Thoughts of the Lady in the Tower

2004-10-05 - 7:00 p.m.

Part 2 of 6 (ish, not quite finished yet) of my trip to Whidbey Island

The First Weekend

Demoing at a Cathedral

Early Saturday morning I left for Seattle (2 hours or so). Ysabelot wouldn�t be at the demo until she got off work (I think I was expecting her about 2 pm), but I was planning to go early anyway; I didn�t have anything else to do.

I�ll have to look up the name of the Cathedral; Madrone calls it Greenspires, since the steeple is made of bronze and has turned green. It was easy to find, and I chatted with several members of the group. One lady lent me a recorder, and I thoroughly embarrassed myself with it. It�s been awhile since I�ve practiced!

The demo was fun, and when Ysabelot arrived we went to explore the church. I�ll admit, just seeing it made me wish I knew the rituals that would have been second nature to my persona.

Well, to the English persona I haven�t named yet. Poor 12th century Ali�nor de Narbonne has been demoted to a servant (for use during events that my group is hosting). I wanted to name the 15th century English persona Eleanor (which is derived from Ali�nor), but one of the ladies in my barony already has Eleanor as a second persona. It wouldn�t bother me if she was in a neighboring group or inactive, but since she�s neither of these things I�m looking for something else. I just need to make a decision, really. I'm thinking of Helewyse. We'll see.

I think the most important thing I�m bringing home from my trip was the inspiration from seeing the people of Madrone. I described the barony to Richard as a seething mass of positive, inspirational energy. Even the newcomers (the ones I met, anyway) have fabulous, researched garb and projects they were demonstrating to the crowd.

I�m sure they have their politics, and they are probably ugly, but they weren�t my politics.

I miss living so close to Meridies. Richard and I developed a good relationship with Bryn Madoc, the barony right over the border from us. We showed up at their events and helped with the things we�re interested in (organizing Pas d�Armes, helping judge, working heraldic consult tables, assisting with dance by playing music or explaining the steps; all sorts of stuff). We came often enough that they were glad to see us, but not so often that we got involved in their politics. I miss having that sort of opportunity. While it feels that Dun Carraig is on the edge of the world, it�s still 3 hours (through DC � uck!) to the southern reaches of East. Due to geography, going almost anywhere within a 2-3 hour radius involves going through DC traffic (Richmond is the exception, but that�s across the scary bridge!).

Saturday night, Ysabelot and Natan took me to my first Thai restaurant. The food was interesting, but something I�d have to be in that particular mood for.

Sunday was more of the same at the demo, and back to Whidbey.

The pictures I took were from Sunday (I kicked myself for not taking pictures Saturday, because that's when Ysabelot was wearing her Flemish).

So, the pictures. The first is the two of us, and the second is us with Greenspires in the background. The second has some issues, since my camera lens couldn't pick up the whole view at once and I had to paste them together. It gives a good idea of the outside, though!