Saturday Morning of Candlemas.

.....The alarm rang at 4AM and I just couldn't go back to sleep. Took my shower and am slowly pulling things together for the day. Florence, the Wonder Van, is already packed. Hope that Madrun doesn't freak when she sees the SCA signs tied to the roof of Florence. Yes, my true Oklahoma roots come out once again. :-)

.....Started filling up Florence last night and realized that there would probably not be enough room for everything that needed to go to the event. I had earlier in the week contemplated getting Heather to the dump so that we could get everything cleared out for this weekend, but time was not on my side last week. Too many things in the hopper. TBT is going to bring the Subaru with a few bins as well. This should give us enough room for everything to get home, no matter how haphazardly we pack it in our tired rush to get off of site.

.....Five presentations for the day. At 10AM we have THL Ruadhan O Fearain, former Kingdom Champion, presenting a bardic entry. At 11AM, M'Lady Miyamoto will present her shibori art. At Noon, THL Mateusz will present his 15th Century bit brace. At 2PM, THL Ataliana will sing for us. And at 3PM, Lady Elen will present her research paper. It's going to be an interesting day. I'm eager to see how the new format works out. The single entry allowing for a greater depth of research and presentation to their chosen emphasis.

.....I'm also excited about the research paper being presented in support of the Scholar Championship. Research papers have always been that oddity that was hard to classify. The Championship today will be even more difficult in the fact that there is only that single entry. But it makes a fantastic test case for the concept of 'judging against a standard'. I hope it leads to more submissions in the future.

.....Because of the complexity of the Championships, it was difficult to plan other things around it for Candlemas. We really didn't know until very recently how the entries in the Championships were going to stack up as far as a schedule. Which means ultimately that this year's Candlemas will be a little on the quiet side. I'm rather grateful for the group starting the impromptu Fight Practice in the afternoon. That will add something to the day, especially for those who can only stand just so much scholar pursuit before HAVING to become active. :-)

.....TBT has finished a set of garb for the Second Age of Arontius and Laurellen. It looks pretty spiffy. I'm actually most grateful for not having to wrap up in the winklebinder for a while. :-)

.....Court is going to be somewhat lengthy. There are awards to give out. Two past Champions to retire their regalia, and possibly up to three Champions to invest. There is a Captain of the Guard Ceremony to install (I'm glad we were finally able to make the stars align for this one). There will be Serjeantry Letters of Intent to collect (along with introductions of the candidates).

.....Her Excellency Elisabeth of Madrone will also grace us with her presence for the day. First as judge, than as noble cousin. :-) I like Countess E., she is a lot of fun with a lot of class. :-)

.....No feast after Court. At that point we essentially break camp for the day. I'm still torn on that one. Part of me is still glad it worked out this way. Transporting food from the Hyla Kitchen to the hall is always a tricky call. Plus, we'll all be really tired from a long day and will want to just go home. And we really had no idea how many entries and how long a day it really was going to be until very recently. But, you know, it might still have been nice to look forward to a good meal after a long day. With Rycheza as Feastocrat, and Renart as Autocrat, I bet it would have tasted really good. But we do get a nice lunch as shepherded by Rycheza, so we have that much to look forward to at least.

.....I will probably be ready for bed the instant I get home tonight. :-) Need some sleep as we have a gathering at the September Crown site tomorrow. With Team Haggis III, if you ain't running, you will be left behind. :-)

.....Off to start the day. Need my vitamins.

.....Aaron / Arontius.