GNEW Recap, part 1

[felis_lupus]

Wandertsamm and Guests
Originally uploaded by gshower7

Part 1 of how many, I'm not sure yet. Could be part 1 of 1, with a footnote later for photos, as there are a LOT to go through... but I digress.

The short, short version: A fine event.
- Weather: Perfect. More perfect than last year, even, I daresay. Almost cold at night, sometimes.
- Dancing: More than I've done at GNEWs past, mostly with my second favorite dance partner (sprirtwolf, you were missed...).
- Fencing: Lots and wonderful. Woods battles are fun!
- Friends: Many and varied, and all good.

Still tired, glad J and I have today off to unpack and try to get the house back in some semblance of order...


Set up the windwall on Thursday morning, got the rest of the STUFF organized, then went back to work for a final three hours. Arrived onsite for good on Thursday night, reorganized the tent again to set up the mattresses, and spent a lovely evening around the fire.

Friday morning brought with it beautiful weather, happy campmates, and a day of relaxation and settling in. Hopped on my gateshift at 2:00, saw people, took money, schmoozed a bit. Was wonderful. Dancing started at 6:00 with anna_mickel's dance class, in which I was reunited with my former Captain, and we spent the rest of the evening whirling around the floor together (when we could! There were more people at the New Moon Ball than we've ever had, I think!). We have come full circle, Jehan and I; he taught me to dance at my very first event, and I in turn re-taught many of the steps and dances to him this event. So glad to have him back, and away from Civil War reenactment. :) I did get out to the battlefield and see a bit of the Pas d'Armes between class and ball, it was entertaining.

Saturday brought much fencing (from which I still am a bit achy... I need to get to practice more...)! Started with a town battle, on the Heavy List battlefield. A new experience, and quite interesting, strategy-wise. Definitely better to be in the castle, RBGs are a pain in the butt if you don't have one, and Death from Behind is also annoying. I am no good at it. Oh well. His Majesty Konrad joined us for the final town battle, which was a real treat. Never really fenced with him, exactly, but came close... missed him by *that* much... :) Tourney was a tourney, got to fence with everybody that I really really love to fence with (even though they usually kick my butt... nomadmwe,gryphonsinistre, Quinn, LT, umm... more! Love you all. :) ), as well as other wonderful people, of course. Had some new and new-ish fencers, which is always a joy!

Had to run back to camp after the tourney and try to organize music to play at the Queen's Tea. Was a lovely little setting in a ginormous pavilion. Thanks to anna_mickel, evensongs_fall, and alexsaintpierre for not laughing when my recorder squeaked... I'll get these fingers working properly someday. :)

Fled the tea for more fencing... I reiterate my statement from last year; Woods battles are FUN! :) Had more of a handle on what to do this year, and enjoyed, again, being a pest. We took one of the scenarios, but definitely need a lot more melee/tactics practice.

Hit the pool and cooled off before court, made it on time, and watched many many people receive well deserved awards. Congrats of course to Iain, Grandmaster Bowman (nice scroll... hee!), my Captian ludicrose for his OGR, and valkyrie1972, Vincent, Nicholas, Justin, Hannah, Aesther, and many many others for their AOAs. Vivat to Max, for again providing cool frosty treats for our household members and guests. :)

Our traditional Saturday evening Feast was again marvelous, distinctly lacking in vegetables, but we've managed, I think, to adjust the amount of food we all bring so we actually eat what we have, and don't have our usual ton leftover. This means, of course, that the Wanderstamm Traveling Eveningboard did not make an appearance at Bardic, but everyone was well fed and happy.

Wandered off (for longer than I'd really planned on, oh well...) on a site meander after dinner, ended up in Carolingia, and spent a lovely hour or so sitting and talking with gryphonsinistre, Quinn, Serene, and another fellow (new fencer yay!) who was at his first event. Met some new people, and found that sitting on the ground is apparently an open invite for a shoulder massage... not that I minded a bit. :) (oh, and nomadmwe, you still owe me... ;) )

Returned to a full campsite full of people wondering where the heck I'd been (whoops) and a friendly fire. Socializing happened, and Sleep followed shortly thereafter...

Sunday found me again on the fencing field, this time as a mere spectator, watching the cut-and-thrust practices. Anssem, Jehan, Brita, and John (from the Northern Shores) seemed to be having a fantastic time, and watching them swing big heavy swords around was really, really cool...

Campsite cleanup went fairly quickly. J and I have become much more efficient in our packing (as it seems we didn't forget anything, or didn't need the things that we did forget, if we did...) and everything fit nicely on the trailer and in our cars, with some space left over. Huh. Packing finished before the rain threatened, a smaller group of us than usual headed to Mac's Grill in Auburn for yummy yummy steak dinner, and then home... unpacking is going... slowly. But I have had my coffee milk now, we have been shopping, registered the motorcycle, and taken care of the recyclables, now to find the living room and kitchen again. Ack!



So there we are... back to reality tomorrow. boo. Pennsic prep begins as soon as I've caught up on some sleep. In a month, it'll be all over... aaaaaah!

Comments

[nomadmwe.livejournal.com]

Continually owing each other is really just a way of making sure we'll see each other again soon. :)

DFB is... well, it's cute. It's also one of the first things to go to pot in a tough melee, and it causes some really bad feelings. I prefer the very few melees I do to not have it, and not have RBGs for the same reason you state (they're appropriate to have for "realism" in some ways, but it's also not fencing). Done correctly, they can wildly unbalance some melee scenarios (rolling fire lines for the win).

[felis-lupus.livejournal.com]

Muahaha. You've discovered my sinister and dastardly plan... :)

DFB and RBGs seem to be both kind of cheap shots to me. Can cause some issues (even with those not involved, as we discovered... I was unobservant and quite dead. ;) ), but I'd like to think we're all mature enough to sort these things out on our own... I also have an excellent photo of you (not taken by me, but by the guy I said "here, you're not fencing, take some photos for me!" and he did!) doing what looks like defending yourself from a DFB. Will send along when I can think straight and go through the hundreds of photos taken over the weekend.

[anna-mickel.livejournal.com]

I did my best to not giggle during the Tea and your squeaking. Silent guffaws, possibly. (just kidding, you covered your tracks very well!)

I am a bit surprised about the use of DFB, but I think that if better handled, RBG's could be quite realistic (say, one shot allowed every 30-60 seconds). But I'm no marshall, and I'd have to get my butt onto the field and try it to be more certain...