Brrr!! That, I'd say, is the most common sound being made by humans across a large swath of the United States. And the DMV (that's local-speak for DC-Maryland-Virginia) hasn't even had it as bad as the heartland. My friend Devora, who lives in Iowa City now, posted a selfie of what she looked like while waiting for the bus in -20 degrees F weather. I commented that at least she has stories to tell her new nephew about the week he was born. (Her sister had her first baby on Tuesday. And, yes, I believe Pedro, my late heraldry mentor, would have been an excellent uncle.)
Before the rest of the low temperatures set in, I spent last Saturday at the Barony of Lochmere's midwinter revel, called "The Road to Compostela." It was a smallish, indoor event, just over 100 people, but a few folks who attended were people I haven't seen in quite some time, so that was a pleasure. I participated in a musical jam session and in "the bag game," in which players are given a small cloth bag containing tokens and buttons and clothespins and whatnot for trading with other people in the game. The catch is that no one knows how many points each item is worth until the end of the game.
The evening feast was HUGE. Given the theme, the event planners wanted to represent Italy, France and Spain, so they had three head cooks for four full courses. Each one of the first three courses could have been a normal meal by itself. By the time I got to the third course, I literally had to take a break from eating so I could at least taste the dessert course. Holy moley. It was all very tasty, with the exception of the venison pie, which was rather dry inside. After all, venison isn't an intrinsically fatty, juicy meat.
For tomorrow, I let the boy toy talk me into going with him to the last day of the winter festival in Frederick, Md., so I won't be going to the University of Atlantia after all. My apologies to
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zhelana. The next University of Atlantia will be somewhere in the same vicinity (Lynchburg, VA), so perhaps our schedules will align then.
Doing this little "schedule compromise thing" means that he won't complain that I *have* to go to the Bright Hills event on Feb. 9, when Baroness Janina will finally get her Laurel. I am so glad for her, especially since her husband is going through so many health problems.
Between Frederick and Bright Hills, there's this little ball game in Atlanta, Georgia. :-) Of
course I am rooting for the Patriots again. As I never tire of saying, my Dad cheered on the Pats for the first 22 years of the team's existence without ever getting to see them get to the Super Bowl. So, yeah, I plan to keep up the family tradition. :-) Besides, when Brady and/or Belichick ever retire, the franchise is probably going to enter a long dry spell, so other NFL teams will have their days in the sun.
Switching subjects here: Ralph Northam is the same age I am (to within 24 hours).
What the hell was he thinking when we were in our mid-20s?? I knew that shit was WRONG to do much earlier than 1984. WTF???
