Last Chance and Random Thoughts.

.....Greetings All,

.....I spent yesterday at our Dragon's Laire Last Chance Feast and Tourney. It was the second event where I had very little scheduled to do. And I still felt at least a little guilty. :-) But I did help out where I could and enjoyed my stay there.

.....I brought Mom with me. Picked her up at about 10AM, along with her scooter. Mom has trouble getting around these days. The scooter allows her mobility that she wouldn't otherwise have. But boy, is it a pain in the rear to haul around. It was good to get her out of the house though for the day. She spends way too much time at home by herself. Going to have to see if I can get her out some more.

.....We showed up on site at about 11:00 or so. Morning Court was very nearly complete. After getting Mom situated to wander the site, I put stuff away in Mistress Gwen's trailer. Then yakked with Aelianora for a short bit in the Artisan's Display. She and I discussed strategies for next June Faire (already!!! :-)). It was a good discussion. And we're good enough friends that we can argue our own personal viewpoints, no matter how opposing they are, and still be friends at the end of the conversation. :-) Actually, we're good enough friends to where we actually listen to each other, take the other's argument into consideration, and ACCEPT that they might have valuable input that would benefit the situation. Now that is the mark of a very good friendship. :-)

.....I'm feeling very good about this next June Faire Board already. When the slate was announced last Wednesday, the first thing that happened was that myself, Master Ralg and Ian MacKynnes huddled and strategized on what we saw as the major points to hit right out of the starting gate. Wow! It was a good session and gave me a very good feeling for how this next year's June Faire is going to go. There are big changes on the horizon for June Faire and we're going to have to figure out how to make them work. The town is pushing hard for pre-registration so as to have some sort of control over the people who show up, but we all know from experience (as in viewing the Egils experience) that a forced total pre-registration has its own pit-falls. We're also looking at the jurying of merchants and the movement of the Baronial Championships out of June Faire. So next year will be interesting.

.....After that lively discussion, there was another one outside concerning Her Excellency Brighid's first Sargeantry Trials. There were only a handful of people in attendance, and only a few of those thinking of actually going out for the Sargeantry. I guess I expected more for some reason. Although, to be honest, it is something that requires a good deal of commitment for about a year. Which means I should be looking at myself more critically to see if I ACTUALLY have the time. :-) But Aelianora and Ronan are going out for Sargeantry and it is always a lot more to do something like this with a group of friends with whom you can work. :-)

.....The rest of the day was spent in chatting with friends. Got to sit and visit with Mistress Gwen, Richard Dragun, Brummbar, Talia. Even Bjorn Kolbjornsson sat and talked for a while.

.....About 5PM Evening Court began and the people sitting gate at that time were wanted, so I volunteered to sit gate during that time. The first half was pretty quiet, but the second half started picking up. People started arriving for the wake of Karl Redstone. We were told that the free admittance at gate did not start until 7PM. Some people actually paid the event fee. Some people went back to their car to wait it out until 7PM. But some people were very unhappy with the 7PM rule. The embarrassing part was the fact that, to a person, the belligerent ones were all peers. Sigh! I held out until about 6:30 and then made an executive decision and opened up the memorial gate (free of charge) a bit early. :-) Talon and Janae (the Autocrats) backed that up a short time later, so I didn't feel too bad about doing that.

.....Got out of gate a little later then I thought, so when I showed up at the Feast Hall, Mom was already situated at a table. Found out a short time later that we were directly across from blondtartan and her new husband. They were married at Banner War last weekend. Another LJ User that I met for the first time in person. :-) And they are such incredibly nice people! And incredibly gracious. I was tired and forgot some feast gear and they went right ahead and offered some for our use. Wish I had been more awake. :-)

.....Mom was being a trooper, but about half way through dinner I could see that she had had enough. No complaining though. I grabbed the car and brought it down to the Feast Hall and loaded up her scooter and as soon as a clear shot opened up we had her up and into the van for the ride home. She enjoyed the event I think and is already looking forward to Twelfth Night. :-)

.....Then it was home and to bed. :-) Now it's almost time to head back out to site to get loaded up for the trip back to the storage unit. :-)

.....It was a good day. Would have been better if Laurellen had been there. I've missed her this weekend.

.....Arontius / Aaron.