Lighting the Path Less Taken

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Ah, just a week from today. Just a week.

I will be awaking to an encampment of folks who travel back in time to the Middle Ages. We are a hearty group.....primative camping on 500 acres. There will be about 2000 of us this time. We will be preparing for the big event of the season that happens in late July and early August when there will be 12,000 to 15,000 of us there. We are all dressed to period and there are no spectators. Everyone is a participant in "the dream."

At this time next Saturday morning, we will have visions of the night before still dancing in our heads. The night to come will contain the same. We will have spent the night listening to dumbeks, djembes, sitars, riqs, celtic flutes, bagpipes and perhaps a digeridoo or two. There will have been incredible belly dancers circling the campfires. We will have hugged old friends from far away places. Some we haven't seen for years.

And Saturday next, I will go to the merchants at marketplace. As I carry my market basket, I will be searching thru clothing, jewelry, musical instruments, books, crystals, cloth, skins, perfumes, weapons, antlers, cooking caldrons and much much more.

Then I'll attend classes -- maybe take the one on Horse Clothes or Barding Styles in the Middle Ages or Welsh Laws and Land Holding. So much more too. So much to do, so little Time.

Then later in the day, attend court and see the King and Queen! Then feast & drink, laugh and sing. Ah, the good life. Homemade meade and wine, perhaps a cordial or two.

Society for Creative Anachronism -- my passion and my life now. Ever wonder (she said egotistically) why I'm the Time Traveler? Yep, this is why. The Middle Ages -- as they Should have been.

Of everything that goes on there, one of my fondest memories is just laying in my tent, napping in the afternoon. Drifting in & out of dreams. And hearing a single far-off bagpipe being played. It is the only sound besides the birds. I don't know who is playing it, but I do know that person is in the same place in time as me.

Today, as I start packing my camping goods and wardrobe, my mind is there already. Waiting is the hardest part. No, leaving there is the hardest part. -- TT

That all sounds wonderful tt!
It's so good to be living what you dream of among others of the same dream.
Have a wonderful time in the Middle Ages.
Enjoy your dream.
And when you return tell us all about it.
It may be more than a dream xx

I'll be with you in spirit, enjoy my lady!

It sounds like a lot of work..........BUT tons of FUN!!! I always love seeing the photos you share. q18

What a great way to travel in time. Sounds like you already are there....have a great trip and looking forward to your adventures. The market sounds like a neat place to shop.

Have fun,

Jacquie

Here's a few photos from last year's big event, not the one I'm headed to next weekend.

This is in the market. They are more than 150 merchants annually. Don't forget......... this is all built every year. When we disappear, so does everything else.

We are primative campers for current times, but not for our times. We call them the current Middle Ages:

Oh how I wish...

How my brother would love all that.
He makes all his own clothes for his work.
And has to use authentic materiel, no nylon or polycotton etc.
If you want a travelling storyteller ..........

Ah man what I would give for a drum like that. Do they sell those also?

Woodnldy -- Try this site. I haven't seen that particular drum for sale at my events, but that doesn't mean they aren't there! I never feel that I have seen everything. And I've been going for years!

http://www.celticrenaissancemusic.com/medieval/renaissance/tabor/drums

As I was drifting off to sleep last nite, I was seated at a feast table. I was missing something from what I should have had. I saw an arm, covered in a fine cloth with decoration, placing the dish gently in front of me. I said "Thank you, kind Sir."

That was the whole dream. Am I there yet?

Pretty soon friend pretty soon

Ah, yes, soon...........but never soon enough!

How long does the 'festival/dream' last?
Weekend? Week?

Last weekend there was an SCA event about 4-5 miles from my house, drove by on my way to work last weekend....it looked like a small one and the weather was not ideal for tent living.....

I've always thought that looked like fun but not enough time in this lifetime to do everything that looks fun...sigh....

I look forward to your pictures it is still fun to go via internet

Mia - The event I'm going to this weekend is from Thursday thru Sunday afternoon. Pennsic, the big event, is for two weeks. Last year, I only left the site for about 5 hours the whole time!

Throughout the year, there are events that last different lengths of time. Some are just an evening with feast and medieval dancing. Others anywhere from 1-7 days.

I've met folks from all around the US, Canada, England, Australia, Germany, Scotland and more. Amazing to me who was just a farm girl when this started for me.