[Bordermarch] Thursday fighter practice

[Lathrop, Dave]

Greetings unto Barony Bordermarch,

HE Elisabeth and I arrived just a few minutes late for fighter practice and couldn't believe our eyes, WOW!
The field was full with folks milling around, giving out hugs as if they hadn't seen each other in years. The fighters were already gearing up for an evening of fun.
Lord Zane and Lord Adolf were explaining the SCA to our visitor M'lord Vance, and passing out Newcomer Brochures. Once again, through vigilance and hard work do we snag another.


Lord Vaclav Slovaczek
HE AmberLea
Lady Jill
M'lord Thomas
Lord Adolf
Lord Brand Eric
Lord Okin
Lord Zane
M'lord Grant
Lord Gavan MacRae
M'lord Chrestien Brule
M'lady Debby
HE Dona Leah
Lady Asatriona Inghean Padraigin
M'lord John
M'lord Gary
M'lady Josi
Lady Melanie
Lady Nora
M'lady Brittani
M'lord Zackary
M'lady Christian
M'lord Ethan
HE Sir Simonn
HE Elisabeth
HE Santiago
M'lord Vance---Visitor
La Pooch Sasha

A list of friends who joined together at Thursday's fighter practice to enjoy each other's company.
Lots of fighting, and plenty of storytelling took place under the trees. We were there till the darkness ran us off.

The children had a blast chasing La Pooch Sasha.

Almost everyone, excluding his mom M'lady Debby, complimented M'lord Chrestien Brule's new shaved head. The setting sun's golden rays played a symphony with the bumps and shadows that were now exposed on his head.

HE AmberLea recited some wonderful bardic pieces she had passed on to Sir Simonn's squires, Lord Adolf, and Lord Aaron Whitewolf. The tears almost ran free when she told of a young lady helping blind sailors
by exposing them to brail, and the prose about a fair maiden who ventures into deep water was pure poetry!

HE Elisabeth should never ever-ever chastise me for potty-mouth again!

Lady Nora snapped some photos that we'll post soon.

The ghost-like apparition that appeared from nowhere just as the darkness was enveloping us all was none other than Lord Vaclav slipping through the trees with his white lab coat flapping in the breeze.
The trail of pills spilling from his coat pocket was no doubt his method of finding his way back to the hospital. He is afflicted with the Ginger Bread  Syndrome.

I found out that Lord Okin has graduated from Boy Scouts with his Eagle badge. I ask him what else was there for him now that he's attained the highest honor the Scouts have to offer. He said there was nothing else.
I then asked why he was still hanging around with the Boy Scouts so much; no reply.

We almost have Lady Jill talked into teaching a class at September's A&S day. She's still resisting, but I heard her voice crack when she said, "No! No! NO! I'll never teach anything to anyone!" She'll be ours very soon.
Since Lady Jill's very smart husband, M'lord Thomas, has opted to fight Rapier, we shall leave be, for now.

M'lord John is using  a new material from which his new set of armor shall be constructed. It looks very similar to fluorescent orange construction paper! When he put it on, Lord Adolf immediately rushed over and tweaked the fit to perfection.
I believe he is going to construct his new helm by molding some wet newspaper soaked in glue around his head, and let it dry in place.

Speaking of helms, Lady Padraigin was sporting a new rapier helm that she has managed to fit to her head by squashing down the helm in the armory. She spent the evening running around with just an arming cap made of green carpet padding on her noggin.
Sporting her arming cap, she approached HE Elisabeth and me. She gained our attention then immediately went into her Jethro Bodean hillbilly impersonation mode. She made HE Elisabeth and myself soil ourselves just a bit. She is a very funny woman!

Lord Brand Eric maintained his distance from me throughout the evening practice. He did manage to get HE Elisabeth in a bear hug after his fighting was done; he was completely soaked with sweat, but HE Elisabeth sort of like that kind of stuff.

M'lord Gary never sat down, he fought rapier the whole night; way to much energy!
His beautiful young daughter, M'lady Josi, did some boffer fighting, but the gleam in her eyes betrayed her anticipation about being able to fight with a real blade.

It was a pleasure to witness HE AmberLea take a moment from her in depth conversation with HE Elisabeth to rise from her seat, and share everything that pertains to rapier fighting stances that she's absorbed
during her 47 years in the SCA with M'lady Josi; it took 12 seconds.

I asked Lady Padraigin, one of our female rapier fighters, to instruct M'lady Josi in the fine art of light fighting.  The only thing M'lady Josi got from the instructions was how to look good with carpet padding on your head.

Lord Zane's all black pant suit, combined with his new high-and-tight haircut makes him look like the kind of guy you wouldn't want to meet in a dark ally, but then again, it's just Lord Zane.

Lord Gavan was seen helping M'lord Grant with his fight techniques. Lord Gavan is now in the process of developing a new Japanese persona. He shared with me his new persona's name, Koto of Sam; I think.
If you feel a trickle of blood slipping down your back, think nothing of it, for twas only Koto letting you know that he is like the wind, fast as a fox, silent as a lamb, and merciful enough to let you survive!

Sir Simonn fought all night, without pause; must be the Prozac and laxatives messing up his system.

I won't mention what HE Dona Leah did during fighter practice, I just can't find the words to describe it. you'll have to contact her for the rest of the story.

It was great to see M'lady Melanie again, we'll have to con her into to doing something in the group next time we see her.

Our fighter practices have now evolved into true family gatherings. Two times a week, and sometimes more, we catch up on what our dearest friends have been up to.  That's not counting all the phone conversations, emails, Facebook entries, and My Space stuff
that everyone is using these days. It seems one would soon tire of seeing each other so often, but just the opposite is the reality.
It's such a blessing to be able to pick on each other without egos being bruised, and realize that everyone one of us has something to offer to the never ending dreaming and scheming fine folk of Barony Bordermarch.

He Santiago