Post June Faire Return To The Journal.

[arontius]

.....It feels somewhat strange to be posting in Live Journal. It's been a while. But at the same time, it somewhat feels like returning home. :-)

.....May was the month of May Crown and June Faire. The Month of Madness. :-)

.....May Crown was actually a lot of fun. We had decided early on that Lobelia was more impersonal and that we should do our best to actually camp with the Barony. So we pulled together items from both of our camping kits and packed up the Gwen Mobile and drove to the event with her. We actually caravanned with Madrun, which was fun in its own right. :-)

.....It was hot on Friday there. All of us were melting before we completed setting up our pavilions. I did my best to help Madrun and Dillon set up their new Panthers. The groundcloth kind of threw me for a loop at first. But when I saw it put together I was rather impressed. The plastic backed sodcloth really seals up the pavilion well, and helps place the pavilion itself when followed. I really do like Panther products. Maybe some day TBT and I will be able to afford one we both like. I sure wish I had not sold off my big round one. Sigh!

.....The Baronial Bardic on Saturday night started off a little rocky, but gained momentum. TBT and I ended up calling it a win. Although the eternal threat from now onwards is if no one comes up with something better, I'm going to sing 'Baby Shark' until either I'm blue in the face, or someone comes up with something better. :-) But Gwenllyn was a real trouper and plied the crowd with several songs to get them into the spirit. After that we had a number of musical entries, stories, anecdotes, jokes, etc. A very good way to get teh Barony to come together.

.....After May Crown, it was the final slog to June Faire. Every year I feel like a virtual June Faire newcomer as it seems every June Faire is brand new in complexity and size. You'd think that after twenty-three June Faire, I'd have the routine down by now. Nope, not on your life. Every year it is a scramble to the finish line. Although this year being Baron alongside TBT may have added to the complexity. At least a little bit. :-)

.....Because Rhys was with us, we camped in Lobelia and fell in love with her again. We had decided that we were going to actually camp the major events this year. But we're re-evaluating that and have deicded that at least at July Coronation we're going to be camping in Lobelia. We'll just have to figure out some way to engage the Barony so that we do not feel so separated from them. Maybe we could get teh RV's stationed near the Baronial Encampment somehow. Hmmm.

.....Took a tour of the new July Coronation site the weekend before June Faire. It is remarkable! Going from Mount Vernon to this site in Sedro Wooley was a huge step UP! It is a huge grassland beside a river in a rural part ofthe County. It has a beautiful view of the mountains and LOTS of space! I think that July Coronation is going to be pretty spectacular.

.....The Event Team has worked hard to include the surrounding branches in the planning efforts. I think it is working out pretty well actually. Dragon's Laire is in charge of the Marketplace. Each local Barony is taking on some separate aspect of the running of the event. The camaraderie seems pretty easy going. I'm liking the Regional Identity being created. Let's see if we can keep it going.

.....The weather for June Faire this year was fantastic! Finally! After several years of fighting off the rain and mud, it felt good to be blessed with the sun for a change. There was still mud and stranded cars in places. But they were minimal and manageable.

.....By the end of the day on Thursday most of the infrastructure was up. I was sitting there looking at Master Ralg and fretting over what in the world was I forgetting. :-) I rather like that feeling actually.

.....I liked the Arts and Sciences Village. It had a lot to see and witness. I also liked the Marketplace on the top of the hill.

.....The Erics needed work. I liked their location a lot. They were a central focus for the Public Demo. Plus, they were easily accessed for armor drop-off and pick-up. But we hadn't given enough thought to size and shape. But it was a valuable Lesson Learned for us to use next year. We have heard some grumbling and will need to ensure that we react early and forcefully next year to counter that. Having a Tournament Level set of prizes helped, so we'll have to push that again next year.

.....Having the Equestrian not in their 'usual' place this year was interesting. That was A LOT of unused space. If we'd had more time to plan, we certainly could have done a lot more with that space. But the Equine Virus that shut down Equestrian did not give us much warning. We were already looking at the space and going, hmmm, we could move archery more to the East and enlarge the Marketplace. Hmmmm.... I'm a Pelican, always thinking about those things.... :-)

.....Court was awesomely smooth. TBT put forth her Countess skills and organized it within an inch of its life with the help of Tsuruko. TBT is pretty smart you know. :-) Glad one of us is. :-) Caius is REALLY starting to come into his own as a super Court Herald. He was absolutely fantastic. Even I was more relaxed than I had been at any earlier Court. Give me a couple more events and even speaking spontaneously will start becoming easier. :-)

.....Lots more details that are percolating, but not right now. I'm going to bed. Because it is 9PM and I CAN. :-) Only two more days until the weekend. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.