SCA vs non SCA

[Paul Gilbert]

Allysyn, Timo and other Ravens Forter's have heard this story as to why I
play SCA.

It means alot to me, my Lady and family, so we share this with all.

"Mundanely" (there is that word), I work with the TDCJ Communications Shop
 in Huntsville (Ravens Fort), where I work 7 days aweek, 25 hours 
aday, 366 days a year on the radio communications system for the Texas
Prison systems.

Before I moved to Huntsville and since 1984, I was (and still am) an 
amateur radio operator that has been VERY VERY active in the field of 
repeater frequency coordination on a local, state, national and 
international level.

When I got the job here in Huntsville, I thought that it would be 
really neat to be paid for what I did for a hobby....radios.

It was....for about 6 months. Then something I thought would 
never happen, did....I got tired of doing  radios 25 hours a day. I never 
thought that would or could happen, but it did.

Mean while, back at the castle...in West Texas. My Lady, Kezia had 
been playing SCA with the folks from Bonwicke, Black Lake, and 
Mendersham for a year or so. When she and my kids moved to 
Huntsville, the first thing she did was check out the Barony of 
Ravens Fort and begin to play here.

In the beginning, I had a "you must be crazy" attitude about why she 
wanted to do this. But after attending Black, White and Sort Gray in 
1996, I saw that this could be fun and most of all it was different 
from what I did at work. I needed that. Too much of a good thing can 
ruin a good thing.

Time progressed on and Kezia took me to some events and I was hooked. 
It was something I could turn to, forget the job, forget the outside 
world, relax, learn, meet new people, make new friends and do 
something that I felt was fun.

Now I am here to stay, in fact to a point that I have backed way off 
of amateur radio. I still do some hamming, but only selective events.

One feature of the SCA that has only been touched on in this thread,
is that the SCA is a family oriented hobby. 
There are things here that a family can do together. 
This is very important to me and Kezia. Until we got into 
the SCA, we  never had anything we could do together.
Now we do and this is a good thing.

I have one regret. Back in Midland, Texas in 1982 or 83 in a park on 
Ave A, I took pictures for the Midland Reporter Telegram of a group 
of folks dressed up in "funny clothes, carpet, helmets and that beat 
on each other with sticks." They called themselves the SCA. I still 
have the pictures. My how things have changed. I now regret 
having not followed my curiosity and followed up on them and what they 
did. But other things were more important, I thought, at that 
time.........Oh wellllll.

The SCA has given US a new togetherness and a new level of honour that 
I will never forget.

Sorry to take so much bandwidth, but my new hobby means much to me 
and my Lady.

Vivat the SCA, Ansteorra, the Crown and Ravens Fort

In Service...
Lord Nikolas of Muscovy




Paul Gilbert                                                 Nikolas Pavel Vasilievich         
Huntsville, Texas                                        Exchequer of The Fort              
409-291-9532                                             Barony of Ravens Fort
vis_pfg at unx1.shsu.edu                             Kingdom Of Ansteorra
                    Society For Creative Anachronism