Pennsic: other stuff

[cellio]

Yesterday I wrote about performances and later I'll write about some corporate-level stuff (BoD meet-and-greet, SCA census). And I still have to pull pictures off of the camera. This post is miscellaneous other stuff.

We have a great camp. I've lost track of how many years Polyhymnia has existed, but it's been long enough to have worked out most of the metaphorical bugs. Sure, we still come up with new metaphorical bugs sometimes, but goodwill counts for a lot. I like that we're all friends and not just people who ended up in the same camp.

For years we've been putting the house along the road, for visibility and to make towing it in easier. This year we decided to try putting it perpendicular to the road and on the west side of camp, with the goal of afternoon shade. That worked really well; we could use all of our communal area for dinner seating without a third of the people having to sit in the sun like last year. I'm glad the ditch at the north edge of our block wasn't an impediment to the trailer.

We know we have a leak in the roof (effects visible inside), but no rain came in during the multiple storms. Dani speculates that our problem might be snow melt, not rain, and if so the path in might be different. In the end we didn't deploy the sealant I brought up because we couldn't figure out where to apply it, but we're going to have some exterior work done this fall anyway and that contractor will take a closer look. We also stashed some large tarps in an accessible place so we can cover the roof during the winter if we think it necessary.

Thanks for the pre-Pennsic dinner suggestions. Someone was going off-site on my cooking day anyway and offered to stop at a store, so I was able to cook fish after all. I grilled tilapia with olive oil and fresh rosemary (from a plant we had in camp). Next year I should bring foil pans for fish instead of just using foil on the grill; the pans might hold up better and the fish might not fall apart so much. We also used up the leftover rice with veggies in it, and my cooking partner made a salad with a tasty citrus dressing that turned out to also work well on the fish.

We had two tents' worth of early departures this year and had put them closest to the communal area so we would have extra room for a Thursday-night party. There was another unanticipated effect: room for Bocce. I've never played Bocce before (yeah, I know; you'd think it would run in the family). That was fun. The uneven ground adds variation that can disguise lack of skill, unlike with the polished flat surface of a bowling lane. :-)

As usual, I intended to get out more than I did. I didn't manage to get to any of the dancing; the balls I most wanted to go to had scheduling conflicts, and dance classes at high noon always sound like a better idea before encountering the reality of heat+humidity. Bummer.

I went to a class on renaissance musical tempo (that is, notation and concepts of tactus, mood, mesura, etc). Most of this I already know, but I like to go to music-geek classes for that odd nugget I might pick up. In this case I wasn't expecting to be indirectly cited by the instructor. (He didn't know me to see, so I introduced myself afterwards.) There weren't a lot of music classes this year; maybe next year I'll be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. (I will probably teach my "dance reconstruction 201" class next year; I wanted to try it out locally before committing to Pennsic, but by the time we had the event this year it was too late to register for Pennsic. So, next year. Yes, this is both a music class and a dance class.)

The Pennsic Homeowners' Association had a house tour. We got about 50 people (more than I expected). We didn't see every house at Pennsic (it's a lot of space to walk in two hours), but we saw several that were new to me, including a really wonderful Tudor-style shower-house that was new this year. The level of detail was amazing; it took the owner a full year to make it. She calls it a shower-house but what's actually inside is a bathtub (with shower head). Bubble baths at Pennsic? She could sell tickets. :-) I took some not-very-good pictures on the tour; we'll see what came out later.

I didn't buy much at the merchants this year -- presents for cat-sitters, a t-shirt,, a few CDs, that sort of thing. I want to replace the ceramic dinner plate I use at events; I have a lovely smaller plate and bowl from my period made by Genevieve du Chalfaunt (who sells out of Potter's Hall), but I didn't move quickly enough this year so when I got there what she had left was a few centuries too late. Next time, I hope! (The plate I'm using isn't terribly wrong or anything; it's just the only one of my set that isn't hand-made.)

There is a man who draws chalk labyrinths around the site every Pennsic, based on (or sometimes copying) period ones. It turns out that he's from my barony and I didn't know it! (I actually didn't know his name before now.) I got to hear him talk about his research in this area, which was pretty cool. He's currently researching an Easter ritual that seems to involve dancing a labyrinth. Who knew?

I missed seeing several friends this year, some because they weren't there and some because I just didn't connect with them. I did get to visit with osewalrus, who was just there for a couple days, and zevabe and his lady Rebecca. I briefly saw jducoeur but we didn't get much time to talk, and the second half of sue_n_julia, and a few others. Next year, more meet-ups and longer conversations!

There's more, I'm sure, but I'm going to wrap this up for tonight.

Comments

[baron-steffan.livejournal.com]

I missed seeing several friends this year, some because they weren't there and some because I just didn't connect with them.

What you said. Sorry we didn't meet up!

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Showerhouse? Fascinating.

Moving the house sounds promising. It'll still be plenty visible, unless people have truly enormous pavilions.

[dagonell.livejournal.com]

I sorta figured the labrynith dude was from BMDL or nearby. The mazes also show up at War Practice.
-- Dagonell

[ariannawyn.livejournal.com]

The labyrinth dude is named Ambrosius (there's more but I forget what it is). He works weekends which is why we seldom see him at local events, but he's Jorundr's housemate so he should be easy to reach if you want to contact him.

Hmm, I should have asked him for his contact info for the Dark Pages. I think I'll ask Jorundr to pass that request along.