Fri Mar 30-Apr 1: King's Hunt - I had an interesting discussion, post Gulf-Wars, with several treasured friends. When I met my Northshield friends at Estrella last year, it was the first time I'd ever run a kitchen for an entire camp. It was the most fun I'd had camping with the SCA, ever, which actually surprised me. I never expected to do more than just do a good job, not to fall so easily into the roll.

On the flip side, it was disheartening to figure out later that the guys saw me, in their first impression, as a "Camp Mom." That phrase itself annoys me a tiny bit, since it always made me feel like some sort of 63-year-old spinster, with nothing better to do than care for the cute young bucks, like some sort of brunette Mrs. Claus.

My friends observed that maybe I should redefine how I help out in camps, so that I'm not "just being a Camp Mom" all the time, and embrace what =would= be the kind of roll I want to adopt for myself. Jeff suggested that in our nautical-themed household, I could start considering something like the "Docks Mistress" or other inventory sort of role, where what I'm really good at is what's being celebrated: Organizing. So, rather than having to run the Kitchen, just be the kind of helper that keeps the Kitchen running.

In parallel, Caterina has missed *being* the Mistress of the Kitchen. At Gulf Wars, we took turns for some of the meals, simply because our bodies gave out on different days, at different times. When my sinuses went nuts one evening, Caterina did the entire meal on her own. When her pain levels went off the charts, I took over and made the meal happen. But most of the time, she just wanted me to help organize the things in the kitchen, so that either of us could cook at any time, without any trouble.

So, this conversation has been in my head for a while now. As we approached King's Hunt, neither Lot nor Caterina were going to be there because of having family in town. Mina and Elisheva and I took over planning the meals, and I took on the lion's share of having the "Kitchen" itself set up. When I take my "Coffee Bar" to an event, it's very nearly an entire kitchen's worth of things, anyways.

I decided mid-afternoon Friday not to rush or panic about getting pack and on the road, and instead enjoyed an early dinner, a leisurely packing session, and then the final grocery shopping. It was really late once I was actually driving, and part of the way I realized I was going to just nap my way up the coast until I arrived early to set up breakfast. I slept in 2- and 3-hour sessions in my car, stopping once for coffee and once for coffee and toast. It was around 5:15 am when I got on site, at which time it was completely dark and the nearly-full moon had already set. I slept another hour (in my car) and got up the moment the sky started to lighten.

I unpacked my car into two staging areas -- Kitchen and Tent -- and by the time I was ready to start setting up, a few friends were awake and having out with me, ready to help. So I got fully dressed into my "costuming" for the SCA (full-length linen dresses, waist-length hair, linen head-covering), and then I was ready to set up and get coffee and breakfast started. For the next several hours, I made coffee, spiced cider, potatoes & onions, eggs & veggies, turkey kielbasa, and set out fruit and breads. Friends pored in from all around the campground, and then two friends graciously took over dishes for me. While I served breakfast, several additional friends set up my tent for me, which definitely helped a lot! All I had left to do was to get lunch munchies set out for later, get my air mattress blown up and my bed made, all my things put away, and the car parked off site.

The day was definitely filled with spending time with friends. I sat with some of the ladies for a bit at the side of the fighting fields, enjoying conversation and continuing some of my hand-spinning on my new drop spindle from Bob (the special spalted maple he found on his property in fall). Then Marcos fought for me in the Rapier Tourney, which meant I was there as a Consort, to salute his fights and be his inspiration. I also spent part of the afternoon getting the awards organized with the herald. And probably the most unusual experience: Getting to snuggle with a flying squirrel. Really. Alana has a pet flying squirrel named Rogue, and I got several cute pictures of Rogue hiding in our necklines.

Shopping was nice, too, since I found that my favorite soap in the universe was being discontinued, and my favorite bookmaker was selling the last 10 bars (which of course, I had to buy). She also had a gorgeous small leather journal in a rich dark pink, that I had to buy and present to Meala. And over at Christel Illusions, I picked up a tumbler with the event theme etched on it, and two additional shot glasses: One with a Harp and one with a Dolphin (two awards that I have). So now I have 2 "guest" shot glasses for events.

The evening court was fun, since *so* many members of the Shires of Carreg Wen and Isles were receiving well-deserved awards. Our newest member of White Star, Arye, received his Award of Arms, which makes him a Lord (with a capital L). Todde and Mo both received Crescents together, a Grant-level award for service that makes them "His Lordship and Her Ladyship." Todde and Theodosia both received the Shire award, Order of the Crimson Tower, which thrilled me to see the award revived. There were a total of 7 Dolphins awards, 4 or 5 Awards of Arms, 1 Harp Argent, 2 Crescents, 1 Acorn, and 2 Crimson Towers, all totalled. It also helped me finally connect some names to faces, since I was standing in court watching folks come up for their awards, *and* I had penned their names on the scrolls and worked to make certain the people who needed to know had a full list for their own records.

Dinner in our camp was Mina's favorite theme: "Food On A Stick." I also made certain we had some salad and other foods, in case waiting for food-to-cook on a skewer took too long for anyone who needed a bite to eat immediately. Once we'd had our fill for dinner, there were three separate interesting "ceremonies" in camp. Mordecai presented leather masks each to Marcos and me, in special thanks for things in life lately. Mordecai has been making these amazing masks and keeping a photo journal of the progress on his website, and I had fallen in love with one of them, so he set it aside for me as a gift. He's amazing.

Marcos had a special memorial moment in honor of a friend of his. We stood in a circle, weapons in hand. He and the person to his left stood back to back, and he drank while his friend stood weapon drawn, to guard his back. Then the drink was passed to the left, and that friend puts his weapon down, turns back to back with the next person, and he drinks while that friend guards his back, weapon drawn. The ritual comes from a tale of a King who was killed by being stabbed in the back while taking an unguarded drink. We continued fully around the circle, and then poured out the drink at the end in memory of Marcos' friend.

Then the evening also included a Havdalah ceremony, which is the celebration of the end of the Sabbath. When you have something special and holy in your life, it is made more special by the contrast with the days that are not special. So that border between the Sabbath and the common week is one last moment to reflect and be thankful for the sweetness of a special and holy day. The ceremony has one of my favorite tunes, and one of these days I may finally figure out where I've heard it before. I have a cute wooden candle holder and spice box for Havdalah that I bought just for camping, and a cute wooden cup that Meala gave me to go with the set. It was lovely to share Havdalah with so many SCA friends at the event... the circle gets large from event to event.

And then the rest of the evening was filled with song and tale and visiting from campfire to campfire. Mina wrote a new song for Don Eogan which has an insidious repeating chorus that was stuck in everyone's head, all day while packing on Sunday. We convinced her to sing the Giacomo song *and* the Widow and the Devil, and in fact I got away with not singing anything (other than to sing along with other songs). Eogan came over and told the tale of "Nuclear Barbie" *and* "Peanut Butter Knife" and then I was obligated to tell the tale of the "Pansy Pink Viking A-Frame" from my early college years. The folks in Isles *love* that story, since it happened while I was living there.

Twice I just got to snuggle in a nice hug with one friend and one cloak, to stay warm, and it reminded me how wonderful it is to have so many affectionate friends with whom I can enjoy an extended hug and it has nothing more than a platonic feeling. There's such a Puritan strain in society sometimes that it is frowned upon to snuggle with someone who's not your boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse, and it doesn't have to be that way. You can curl up next to a friend and keep it innocent and just a hug or leaning on someone, and I'm beyond thankful to have friends like that in my life.

I was up early for breakfast and coffee for everyone, even though the site prepares breakfast for everyone who camps on Saturday. Their breakfast wasn't going to be ready in time for me, so I used up lots of wonderful leftovers and served food to anyone hungry in our camp. My friends helped immensely in getting the kitchen and my tent packed, and we left site just barely after 12 noon. Cormac, Sabyna, Marcos, Meala, and I caravan'ed down to Santa Barbara and enjoyed a long lunch at the SB Chicken Ranch, then we all went our separate ways to get home. I had to stop for a nap in Ventura, then coffee and the rest of the drive home was bearable. Mina, bless her heart, helped me unpack my car and we chatted about all the camping projects we'd love to work on. Post-event energy is *so* creative!

It'll be a busy week, but I'll try to stop by and say hello to everyone here.
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Today's Blessing That I'm Thankful For: Arye, my "pet" and our newest household member. Your friendship is a treasure to me, and your music was so amazing at the event. If only every hunt had a horn player as talented as you!