Gulf Wars Groupie

Well, we are home from Gulf Wars and tired but happy. It was a fabulous experience that I hope will soon be repeated, not just one of those once in a lifetime experiences. We got to stay in the marquee tent belonging to our friends Regan and Faelen (thanks, guys!) and in the words of Owen, currently King of Ansteorra, it was AWESOME!!!! It was like having a great big medieval room to live in. We had rugs over most of the tarp, including big ones under the two beds (cots, ours with an air matress on it). I think we need a new airmatress though. We were airing it up every night and by the end, once you were out of it, you couldn't really get back in. At some point it was like being in more of a hammock or on a waterbed or something. I had lots of fleece and fake fur to layer over the sleeping bags so we were comfy during the chilly nights, even though it was in the 40's. At least, I was comfy unless I had to get up to use the potty and then it was frigging COLD!!!

For those of you who are not in the SCA or have not been to Gulf Wares, it was amazing. My husband and Amelia counted license plates from 37 states and Ontario, although we know that there were people from Quebec there as well. Just about all the Kingdoms in the Known World were represented except for the European kingdom, which I think is Drachenwald. In other words, there were people from everywhere, coming in all week long, even Saturday for just the day. As Miranda said, it was like being in a Medieval Town all week. Many people especially down toward the fields had period encampments; ours was less so, regrettably, but still fun. We were camped on top of Namron (northern Oklahoma) and they got a kick out of hearing the encampment referred to as "Stamron" (Steppes/Namron). There was little extra room at the Ansteorra campground!

There was an opening procession where all the royalty and entourage processed in the morning, with the kings, queens and heirs on horseback. The current Queen of Ansteorra is blind so her horse was led by appropriately dressed persons, but she rode it nonetheless!!! (She's a brave lady). I don't have a great camera but I took lots of pictures and we were down front for all of the pageantry. The Kingdom of Glenn Ahban (Lousiana, probably spelled the kindgdom name wrong) hosts this event in Mississipi (which is part of the Kingdom of Meridies), so they are the "hosts" but it is a war between Ansteorra (Oklahoma and Texas) and Trimaris (Florida). I don't even know the official results yet although I understand we kicked butt in a lot of the battles, and we always kick butt in the Arts and Sciences competition. There is so much to do that I didn't even see anything except for one battle, and didn't see the rapier or the youth boffer either. Or the Bardic competition, although I heard a lot of the bards who competed, including the first and second place bards, at the Green Dragon.

So what did we do all that time if we weren't doing the other things? Well, we took lots of classes. The girls wanted to do Page School, which they loved. They met three of the four queens, had tea on the rapier field, made period fishing poles and went fishing, made bath salts, made a booklet, painted plaster figures, played games, and did lots of other cool stuff. The children's activities were four hours a day with a break for lunch, so it was close to the classes and easiest for us to do, especially since they WANTED to go. Plus it was close to the vendors (I did a bit of shopping too, in fact, quite a lot of shopping and looking and talking to vendors). I took classes in Lampwork, Naalbinding, the Bayeux Tapestry stitch, and the Florilegium (my beading class got cancelled so I slipped into this at the last minute; this was about Stephan's project to collect SCA-related articles and knowlege all in this one website). Two of my classes were cancelled at the last minute but I toured the Arts and Sciences populace display and voted, and Amelia and I toured the barn to see the horses (and we did see some youth boffer and rapier on the way). Miranda and I toured the Greyhound paddock and she got to walk a dog for thirty minutes (R took A down later and they all did this again--it was a big hit). We did not actually see the greyhound coursing or the equestrian events but R was also busy taking classes in a number of macho areas. We observed the leather bottle making and got some materials to do it, and he also took woodscraping, went to see a wood furniture slide show one night, and did a number of other classes. He and Miranda also took an egg basketmaking class and are halfway through an egg basket. He and the girls took a period games class while I was doing lampwork. I skipped the basket making because I unfortunately had burned my finger doing the lampwork (not badly but badly enough that i didn't feel like doing basketry with it). The light was coming into the classroom at a weird angle and I couldn't see the torch so I just took my finger right through it. Next year I want to take some classes in early period life because they have great classes (cooking over an open fire, lots of period stuff). In particular I want R to make the outdoor furnace--there's a class where you can make a little furnace out of a coffee can and mud and use it to start a small fire, kind of like a miniature fire pit--very cool and perfect for roasting marshmallows, and I think you can put charcoal in it.

So I had some mishaps, being accident prone as I am. In addition to burning myself--twice--during lampwork (but not enough to require medical attention), I almost fell off the shower platform in the Namron camp shower and broke my other ankle (keep in mind I was trying to shower at night in the dark with two ten year olds who were screaming that they didn't like showering in the camp shower--Miranda said that was the worst experience of her life). So, no more camp shower in the dark with twins for me. I offered to escort them to one of the bathhouses so they could shower again, but indicated that I would not be walking all over camp in my non period bathrobe, so they decided that one shower for the week was enough. So from then on I used the camp shower on my own in the daylight--unfortunately I never did figure out how to get the propane on hot though, so my next two showers were very cold. It reminded me of that time I went to Europe and showered three times in one week, and only one of the showers was hot. Well, fortunately it was gorgeous weather and not too hot, so I didn't sweat much, and in the open air you don't smell as bad either. I did bring some perfume. I never did get my hair trimmed but it did OK--I kept it in a snood or under a hat most of the time and tried to brush the tangles out twice a day.

My other mishap was that unfortunately I got the stomach bug that was going around, so I had about 24 hours where I didn't get much accomplished, just laid in bed. Fortunately we brought our portable potty and we weren't that far from the regular port a potties (but far enough!!) However the tent was very comfortable. It only rained once, at night, and that was a good thing because the roads were dusty and it cut the dust and the allergens. My nose had been running steadily and I was using lots of non period tissues (no way to wash hankies really), so it was nice to not have to do that. I thought it was asthma because I went into a portapotty after someone had been smoking in there and had an asthma attack and was violently ill. Then I had to go to the chirgeon tent later and get my husband to bring the nebulizer down (we had no electricity and I didn't realize we could have gotten it for medical reasons). So I had a breathing treatment and so did Amelia, who really needed one. But I still didn't feel well and it turned out I had a stomach bug.

So I had a cold when I got there, allergies, asthma attacks, burned finger twice, almost broke ankle, and stomach virus. All in all a typical vacation week for me! (I don't know what it is about vacations but it brings out the worst in my health--broke ankle the first time on the ranch vacation walking on the ROAD, not hiking--serious asthma and allergy problems at Disney World the next year, and I bet I had stomach flu or something on a prior vacation if I really think about it).

One of our acquaintences in Steppes was not impressed with the merchants, who she said have been better in prior years, but there was plenty for us to choose from. I enjoyed chatting with the merchants too. One guy and his wife had lovely hand painted wall hangings and I bought a few of the seconds for $1 each. He had taken leave from Iraq just to be there and will be back this week. Turned out he is from Lufkin originally and went to school at a small Christian school here in Flower Mound! So I wish him and his wife the best. They also had lovely hand-carved clay pipes, which I did not buy because I have so many knick knacks and we don't smoke, but they were very nice indeed.

I got some linen, some naalbinding materials, some Viking glass beads (I made a few but they aren't very good), some veils (I can't get the hang of the edge sewing on the veils--it's like making wedding veils, kind of tricky). Some veil pins, some naalbinding needles, some pins, some buttons, etc. (things that don't cost much and are easy to transport back). R got a knife and a new bag and we both got some cheap leather belts that we may decorate later with some conchos or something. We got a pack of harder leather and some leather ties, and the girls also learned from the leather guy how to braid one or two strings of the leather into belts and bracelets and hat bands. I got some books in kuminhimo (Japanese braiding) so maybe now I can use my loom to full advantage, plus I got the little foamy things, numbered like the book, to use while sitting in bed watching TV. Amelia made me buy some buttons but I don't know what those are for, exactly. The girls got some honeysticks and some other little tchotskes, and I got some inexpensive cloak clasps (mine is still not sewed on and I have to re-do R's but at least we have something--we decided we didn't like the pins I have been holding for us since the Scottish festival). I got them some Viking pins for their little aprons. What I didn't get but wanted was something from the Scandanavian booth that had items made from all over the world by Viking Reinactors, including lanterns made from wood and sheep's bladder, weaving, pottery, beautiful handmade bronze etc. My favorite piece was the $450 coat pin, but of course I didn't get it. Just looked at it three or four times. It was really museum quality stuff. I really wish now that I had gotten the lantern, which was still $90, but I need some veils and linen and stuff more (white linen was $5 a yard and it's $12 a yard on line and never less than about $8 here in town, if you can even find it. At Perth Street linen is $6 a yard but they rarely have black, brown or white). Well, maybe they will come next year. They were very expensive but had beautiful work--it's just that I focused on basics instead this year. Oh, and don't forget the Gulf Wars t shirts!

The trip didn't seem that long for me. It was about 12 to 13 hours with all the stops but I was sewing all the way down and most of the way back except when it was dark. We did have bad weather warnings on the way back (and snow in Dallas) so we stopped in Ruston and spent the night at a Holiday Inn express--got cleaned up and had an awesome breakfast. I also don't know the name of it but there is a fabulous truck stop between Lufkin and Tyler that has marble bathrooms and serves great Barb-B-Que, although it's not cheap ($9 a plate, $2 for extra sides). I got Amelia two sides and Miranda insisted on getting her own meal, but I took the leftovers home and had them for lunch Monday. The Barbeque is not as good as the Bodacious Barbeque which is in the same general area, but it is not bad. Only in Texas do the truck stops have Marble Bathrooms. Welcome back to civilization. It was snowing (flurries) and I wore my cloak inside so I got some strange looks, especially since our wardrobe by then was not very coordinated (whatever was clean, basically, and R was wearing my Big Rock Ranch shirt--hopefully no one knew it was from a Scrapbooking retreat).

But back to Gulf Wars. The best part of Gulf Wars for me was going to the Green Dragon to hear Heather Dale and other premiere bards, from Ansteorra and other parts of the known World. I didn't buy any CDs because I know I can get them later but the music was fabulous. This is a real pub, and everyone sits around in garb in the candlelight. There is some artificial lighting in period style lamps but not much. There is a gallery overhead where the performers can be or they can be on the main floor. They have beverages and food for a "suggested donation," a whole Ploughman's platter for $3. Presumably if you can't pay you can still eat and drink a bit. (of course there's a lot of free food and booze and the nightly parties too). We heard Ken Theriot (whose SCA name I am blanking out on) sing "To Serve the Lily" from Human History (one of his albums of SCA songs) and Owain Phyfe who we know from Scarborough Faire was also there! He was also at the Mediterranean place the next day (fabulous food there too!) And of course Heather Dale herself, all the way from Canada, although I believe she is going to be giving a house concert here in Dallas soon. She has, as one person in the audience said, the voice of an angel. She made me cry, and the girls were transfixed. We had to leave after her second set because they were getting tired and my stomach was acting up, and there were royals in the gallery so I didn't want to have an accident or something up there, so we sort of snuck away to give them a better seat, but it was marvelous. Except for a vehicle that I saw go by outside (probably a golf cart since most vehicles are parked at the parking lot all week), it was really like being in a medieval pub, except that people probably smelled better and were from all periods of history in their dress. Oh, R and I also really enjoyed the dirty Viking humor on the last night, especially the Odin Revival done in the style of Jimmy Swaggert ("Can I get an Odin? Do I hear an Odin? As opposed to "Amen.") And we weren't even that drunk.

We did take the kids to the Green Dragon a lot (although we left them in bed for the Viking humor part). We went to the Axmore party for Baroness Morgan's Pelican elevation (got our Bob names and everything--tasted some really good trashcan punch and mead). We skipped a lot of the wilder parties, and I was sick or I would have gone over to the Wolfstar party. We did go to the Known World party hosted by Ansteorra, which was Octoberfest--lots of free sausage on a stick and pretzels to die for, and German Bar maids with shots, and mead and beer and some of the sourest cider I think I have ever had. Plus trashcan punch of course, and I was proud to say that we contributed some of the Christmas lights that were decorating the place. This was held inside the fort after the grand court and the elevation ceremony of Baroness Morgan, who gave us all linen handkerchiefs as favors so we could cry with her (and we all got to wave them in the air). Even the girls enjoyed the Known World party, although we did take them home after a short while and put them to bed, then went out again ourselves and back to the Green Dragon and the party. There was lots of drumming and dancing, although I never did make it over to the middle eastern area. Next year maybe we will get out more, since the girls don't mind sleeping in the tent alone now. Unfortunately though, there is not much for teens--they need some teen activities in the evening, or teen parties, because some of the parties will not admit anyone under 21.

Well, enough for now. I will probably be gushing about Gulf Wars all week. The kids are ready now to go to Pennsic. Probably won't go this year, but we are definitely thinking about Lillies War in Kansas this summer!

PleasantValleyMom, sorry to be back in the mundane again