Dwarf Planet in Purple

In late March, I wrote but never posted:

Now that my latest feature article is done, what do I do next?

As I had been promising myself, I started practicing the ukulele. Since I've taken up several musical instruments over my ever-lengthening life, I know that the beginning is the steepest part of the learning curve. My left-hand fingertips felt tender, but I can say I know three chords now: C, F, and A minor. All three involve only one or two fingers. I really want to learn G major, but that involves three fingers, which is a bit more cumbersome for my non-dominant hand and brain. Still, I want to learn, even if I learn at a slower pace than a youngster.

I am still singing with Laydes Fayre, Mistress Arianna's group, but I had to skip the March 22 practice session because I had to attend a church trustees' meeting about candidates for our next developmental minister. That's about all I can say because of confidentiality rules.

Then this weekend came about, and I am

I was probably going to write, "I am so tired I can barely write..." *grin* Fast forward to late April.

The weekend of March 22-23 was a double-event weekend in my SCA world. On Saturday I went to Defending the Gate, at which one of my friends got her Laurel (highest award for arts and sciences) and also stepped up as Baroness of Stierbach (with her husband as the new Baron). On Sunday my own barony, Storvik, had an informal "spring thing" at the Cheverly community center, an indoor space that we have only recently started using (but that works well for activities).

On March 26 the Key Bridge collapsed, which was huge news in Maryland, as you can imagine. I think I'd driven over it only a couple of times in the decades I've lived in Maryland. Usually I take the tunnels or I travel up the west side of the Baltimore Beltway.

On April 6 I was driving nowhere near Baltimore -- I was heading up to Erie, PA, for a rendezvous with the path of the total solar eclipse. I stayed at my friend Amanda's house -- how lucky for me that she had a guest room! Of course, the big question hanging over the weekend was: would the sky be cloudy? After all, in July 1991, I received a great demonstration of what totality looks like when the sky is overcast. Fortunately, while the morning of April 8 was disappointingly gray, patches of blue sky began to appear on the western horizon, and the crowd (at Mercyhurst University) and I were treated to an awesome sight.

This past weekend (April 13-14) I spent Saturday at Storvik Novice Tournament and Sunday at the Japanese street festival in DC. Storvik had to hold Novice Tourney really early this year because that was the only weekend we could rent the usual site. (This close to DC, sites that allow us to set up all our SCA stuff and have fighting and horses are few indeed.)

At the SCA event, I was excited to be called into court twice: first by Their Majesties, because I won the drawing for a "quest prize," which I will have to explain at another time, and second by Their Excellencies Storvik, who presented me with the Baron's Award of Excellence, which left me truly gobsmacked.

At the festival, the boy toy and I had various types of snacky Asian foods and I bought myself a couple of parasols for use at future SCA events.

I just realized I've been a very bad Dreamwidther (is that a word?).

Busy month. It began, really, in late May with Balticon. Once again, I roomed (platonically) with Mike T., who is still doing pretty well despite his Parkinson's diagnosis. I had not seen him in person since the previous Balticon, so we had plenty to talk about. I was there from Friday afternoon to late Sunday afternoon, because I took the MARC commuter train between New Carrollton and Baltimore. The fare only $8 one-way, so it's cheaper than parking in downtown Baltimore, plus the arrangement let the boy toy have the Tucson for the weekend. I didn't hang out with R. much. R. was very focused on helping his friend Ira sell his used books in the dealer's room. So I didn't have to contend much with R.'s reactionary views.

The following weekend was Storvik Novice Tourney. For the first time in a long time (duh, pandemic), I camped at an event. And ... I had forgotten what a BEAR that wooden IKEA twin bed is to assemble. Ugh, ugh, ugh. I will bring it to Pennsic, if indeed I go (and that is a story for another night because it's getting late), but for weekend events, I definitely need a folding camping cot. The comfort of a wood-framed bed is great for Pennsic, but I just don't have the energy to put into assembling it for 36 hours of eventing.

The weekend after Novice was the Baltimore Lithuanian Festival. One of my high school classmates, the one who lives on the north side of Wilmington, drove down with family members and we had a GREAT time together. My classmate presented me with an insulated water bottle inscribed with our high school emblem, a souvenir of that 45th class reunion I missed last October.

And then we had our church's annual meeting and elections ... but that is a big can-o'-worms that I don't want to open tonight. Need some sleep.

(Apologies for taking so long to write this up.)

Eventually Baroness Margaret Lad, the Kingdom Chatelaine, came over to Newcomers' Point to relieve me (and cheerfully organize the pile of free garb that people had been pawing through; she does everything cheerfully). That gave me a chance to wander around and greet people and even spend a few moments with Baroness Evelynne in her vigil tent. Clan Cambion, Evelynne's household, was planning a procession into Court for her, but they invited me to join in. Once the procession got to the front of Court, those of us who are not Laurels would simply reverence the Thrones, walk off to one side and go back to our seats. Thus, when the populace was getting ready for afternoon Court, I set up my chair toward the back of the audience so that it would be less obvious that I was getting up to join the lineup for the procession. I ended up sitting next to Master Herveus, who belongs to Clan Cambion, so that I could tell when it was time to leave our seats and line up to follow Evelynne.

As expected, the new Baron and Baroness of Storvik held a court and gave out several baronial awards, and then afternoon Royal Court commenced. Their Majesties gave out a number of grant-level awards, for which it is customary (at least in Atlantia) to call up fellow members of the Order into the Royal Presence to greet their newest member. People who are both Golden Dolphins (service) and Pearls (arts and sciences), like Herveus, had to keep getting up and sitting back down. He joked that it was good exercise.

At some point I started to think, Hey, isn't it almost time for Evelynne's procession? Shouldn't we be lining up? But then I heard the court herald call my name.

My name.

So I stood up and somehow shuffled up to Their Majesties and bowed, probably less deeply than I should have. They told me it would be acceptable if I remained standing instead of kneeling on the padded stools in front of the thrones.

Queen Jane started off by saying something like, "So, you have been baronial herald since 2007," and then I gently corrected Her -- I have not been baronial herald for a few years now, although my actual cutoff date is pretty mushy. So then she started praising me for staying active in heraldry and hospitality. (And I'm thinking, "Huh? I spent a couple of hours at Newcomers' Point, but...") And then the herald commanded members of the Order of the Golden Dolphin.

I bowed to their Majesties again as the populace applauded and various members of the Order approached the thrones. Their Majesties said more nice things about me, asked if there was a medallion, and Dame Emma stepped forward with a shiny Golden Dolphin attached to a lovely necklace of red beads and white pearls. She said it was a legacy medallion in that she had passed it around to many members of the Order before getting it back and giving it to me. She gave me a copy of her statement after she read it.

I was just so overwhelmed. As the crowd cheered and I went to "greet the order," all I could think of was ... Pedro. Pedro, my heraldry teacher, my friend whose wife was so proud of his Golden Dolphin, who should have been a Pelican (the highest-level service award) ... I would have never received this award if he had not taught me so well. I wanted to tell him about it so very much.

My head was spinning so much that I floated back to my chair and didn't join the procession for Evelynne's Laurel ceremony. I enjoyed watching it, though.

* * * * *

Two months later, I am still thankful for the recognition of my service. This past Saturday I wore my Golden Dolphin medallion at an event for the first time (Holiday Faire), and got up into the Royal presence to welcome a new Pod member at afternoon court. It was also the first time I performed in public with the a capella group Laydes Fayre, but that's another story.

And now I need to get back to writing a feature article-for-pay that's due ONE WEEK FROM TODAY. Oy vey.

Over and out.

Today the SCA is 55 years old. NOT 56 years old -- today is the first day of Anno Societatis LVI, or in other words, the Society is beginning its 56th year of existence. It's come a long way from that very first "international tournament."

And tomorrow is the 40th birthday of the Kingdom of Atlantia! Huzzah and Vivat!!

Today Atlantia actually had a Crown Tournament to choose Heirs!! This is a bigger deal than it normally is because of the pandemic. Normally we have Coronations in April and October and Crown Tourneys in May and November. Our current King and Queen stepped up in April 2020, shortly after the plague hit, and they have served twice as long as they originally signed up for. The Society's board of directors granted a variance for us to have a very lightly attended Crown Tourney -- only the combatants, consorts, and event staff were allowed to be there in person, and the rest of us had to watch on YouTube. Fortunately, the live-streaming technology worked way out there in the middle of rural North Carolina and Atlantians got to see the fighters compete under a gorgeous blue sky. Several of my friends participated in the tech team.

The rest of the SCA's live events are still on hold until the end of May. Storvik will "reopen" the Kingdom with Novice Tourney on the first Saturday of June, but the county authorities are capping our attendance at 50 people, even though the wide-open outdoor site can easily accommodate ten times that number. We shall see what happens. We will have fighting, but not the full complement of activities.

In other news, my church has chosen a developmental minister to stay for a few years and work on our issues and internal drama. Today is the 50th birthday of A.J., the only grandson of my late ex-landlord (he was, what, 21 when I met him?). The boy toy will get his second Pfizer vaccine next Tuesday.

Over and out.

I hope I helped someone today.

There's a young woman in Storvik (not trying to be condescending here, but I'm 60 and I think she's in her early 30s) who has done a lot of work for the Barony and Kingdom in the last few years, but has been saying lately (through Facebook) that she has been feeling poorly, though she didn't say exactly why. I didn't want to pry. Maybe she didn't know, either.

Today she made several posts stating that she has ME/CFS, which immediately got my attention. You see, I have a friend who used to be president of my local science writers' group, who used to write for the Washington Post, until ME/CFS disabled him. He moved to Hawaii, although he returned a few years ago to participate in an extensive study at NIH. He has the ear of people like Francis Collins (Tony Fauci's BOSS) and he married a woman who is also a ME/CFS sufferer and activist.

So I mentioned this to my Storvik friend, and she immediately PM'ed me back and said, oh, yes, PLEASE send her contact information to him. So I pinged him -- fortunately it was early afternoon here, so morning way over there -- and he said, sure, have her send me an email. So I wrote her back, and she thanked me profusely.

I hope they can help each other out. She says she has felt very alone, but she isn't, and in the aftermath of the current pandemic, she may have many other peers.

I am just the messenger here. The switchboard, as it were. I am not writing about this to honor myself -- I just want to remember that I tried to do something kind, so that someday when I am in a crummy mood, I can try to convince myself that I am not *totally* bad.

Anyhow, today was Major League Baseball's Opening Day! The Nationals hoisted the World Series Champion flag under a blue sky ... and then a line of thunderstorms rolled in and we had HUGE and FAST lightning, going off like fireworks and popcorn. So the game was called early with the Yankees winning. UGH.

Today makes 46 years since my Catholic confirmation. Just so you know. These days I'm dealing with next year's budget for my UU church.

I suppose I should be keeping some record of my movements, in case contact tracing becomes a huge deal. This morning the boy toy and I went out on a drive. First we stopped at Wawa in Beltsville, so that he could buy cigarettes and a cup of coffee. I didn't get out of the car. Then we went to Home Depot in College Park so we could buy a few items. Finally we went to Spicknall's, a farm in Beltsville, where we bought some herb plants and tomatoes. Some of our herbs are perennials, but every year we have to buy basil.

My list of canceled/postponed events expanded today -- my national science writers' group was supposed to have its annual meeting in Boulder, Colorado, the second weekend of October. But now that will be replaced by various virtual events, and the in-person event is moved to October 2021. This makes me wonder what will happen to my fall events -- Storvik's Battle on the Bay, War of the Wings, and the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Especially the last of that trio -- you can get 20,000 people on site on a busy weekend, and that is the general public, *not* super-courteous SCAdians. There is NO social distancing there.

I just finished a really long post on my Lady Patricia blog:
https://ladypatriciaoftrakai.blogspot.com/2020/04/virtual-atlantia.html

In addition to what I wrote there, I am glad that the new King and Queen restored Baron Celric to his status as Baron of Storvik. (He had been temporarily suspended because of his activities in support of a Northern Principality. Once again that battle has been lost.)

Time for The Walking Dead....

This past Saturday: Fall Crown Tourney went great. Little political drama. Some great fighting bouts. Lots of compliments to Storvik.

Sunday: Yet ANOTHER mass shooting. I am FURIOUS that this was allowed to happen, not just because of the U.S. Air Force slip-up with the background-check database, but because this guy already fractured his stepson's skull -- what the fuck was he doing outside of prison?? Why did he get a slap on the wrist for nearly beating the kid to death?? And of course, the whole "thoughts and prayers" without action thing. Grrrr.

I did a tiny bit of NaNo, but not much. NEED to get the freelance article done.

Good grief, how the time does fly....

So I have had a couple of great weekends in a row.

Saturday, May 27: Daytripped to Balticon in downtown Baltimore. Second year that the con has been held in the city where one must pay to park. That wasn't the only reason why I limited my con attendance to Saturday, though (more on that in a bit). I enjoyed the things I wanted to enjoy: the medieval dance, Maugorn's concert, and the masquerade. I saw some folks I don't get to see too often, although I did miss CZ and Alex/Phoenix. Moving the con suite from the 12th floor to the fifth-floor common level was a HUGE improvement.

Sunday, May 28: I really wanted to attend church in the morning, because that was our first glimpse of the ministerial candidate. She made a very big positive impression right from the get-go. After the service, there was a pizza luncheon and the candidate stayed to answer our questions. She has an interesting life story -- she worked as a civil engineer for many years before feeling called to the ministry. She and her husband have three grown sons.

Afterward, it was kind of a drizzly day, so the boy toy and I went on a drive through Anne Arundel County and ended up at an idiosyncratic joint called Crabtowne USA. Hey, the fish tacos were good.

Monday, May 29: The "money committees" of the church met with the ministerial candidate for a couple of hours. More positive impressions. Afterward, the boy toy cooked up shrimp and scallops at home.

Saturday, June 3: Storvik Novice Tourney, our barony's signature event. Once again we held it at the College Park Knights of Columbus, which has plenty of room, though no camping. That's OK -- it's the next town over from me, so why would I need to camp? I taught a "heraldry 101" class, although a couple of heralds who know much more than I do sat in and geeked out. Many, many of my friends received well-deserved awards from Their Majesties and Their Excellencies. Exposure to bright sunlight all day long made my brain go into "instant sleep" mode after sunset, so I went to bed a couple of hours earlier than I usually do.

Sunday, June 4: Another excellent service by our ministerial candidate, followed by our annual congregational meeting, at which we voted to call her as our settled minister with 98 percent of the vote. Yay! We finally have a permanent minister again! After the meeting, we had a brief party with champagne and cake, and there was much rejoicing.

We shall see whether this coming weekend's Baltimore Lithuanian Festival will live up to its outstanding predecessors.

And oh, yeah, after midnight it will be June 9 and the FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY of my high school graduation. It's a couple of weeks before the boy toy's 40th. Birthday, not anniversary. Why do you *think* I call him the "boy toy" here??

Hello to the new folks around here! (Well, to my longtime friends too.)

Tonight I'm getting ready to go to my first SCA event since mid-May (mostly due to my roller-coaster income levels). I honestly feel a bit out of practice. But I hope it turns out all right.

I'll write a bit more about myself in the next few days. I don't want to be up too much later so that I can wake up in the morning and help Johanna set up the Storvik yard-sale booth. Since I helped collect and price the goods, I might as well help sell them, too.

In the meantime, please feel free to browse the archives, the memories, etc.