[Ansteorra] favorite event

[eleanor cleavely]

It's difficult for me to pick a favorite event because there have been so
many. I could say Elfsea Defender, Elfsea Springfaire, Steppes Warlord, or
the myraid of events I attended in Atenveldt and the Outlands. But if I were
put on the rack and forced to say what my favorite event was and why, I
would have to say Ansteorran Twentieth Year Celebration. It was my very
first, real SCA event. My now-husband and I had very little money, but we
scrimped and saved so that we could attend the event. When we got on site,
set up camp waaay back by the creek (it was at First Monday Trade Days in
Canton), and got dressed, the whole world seemed to change for me. I
remember walking up and down the roads, looking at beautiful merchandise and
gorgeous clothing, and wishing that I could make such gorgeous goods.. I
remember seeing then-Queen Octavia in her finery and wishing that I, too,
could be dressed so beautifully. I remember sitting at my very first bardic
fire and wishing that I could sing and tell stories as well as they who
performed. I remember watching Sebastian fight in the torchlight tourney and
seeing the fighter in the African armor scream his warcry and inspire awe
and fear in the heart of his enemy. I remember the awe I felt at all I saw
and the exhilaration at the thought that this was real...I could really do
all of this.

Eight years later, after three kingdoms and many, many friends and events, I
still carry that little kernal of awe I felt at my first grand court, my
first fire and my first event. It's what keeps me going in the SCA, even
after seeing all the bad that can and will happen when people forget why we
dress in these funny clothes and beat each other with sticks. As a bard, it
keeps me grounded in the fact that I can keep this alive for years to come
with a story of bravery or a song of love once possessed.

Perhaps if we all remembered our first event and the childlike wonder that
infused us with the love of the game....perhaps then we could recapture that
long-lost dream.

Just my meager two ducats,
Lady Eleanor Cleavely
Bard and relative newcomer since 1999
Barony of Elfsea
Kingdom of Ansteorra
-- 
"Mine honor is my life; both grow in one;
take honor from me and my life is done."
--William Shakespeare

Ego existo obstinantus - I am resolved

Reluctor ultum , pareo parum - Resist much, obey little