Things I Learned At May Crown.

.....May Crown was fun as usual. :-) And as usual, a learning experience! :-)

.....Camping in Lobelia rocks! Especially when it is hot (you have air conditioning), wet (you have a solid roof over your head), the biffys are crowded (you have your OWN toilet!!!), the ground is uncomfortable (you have your own bed). And the very best part!!!??? It takes you 10 minutes to set up and ten minutes to tear down to hit the road!

.....What made this trip so exciting though was how much more fun staying in Lobelia is when you weigh over 200 pounds LESS than you did the year before. I could go ANYWHERE in, under, over, around, through the RV easier and faster than I ever could before. Driving was a breeze now that I can actually fit comfortably in the chair and set the steering wheel at a comfortable angle. I could fit in the shower comfortably and actually move in there.

.....And this is the ULTIMATE wonder (disgusting as it is :-)), I can now actually sit on the toilet and close the door to the bathroom!!!! :-)

.....I had such a good time in Lobelia that I really want to take all this next week off so that I can go camping in it. :-) Sigh! Back to work tomorrow I go.

.....I made it to site around 1630 on Friday. I met Brighid and Cedrid at the Indian Hill Rest Area and we went into Ellensburg for lunch, then to site. Set up and wandered for a while. Helped some others set up. Set up the Baronial Pavilion, and then did dinner (with Ralg and Ellen) and then did dinner again (with Brighid, Cedric and the bunch).

.....Wandered around site on Friday evening. For a while with Brighid, Countess Elizabeth and a very drunken Gwendolyn of Castle Court. Gwendolyn is one of my Deputies (Listings) and she is an amazingly talented and organized person. It was rather good to see her just hanging out and having some fun. :-) Brighid and I finally left them at Gulenay's vigil and wandered back to the John Wolfstan encampment. They are a very cool group. Sir John has a dedicated household and they work hard at making things look and feel right. His wife Alyna is very nice and of course his Squire Eadric and HIS wife Katerina make a nice addition to their household.

.....Spent some time with the irreverent Rapier Boys of Dragon's Laire (and their cohorts). They are a lot of fun! I really like them all. They also work hard at setting up a really nice encampment. A lot of Panther and Panther-like pavilions and all kinds of accouterments(the hanging lights were a nice touch).

.....I went to bed at around midnight. It rained most of the night.

.....The next day I didn't feel all that hot. So it was only a light breakfast before Pelican meeting at 1000. Finally came to the realization of why the regional meetings and process goes the way it goes and why it is so slow. At any given Kingdom event you only have one hour for everyone to come together and come to a consensus. With three Principalities and two other regions, that hour goes by freakin' fast. Any serious contender needs to have their ducks in a row to make it through the process. Sigh!

.....Wandered through the afternoon. Watched some of the finals, attended at least part of the Investiture Court. Saw Duke Gunnar made a Lion of An Tir (way cool). Took a trip to see the wonder of the the 'Pee Grotto'. I would say more about this, but promised Brighid that I would let her talk about the experience. :-)

.....GOT MY BOOKS AUDITED BY THL SARA!!! :-) Actually, it was a pleasant experience. I spent several years as the Dragon's Laire Exchequer and it was not my favorite place in the SCA. I absolutely HATED the Doomsday Report. But I found out later that the reason I hated it so much was that no one had ever sat down and showed me how to do it right. The budget for the Kingdom Chronicler's office is so much smaller in comparison that it is a lot easier to see how everything fits together and works. Now that I have figured out how to do the report correctly, it isn't so bad. Sara reviewed my books and pointed out a few things I could do better and signed me off as successful. I was gratified. :-)

.....I was surprized with several Birhtday Presents during dinner that evening. I generally don't like Birthday presents. Mainly because I'm always forgetting someone's special occassion and feeling guilty about forgetting. Or driving myself nuts trying to figure out what someone wants for a present. I thought long ago that if I stopped promoting the need for presents, people would stop giving me presents and the vicious cycle would end. But it doesn't! :-) For which I am grateful. Guess I'll just have to figure out how to deal with the guilt. :-) Mistress Gwenllyn got me a hanging Trailer Trash Pink Flamingo for the RV. Mistress Tsuruko got me a stuffed Pelican and THL Eileen got me a set of Pelican earrings. :-) Hey, presents are cool I guess. :-)

.....BUT, the best present of the day came from Marquessa Laurellen. She gave me a locket of her hair! :-) I have a locket of Nimue's hair that I keep in a glass charm that I wear to all SCA events. I haven't decided whether I need to braid the hair of the two most beautiful women in the SCA together and place them in one locket or two get a separate one just for Marquessa Laurellen's. I'm leaning towards a separate one. The beauty and genius of both Marquessa Laurellen and Nimue must be appreciated separately, in their own environment. Like fine wine, mixing them would just ruin the taste. :-) But beyond the freakishness of such a request, having a locket of Laurellen's hair will be an inspiration, as it should be. :-)

.....Woke up Sunday to a bunch of meetings. The first one was cancelled, although the heralds called it and we scrambled to make it. :-) It was the Financial Committee Meeting. But having a cancelled meeting meant BREAKFAST. :-) Which I just had time to make before Curia. I had this nicely written report. If I had just read it I would have been fine, but I'm not a wonderful public speaker and missed about half of what I was going to say. Did the same on the July Coronation report. Her Excellency Brighid jumped in with some important information. I snapped at her just a little bit and now His Highness thinks I'm mean. Sigh! What a way to make a first impression. Made it through the Seneschal's meeting at 1130 and then ran for the RV. Was revving up the engine at 1145 to hit the road.

.....Everyone was nervous about the soft ground, especially Master Ralg and HE Barnet. They weren't sure that they were going to make it through the bog. I put Lobelia in drive and gunned her across the field. Then Master Ralg yelled at me and damn it, I slowed down, and promptly sank into the bog! Damn! Damn! Damn! I tried inching my way out, and sank some more. Tried going back and forth, no luck. Revved the engine in several different directions, still no luck.

.....But a cool thing happened. At least a dozen people all just appeared and started helping. Several people threw would in the mud ruts. Several people even tried to help push. I really was gratified for the help. It was a good reminder about the real generosity of the majority of the people who play in the SCA. Finally had Richard hook a tow rope to his truck and between the two of us managed to get out of the bog. I helped fish out the wood from the mud and then hit the road. Found out later that right after I left they opened a back gate to let everyone out. So my bog experience was a lesson for everyone. :-)

.....Made it home in a little over four hours. Really good time, relatively little traffic on the road. Lobelia is sitting in my driveway now. I think that I'm going to just leave her there until June Faire. It'll give me a chance to really clean her out for the year.

.....See you all later, Aaron / Arontius.