people got writs (one for Pennsic, one for Coronation). After court, I went up to camp and got my Pelican writ to show nazrynn, then went over to Bhakail Central for dinner, for which I was waaaaaaaay late but not so late as to miss hot food coming off the grill. But I was still feeling woozy and a bit separated.
After dinner I inadvertently left my wrist brace in the bathroom after washing my hands. I realized this just asmontuos was settling down to sleep, so I tucked her in and went back out. By this time the near-full moon was up over the trees (pretty). Back at the main hall, my wrist brace was still there; on the way out I spotted bunnyjadwiga and Christopher hacking up hams into bits, so I went over and ended up helping do the prep for Sunday breakfast, which included Sarra (is that maziemaus?) and I making trips down to the Beer Fridge Of Moria, and me rearranging the kitchen fridge in order to fit the big boxen of eggses in. (And the bags of ham, and eventually the sausage too.) What with one thing and another, some folks didn't get to sleep until dawn was beginning to lighten the sky. And it got pretty chilly overnight, which I considered to be A Good Thing. (But montuos had grabbed my Pelican cloak at some point for two more layers of blanket. Exactly what I did last Pennsic!)
Sunday: I got about two hours sleep. We eventually headed down to breakfast about 0730 or so. When we got there, the shrooms hadn't been started, and without thinking about it we placed ourselves on the kitchen staff. Got the shrooms out and setbunnyjadwiga and montuos up to prep them. I ended up being a general sort of glue -- holding things together wherever edges were fraying. Replenishing forks (with help from Master Lyle -- thanks!), finding juice cups, discovering we were plumb out of coffee cups (boo hiss), moving dishes to the serving area, mopping the floor repeatedly after one of the juice coolers sprung a leak, heralding the hall, checking the levels of food on the serving tables, and so on. I didn't get to eat all that much as a result, and what I did get involved too much grease. Pile that on top of not enough sleep, and my stomach gets a bit upset. Not throw-up upset, but pain upset, and that affected me for the rest of the day. If I'd ever had a chance to nap it would've helped. But it was 1130 before I got myself up to WW&P, who were already breaking down. I apologized, said I'd be back as soon as I'd packed my stuff at our camp, and headed thither to do just that. Moved Moishe up near the tent (in the shade of the tree though), packed up, loaded all my stuff, loaded some of Sallie's stuff (she was still packing), and about 1230 headed back for WW&P with one of the three bundles I was taking back to Bowie. Spent the next hour tearing down the booth, with two more trips back to camp as interludes (to bring over the other two bundles). Finally about 1345 we were all loaded, except for the orange tarp which was the staging are for everyone's stuff at our camp. Went over to pick that up, hugged everyone, wished them a safe trip home, and moved on out.
We stopped in Fogelsville for lunch, then took a longer break for dinner and a visit with Herveus's RL sister and her family outside of Hanover PA. With lots of fluids I calmed my tum down enough to eat. Got back on the road and landed in Bowie a little after 2230. Megan and I had kept ourselves awake for the entire trip (Lehighton to Hanover, and Hanover to Bowie) by talking to each other about stuff, but I'm not sure either of us now remembers *any* details of what we said Sunday night, just the categories of stuff discussed... we were that tired.
Monday: woke up around 9 or so, got stuff out of the van, repacked things and reloaded my own car, but all this happened very slowly as I dealt with lingering effects of the weekend. Finally left Bowie about 1530, but by some miracle there was no significant traffic on the Beltway until I got across the river into VA... and from there I know the back ways home.
Overall, I had a really good time despite the rough patches. It was good to see everyone, even those of you who I didn't mention in this already-too-long post. I hope to see you all again soon, either Pennsic or Celtic Classic or something else in the near future.
Friday: Got up way too early, finished packing, picked up some necessities, finished loading, headed for Bowie. Road construction caused the trip to take TWO HOURS instead of the usual 60-70 minutes, and had I stuck with my usual route it would have taken even longer. And the weather Friday was oppressive, unlike the rest of the weekend. Arrrrgh.
Got to Casa Houghton, finished loading Cody (aka The Van The Same Size As The Van The Size Of France), picked up Danny from school, grabbed lunch at Burger Thing, and about 1500 we were off to the races. Except that there were five backups in Maryland and two more in Pennsylvania before we got to Allentown, where we stopped to get some groceries at Wegmans. There I found Kutztown Soda & Bottling Works birch beer in 24-ounce plastic bottles -- I'd only seen the 12-oz glass bottles before. And the flavors included *diet* birch beer -- I hadn't known they made one. It's made with Splenda, and found out that I prefer aspartame (Nutrasweet) to sucralose (Splenda) in diet birch beer: the sucralose tastes too fruity to mix with birch oil IMO. I drove from Allentown to the site; we got there about 2015. Set up the tent in the twilight, which meant that much shoring up would be needed Sat. morning. I was tired, thirsty and hungry, which makes for a somewhat cranky Evan, and I was picking up on everyone else's tiredness/thirst/hunger/crankiness too. And taking a chunk out of my shin (OWWW!!) did not help matters.
montuos showed up after a time. Finally got some food and drink, then went over to our camp to set up *our* stuff. Got the air mattress inflated, bedding on, all that. What with one thing and another it was 0200-ish before I went to bed.Note of interest:
montuos and I have some difficulty sharing an air mattress due to weight differential. But this weekend we found that putting the bed sideways on a slope, and having the heavier person sleep on the uphill side, helps quite a bit. (I suspect it would also help if we had a waterbed-like box frame around the mattress, but we didn't. We slept okay anyway.) Saturday: got up at 08-something, not enough sleep. Wandered down to the main hall in order to use the flushie; on my way out of the hall Olwynn ni Chinnéidigh spotted me. Now I'd heard strong rumors that she was getting her Laurel at this event. We exchanged hello-hugs of course; I was good and gave nothing away. She had a couple folks in Horde camp from Abhainn an Iar (Stierbach's westerly proto-pre-incipient canton) who were interested in doing their heraldry. I said I'd be willing to help. Later on I had just located Evil Kirsten and the Fabric Dragon booth and was going back to White Wolf and the Phoenix to tell them, when Olwynn waylaid me and dragged me to Horde camp to meet the canton folks. While talking heraldry with them, Mistress Rowena heard me and came out of her tent to talk heraldry questions with me about the new camp walls -- she had some really old blazons and needed to know what they probably looked like. Getting pulled aside to answer odd heraldry questions turned into a recurring leitmotif for the entire event.
Got back up to WW&P just in time to see them grab Olwynn off the battlefield and take her down to her vigil. Spotted
nazrynn shortly thereafter, and talked to her for a bit. I got to introduce her and montuos to each other too, as the latter and alphaggek were going down to obtain some Pennsic Chocolate Milk which a merchant had for sale. After a quick trip back to camp, went down to the vigil and met more of Olwynn's household comrades. siobhan1214 and Rowen went by, so I was able to tell Siobhan that I had birch beer for her. h3salthea also came by, so Kayleigh was able to introduce us to each other. Eventually I got to the head of the (very ill-defined) "line" and was able to go in to see Olwynn. I hadn't realized how much it would mean to me (or to her!) that I could be present for her Laureling.One thing I've noticed in some people on their vigils is anxiety about not being "peer-like" enough. Heck, I recognize a lot of that in myself. But in some ways we are our own harshest critics, and also fail to see that all the other peers have flaws too -- we're not alone in this boat.
Went up to the dayboard and munched on a few things. Siobhan saw me and said they were going to be getting musicians together soon. So I went back up to our camp and got instruments, declining an invitation to go swimming. That was probably a mistake. Between the heat, a mild lack of sufficient fluids (you go through a lot more when you're outside than when you're inside) and the half-nighter the night before, I started to feel not so well. My malaise was compounded towards the end of the music rehearsal when I realized that I frequently couldn't find a part to play that would both balance the ensemble well *and* not overtax my rusty recorder skills. And I couldn't find a way to successfully integrate the slide trumpet into the sound at all. So instead of playing at Court, I went to find something to drink, and then to veg for a bit. I did continue the heraldry motif du jour by helping Rowen out a bit.
My apologies to
siobhan1214 and the others... but I really should've gone swimming instead of going to play; that would have cooled me off better, and put me in a situation where I felt less uncomfortable. As it was, I was feeling unhappy on top of not totally well when I finally got to Court. I spotted nazrynn and went up there, sitting next to h3salthea. After a short while both of us seemed to zone out a bit. Eventually A. got up and moved off to the side, and soon after that disappeared. (Note to h3salthea: I apologize if I seemed too standoffish or otherwise off-putting. From your LJ I understand a large reason why you left; but if I contributed to your discomfort, I'm sorry. It wasn't intentional. Can we try again later, perhaps indoors and in a smaller group setting?)Since I wanted to stick around for Olwynn's Laureling, I was there for the duration of a very long court. I did get up a few times to use the facility, and at one of those points crossed paths with
bunnyjadwiga for about the fifth time that day. We figured we'd get a chance to sit down and talk later on. Olwynn got Laureled, and Rowena spoke for the Laurels which was just the best thing right then. The current kingdom A&S champ also got laureled, and two people got writs (one for Pennsic, one for Coronation). After court, I went up to camp and got my Pelican writ to show nazrynn, then went over to Bhakail Central for dinner, for which I was waaaaaaaay late but not so late as to miss hot food coming off the grill. But I was still feeling woozy and a bit separated.After dinner I inadvertently left my wrist brace in the bathroom after washing my hands. I realized this just as
montuos was settling down to sleep, so I tucked her in and went back out. By this time the near-full moon was up over the trees (pretty). Back at the main hall, my wrist brace was still there; on the way out I spotted bunnyjadwiga and Christopher hacking up hams into bits, so I went over and ended up helping do the prep for Sunday breakfast, which included Sarra (is that maziemaus?) and I making trips down to the Beer Fridge Of Moria, and me rearranging the kitchen fridge in order to fit the big boxen of eggses in. (And the bags of ham, and eventually the sausage too.) What with one thing and another, some folks didn't get to sleep until dawn was beginning to lighten the sky. And it got pretty chilly overnight, which I considered to be A Good Thing. (But montuos had grabbed my Pelican cloak at some point for two more layers of blanket. Exactly what I did last Pennsic!) Sunday: I got about two hours sleep. We eventually headed down to breakfast about 0730 or so. When we got there, the shrooms hadn't been started, and without thinking about it we placed ourselves on the kitchen staff. Got the shrooms out and set
bunnyjadwiga and montuos up to prep them. I ended up being a general sort of glue -- holding things together wherever edges were fraying. Replenishing forks (with help from Master Lyle -- thanks!), finding juice cups, discovering we were plumb out of coffee cups (boo hiss), moving dishes to the serving area, mopping the floor repeatedly after one of the juice coolers sprung a leak, heralding the hall, checking the levels of food on the serving tables, and so on. I didn't get to eat all that much as a result, and what I did get involved too much grease. Pile that on top of not enough sleep, and my stomach gets a bit upset. Not throw-up upset, but pain upset, and that affected me for the rest of the day. If I'd ever had a chance to nap it would've helped. But it was 1130 before I got myself up to WW&P, who were already breaking down. I apologized, said I'd be back as soon as I'd packed my stuff at our camp, and headed thither to do just that. Moved Moishe up near the tent (in the shade of the tree though), packed up, loaded all my stuff, loaded some of Sallie's stuff (she was still packing), and about 1230 headed back for WW&P with one of the three bundles I was taking back to Bowie. Spent the next hour tearing down the booth, with two more trips back to camp as interludes (to bring over the other two bundles). Finally about 1345 we were all loaded, except for the orange tarp which was the staging are for everyone's stuff at our camp. Went over to pick that up, hugged everyone, wished them a safe trip home, and moved on out.We stopped in Fogelsville for lunch, then took a longer break for dinner and a visit with Herveus's RL sister and her family outside of Hanover PA. With lots of fluids I calmed my tum down enough to eat. Got back on the road and landed in Bowie a little after 2230. Megan and I had kept ourselves awake for the entire trip (Lehighton to Hanover, and Hanover to Bowie) by talking to each other about stuff, but I'm not sure either of us now remembers *any* details of what we said Sunday night, just the categories of stuff discussed... we were that tired.
Monday: woke up around 9 or so, got stuff out of the van, repacked things and reloaded my own car, but all this happened very slowly as I dealt with lingering effects of the weekend. Finally left Bowie about 1530, but by some miracle there was no significant traffic on the Beltway until I got across the river into VA... and from there I know the back ways home.
Overall, I had a really good time despite the rough patches. It was good to see everyone, even those of you who I didn't mention in this already-too-long post. I hope to see you all again soon, either Pennsic or Celtic Classic or something else in the near future.
