Progress report, mid-February

This month I don't have quite as much to report.

I had wanted to attend Bright Hills Baronial Birthday and Investiture on the first Saturday of the month, but during the week leading up to that event, I had spent so much time chipping away at the thick ice that encrusted the driveway that I decided not to go. Wind gusts of 60 mph or more would have made the driving difficult, anyway. I ended up sealing off the bathroom crawl space with plastic bags and duct tape.

I finished the February issue of the Drekkar a few days late. I was waiting for a contributor to send in her item, but she didn't have time to finish it because she was taking care of another resident of our Barony who had surgery. It's hard to fault her for that. And the patient is well on her way to a full recovery.

Tonight is the monthly baronial business meeting, and I will attend and take notes. Then the newsletter cycle will start all over again. 

A lot of other stuff (weaving, sewing, etc.) will have to wait because I have a non-SCA feature article (for freelance pay) due in TWO WEEKS. The events for the rest of the month are all in Richmond or south of Richmond, anyway. (Richmond is more than 120 miles from my home.) March and April will bring lots of events, though!

Another bit of news to savor: The next Known World Dance and Music Symposium (KWDMS) has been announced! It'll take place in July 2027 at Carleton University in Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. I've never been to Ottawa, so maybe we can even practice a little tourism before or after the event. Something to look forward to!

Progress report, late January

As I promised at the start of the month, here's my report on the things I've been doing in the SCA.

Regarding the Drekkar: I published the January issue when I was supposed to, and now I'm working on the February issue. I'm thinking about getting together a memorial issue for Baroness Gracie in March, but I can't do that project now because I have to write a feature article for pay (nothing to do with medieval history!) that's due at the end of February.

The highlight of my SCA month was the second annual Highland Hearthglow, hosted by the Barony of Highland Foorde. Once again, the setting was rustic and cozy, way out in the middle of the woods, and the staff of roughly 40 people paid attention to every detail, from the Arabic and English signs to the handmade chess set. This year's theme was the Golden Age of al-Andalus, with food representing the cultures of Muslims, Christians and Jews in the city of Cordoba circa 900 CE.

Some things were outside the control of the very competent staff, such as the bitter cold outside and the Internet outage that prevented live streaming. We'd heard of the winter storm heading our way, so the staff began and ended the event two hours earlier than planned. The schedule got flipped around a bit, but nothing that ruined the atmospheric charm. I paced my eating a bit better, so that I actually had room to taste things from all four courses without feeling so stuffed I couldn't eat another bite. The dishes I liked the best: monk's beef, the fish and the rice pudding.

(Note to anyone reading this post several months after January: Highland Foorde may archive the website later in 2026 in order to make way for information on the next Hearthglow in January 2027.)

I'm uploading my photos of the event to this Flickr album. My apologies for the lack of annotation.

Today (January 31) was supposed to be the date of Lochmere's Midwinter's Revel, but it had to be canceled because of the continuing deep freeze. That snow-and-sleet storm that hit us on January 25 produced "sleet-crete" that is about as easy to clear from roads and driveways as slabs of concrete. It's been ridiculous. Total misery. We might get temperatures above freezing on Groundhog Day.

Because of the cancellation, I had the chance to attend a class through Virtual AEthelmearc AEcademy in our neighboring kingdom. A gentleman known as Lord Algirdas Wolthus in the SCA talked about the archaeology of medieval Novgorod. Really interesting!

“The people said they wouldn’t let anyone come and trample them again."

This post really isn't part of my SCA posting schedule. I would just like to point out three significant anniversaries for modern Lithuania.

Today (January 13) is the 35th anniversary of the Soviet assault on the Vilnius Television Tower. It was the last stand of a dying empire -- the USSR would cease to exist in less than a year. Fourteen unarmed Lithuanian civilians died, but many more stood up to oppression.

You can read about the event here. Music professor and Supreme Council chairman Vytautas Landsbergis (whom I have actually met) has said, "The people said they wouldn’t let anyone come and trample them again."

Think about that.

Next month, on February 16, is the Day of Restoration of the State of Lithuania (1918). Yeah, I know it doesn't roll off the tongue as easily as, say, "Flag Day." Then on March 11 is the Day of Restoration of Independence of Lithuania (1990).

I wish my father was around to see today's proudly independent Lithuania, the land of his parents' birth. 

Another new year

I hope all who read this are enjoying the new year, despite any upsetting mundane news. Each January is like a shiny new penny before it accumulates all the scratches from circulation.

As I said in my last post, I want to spend this year -- in which the SCA will celebrate the 60th anniversary of its founding -- documenting exactly what I do within the context of the Society, both in terms of arts & sciences and of service. My first idea was to make weekly posts, but when I told this to one of my friends, she said that might prove to be too much of a burden. So ... twice a month? We'll see how that turns out. If I stick to that schedule, that will make the most posts on this blog since 2009.

So, here we go.

Service as chronicler: The Drekkar, Storvik's newsletter, is due out on the 5th of each month. So I'd better finish up the January issue. I've got all the materials for it. At some point I will make a special memorial issue for Baroness Gracie. But I also need to earn some freelance money to keep my head above water.

Service in heraldry: I need to recruit some teachers for the Tri-Kingdom University session that is rapidly approaching. 😱

Musical arts: Dance practice resumes tonight after a couple of weeks off for the holidays. Laydes Fayre continues to rehearse for two upcoming events, one at the Lochmere Midwinter Revel on the last day of this month and another at Kingdom Arts & Sciences Festival (KASF) in March. The Laydes primarily sing, of course, but some of us play musical instruments, so we're rehearsing an instrumental cantiga for the Lochmere revel. I play soprano recorder semi-competently; recently I was given a used alto recorder, so I should try to learn that too. But someone else has already claimed the alto recorder part for this cantiga, so I'll play soprano melody. No big deal. It's a simple piece.

Tangible arts: I have warped my inkle loom for a second Baltic pick-up band. (Woven band, NOT musical band!) One of these days I'll have to write an entire post about Baltic pick-up weaving, but this is not the time for it. I am also planning what to wear to Highland Hearthglow later this month. Some alterations are in order, and maybe one new thing, but I don't have time to create an entirely new outfit from the inner layers out.

I think that's it. For now.