Intro. To August.

.....Normally, I can get the voices in my head to all go in one general direction. But today, nothing I do seems to convince them to come together from the five different directions they are currently going. :-) I'm hoping that concentrating on a Live Journal entry will calm them down a little. :-)

.....August is certainly shaping up to be one hopping busy month. I'm looking at my calendar and practically every single day on through September 4th has something scheduled. I think we'll survive, but survive with sanity intact? I am not laying odds on that one yet.

.....This weekend is the Baronial Picnic. I had originally thought that maybe we could camp on site that weekend. That is not going to happen. Too many things to get done. I'll come out on Friday night. Then TBT and I will spend the day there on Saturday. I'm hoping to travel out there Sunday to help with the break-down, and will most likely at least make the drive up there.

.....Saturday itself should be relaxing for the most part. It is mainly a gathering of the Populace to sit together and share some good times. THL Theodoric is in charge of the picnic feasting (at least the main dish), with the rest being provided by PotLuck. The day itself is scheduled to have the Arts & Sciences Siege Competition (which is a lot of fun). The Archery Ranges will be in operation. There are a number of games in the offering as well, like Bocce (maybe glow-in-the-dark if scheduled right :-)).

.....There is some Serjeantry scheduled as well. We'll have a small Court where those who completed their Quests this year will give a summation of what they did, and then declare their Quests for the upcoming year. I'm looking forward to hearing their words, and seeing the reaction from the audience. All who undertook Quests this year completely understood our intent and set the bar high on initial Quest accomplishment. TBT and I are very pleased with the results. I hope the Quest concept as molded by this class of Serjeantry continues to build on the success. It could be a great way to reinvent the Serjeantry all together as a concept.

.....The current class of Serjeantry Candidates have some activity this weekend as well. Their bardic and dance presentations. Which we will NOT make them do as a part of Court. :-) I'm hoping that in a more relaxed setting, the candidates will be more at ease and will involve the audience more into what they present. At least that is my hope.

.....The following weekend of August 11th and 12th is the Huntsman's Challenge as sponsored by Dragon's Laire. It is billed as a Archery themed event, even though there will be other activities as well. TBT and I will go out there during the day on Saturday. I'm going to try again to go out there on Friday to see how the set-up is going. But we'll play that one by ear. On Sunday though, I'd like to be out there to see if maybe we could take a load of hay bales away to the September Crown site. I have not mentioned that to Barnet yet, so I need to corner him shortly. It may not be doable, but it would help reduce the next weekend's workload a bit.

.....I'm actually looking forward to seeing the York rounds shot. Rather an inspiring site watching those arrows arch high in the sky on their way to the target. Not many sites these days can accommodate a York Round, so we're hoping that the archery community in the area will take advantage of the opportunity.

.....The following Saturday of August 18th is the Day of Trials for Serjeantry. The culmination of a lot of angst and hard work from a number of people this year, and not just the candidates. :-) Dame Ellen, I'm sure, has had several hair pulling sessions trying to deal with us. THL Madrun has had a number of interpretation arguments with us as well. But it is all starting to come together. The candidates number eight at this time (Cedric, Morgan, Talon, Jenae, Magdalena, Albrecht, Caius and Nidda). They've been working hard, doubly so if you count all the things they are doing in addition to the Serjeantry requirements. But I have high hopes for them. It'll be a full day at the VFW Hall outside Silverdale.

.....The weekend of August 25th and 26th is the final weekend before September Crown. The last minute opportunity to pull everything together to make the event the following weekend. I'm angsting mightily over the site, overly so. But only because it is an untried site. There will be surprises. But if it can work it'll make a nice event site. This is the weekend where we get the water tank moved to site and all the hay bales (or the second load if we were able to get some moved the previous weekend).

.....I've started putting out informational notes on all the local e-lists about things to expect from the site and the event. People zeroed in right away on the primitive aspects of the site. Which really means that those with mobility issues will have some issues to contend with. We're renting a golf cart from Barnet for the weekend, so that will help a little bit.

.....I think the site is beautiful myself. It has a nice view of the Olympics. Where it is situated allows for a cooling breeze at the warmest parts of the day as well. At least that has been my experience the past several times there.

.....I've also been putting out calls to the local branches asking for any help I can get. They've started responding thankfully. A couple of branches have volunteered martiallate gear to supplement ours. Glymm Mere has volunteered to act as our Waterbearing force for the weekend. Druim Doineann has volunteered a sizable contingent to help at gate. I'm starting to feel a little better. But I'm still hoping for some dedicated groups to help with parking, Lists, and infrastructure set-up / take down. I smoozed the Madrone Seneschale this last weekend to help with the infrastructure. But am still really hoping for more gate and parking help.

.....September Crown will be what it will be. I need to stop stressing about it. No matter how much you mitigate, there will be those who will complain bitterly. And, by that time, I will be so strung out from August that I will have to mind my tongue carefully to not say what I really may be thinking to say. :-) But in a little over five weeks it will all be over and we'll be cleaning up for a well-deserved fall and winter break. :-)

.....Wish us luck!

.....Aaron / Arontius.