Summer Is Ending

Summer is ending. I am into my normal summer/autumn activities now and one of these activities is our Renaissance Festival. The Ren Fest opened this past weekend and originally we were going to push off our attendance until next week. Then we decided we were going to go, but for a very foreshortened time. Finally we ended up at the gates in time for the cannon that signals the opening of the doors and beginning of the day's activities at 9:00 a.m. and we didn't leave until 4:00 p.m. - a full day for us. Looking at the daily schedule we realized that the long-bow competition - usually held over the Labor Day weekend - was actually being held opening weekend and we were there! Call us happy!

This particular artist had his final year at the Fest last year.
The building, a prime location, has been taken over by
someone else now.

The morning started off good - my Renaissance Fest clothing is in one section of my closet and everything was clean and ready to go. Originally I thought about black velveteen pants, a cotton shirt (long sleeved which is mandatory for my fair skin) and a longer tunic, but then I decided to try out my original corset and see how it might fit, after all, I was off thirty pounds and maybe at the upper limits for this piece of clothing. Amazingly enough, it actually fit well, so I switched to a different shirt and went a bit more wench-like, although I did keep the pants for the day instead of switching to a skirt.

One of the many fairies at our Ren Fest. We have what's called
a "fantasy" fest - outfits from many different eras and fandoms
are welcome including anime, history, and total fantasy. 

It's rather amazing. When we walk through the gates of the Fest grounds our worries and daily issues just leave. It's almost magical. Well... OK... That might be a bit of a stretch. But in so many ways just being outdoors, hearing the bagpipes and harps, watching the people both in costume and not, hearing the happy children as they ask for wooden swords and shields and other weaponry to bash each other over the head, makes us relaxed and happy. And our friends are there - old friends, new friends, and Festies who recognize us from years of attendance. It's like coming home after a long trip.

I had to share this one because it is so true. 

Having the long-bow competition was an added bonus. There was a large field of archers - more than thirty of them, both men and women. They started out shooting at targets from 20 yards (18.2 meters) and increased in five yard increments (4.57 meters). Five archers were still standing at the 50 yard distance (45.72 meters), four men and one woman. The winner got all three of his arrows in the bullseye, the second place man had won the tournament in previous years, and the third place man was a former winner as well. The remaining woman outshot all of the other women and most of the men. She won the women's first place award and it was a delight to have such a strong female competitor. It was wonderful to watch them. It was sponsored by one of our local indoor archery arenas and I'll be contacting them about some new strings for my bows as well as advice and a place to practice. Yeah! Bows and arrows - Whoot, Whoot!