Last Chance Is Over. :-)

.....Last weekend was the Baronial Event of 'Last Chance' where all of the Marshallate Championships for the year are decided over the course of a single day. This year we were able to add the Youth Combat Championship into the plan for the first time in a while. The trade off being that we were not able to pull together an Equestrian Championship.

.....The Equestrian Championship itself is awesome. It is quite the feeling to watch the horses and riders work their way through the tasks required of them for a Championship. But the requirements to hold the Championship are equally awesome in their scope of what must be done. There is insurance to acquire. Huge amounts of space that must be reserved for them. Specialized marshalls that need to be enticed to participate. As much as we like having the Equestrians, we keep having to ask ourselves how much of the Barony is willing to put forth the required effort to have them.

.....For TBT and myself Last Chance marked the completion of a year's worth of Baronial Events as Baron and Baroness. As I look back through the year I'm amazed at how fast it went, but how much has changed as well. Talk about a growth experience! Last year at Yule Feast I stumbled through Court like some drunken bull in a pasture. Since then speaking in Court has become so much easier. I still stumble and struggle with the right words to say. But those words come to me much faster and easier than they used to. :-)

.....There is still much to be learned, of that I have no doubt. But the whole thing does not seem the overwhelming monstrosity it was just a handful of months ago. TBT and I are already looking into the next year and putting together plans to better prepare ourselves for those occasions where it was easy to stumble.

.....In some ways I certainly understand a lot better the reasoning why Jacques and Siobhan stepped down like they did and when they did. And in some ways I owe them a little gratitude. On those occasions I mentally decided that I'd had enough and was determined to give that damned Coronet back to Their Majesties, I would think back to that Fight Practice just before my June Faire in 1999 when I learned that they had decided to step down. I remember the how angry I was and it always made me determined to make it through at least the 'required' three years of tenure. I may cross that finish line limping and delirious, but that finish line will be crossed. :-)

.....I breathed a sigh of relief on Sunday thinking that with Last Chance over I could take some time and maybe slow down a bit, catch up with a few things languishing around the house. Which is a total disaster area at the moment. But the calendar is sitting there laughing at me with reminders of things coming up that require attention. But it's not all event related thankfully.

.....This Friday is our first September Crown meeting, where we're going to make our formal introductions and lay out a timeline of the things that will be done over the next year.

.....Saturday is the Emprise of the Black Lion. There is stuff happening there I would really like to witness. But I would REALLY like to spend that time around the house. I'm really torn at the moment. But I'm leaning towards going to the event. It is North of Seattle. Maybe I could entice TBT to go and have lunch with me at the Fish Place in the Northgate Mall. :-)

.....Sunday is a Serjeantry get-together with Madrun. She takes off for a whole month of travelling after that, so it will be our only chance to slog through the program and make sure she has a good handle on what she needs to study and what she is already prepared to handle. Sometime over the next several weeks we also need to sit down with Dame Ellen and figure out the Serjeantry Matrix and her exact duties as the Serjeantry Secretary.

.....The weekend of October 1st/2nd is a trip up to the Clallam County Fairgrounds for a September Crown site visit. Also would like to squeeze in a trip to Serjeantry Trials for Blatha An Oir, just to witness the proceedings.

.....The weekend of October 8th-10th is a trip to the Ocean in Lobelia. Always relaxing. And it's three days this year, and maybe a fourth if I can get the time off. :-) Hmmm, would like to make a new kite, or buy one, between now and then.

.....The weekend of October 15th-16th is the SCA Board Meeting in Madrone. I found the last Board Meeting I attended to be more interesting than I thought it might be. Witnessing at least some of the process of how the SCA works gives you some insight into why some of the decisions are made the way they are.

.....The weekend of October 22nd-23rd is TBT's birthday weekend. We want to spend at least one day at Woodland Park Zoo. Mostly to make up for the amazingly busy August we survived! The Rhys Monster's birthday happened during that time and he felt rather cheated, and I don't blame him. We'll do our best to make it up to him. Woodland Park is a great way to do that.

.....After that there are rumblings of a trip to Virginia. Our next Project will be in full swing by then at Norfolk Naval Shipyard. I'll have to pay a visit at some point. Any later than that and I start running up against the holidays, something I'd like to avoid. So I'm going to see if I can stake that week into the ground and make it stay put.

.....Then we hit November...

.....I had four goals for the Fall and Winter Season. The first was to work on the Serjeantry Program. The second to jump start our scrolls and ceremonials and put them into some kind of logical and complete order (although Caius did an amazing job of doing that to a rather large degree in preparation for Last Chance). The third was organizing September Crown and putting together a plan for execution. The fourth was silk banners. I'm still determined to complete that one. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.