For almost 34 years now, I have been a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, an international organization devoted to the study and re-creation of the Middle Ages. Our biggest event of the year just took place these past few weeks in Pennsylvania, and it is called the Pennsic War. This year was the 40th year for that event, a significant milestone. It being an anniversary year, tens of thousands of people from around the world gathered on the campground where we gather every summer, to camp, wage battles, teach each other many things, display our arts, sell many wares and meet in good fellowship. The battles we wage out on the battlefield are most amazing, as thousands of armored combatants meet on the field and fight epic battles with wooden weapons in full armor under the hot summer sun. As long as I have been involved in this, I still do not know how people go out there for hours on end in all that hot armor and wage these battles. Fortunately, I have some training in responding to heat injuries so I work as a first responder when people go down with those. I keep people hydrated as well by making sure that they are consuming plenty of fluids and electrolytes while out there. I keep supplies on hand to make sure that everyone plays safe and I also find myself called on once in a great while to repair armor if need be. It's exhausting, it's hot, and being out on the battlefield for hours on end makes my body ache like mad, but I would not have it any other way. What helped this year was to make sure I got 8 full hours of sleep each night plus late afternoon naps around 5 p.m. Fatigue was definitely a factor this year, moreso than in past years. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it is the fact that I am growing older and have less stamina than in my younger years. I don't know, but whatever the case may be, I got plenty of sleep this past week while being out there in the hot summer sun for a solid week.
For me, what makes it all magical and amazing is the music. There are several really good groups of musicians who perform in the central marketplace where we shop, eat, gather and meet each day. There are eateries where one can purchase quite good meals and there is really no more need to bring one's one food anymore. So many people eat in the marketplace during meal times and it's a great place to go to both see old friends again AND to hear great music played while you dine. Of all the groups who come and perform for us each year, my absolute favorite is a group out of Europe called "Wolgemut" who have become the Pennsic favorites over the year. I always tell the man in the red cap in the photo here, Micha, that it just isn't Pennsic until Wolgemut arrives. Last year they did not make it due to a conflict with a Ren Faire someplace where they were booked to play. It simply wasn't the same without them, so much has their presence become a part of at least my personal Pennsic experience. One year they decided to forgo their usual loud bagpipes, rauchpfeifes and other instruments for more quiet music of the stringed variety. At first I was quite disappointed, but the more I heard these new musicians play the quieter early music, the more enchanted I was and I found myself spending an inordinate amount of time following them around the campground from place to place just listening to them play. Music is a big part of what makes my Pennsic experience whole and complete. Sure, the atmosphere, the battles, the amazing architecture that people construct for the two weeks we are there, the tens of thousands of people you meet from all around the world, the nights when walking down a torchlit road while looking up at colorful banners flapping from towers in an evening breeze suddenly make you feel as if you've stepped through a time portal - it's all absolutely amazing, magical, astonishing and fantastic, but take away the music and it just would not be the same. That is the icing on the cake for me, hearing the beautiful sounds of music both loud and quiet wafting from a marketplace while people stroll about in all varieties of period clothing. I am so glad that each summer I can take a small trip back in time to get away from the all that the modern world has foisted on us. It's both tough and wonderful to come back to the amenities of our current age. I just wish I could stay longer. It's our little Brigadoon every summer in Pennsylvania, a city of over 10,000 people that appears on the landscape for several weeks, then disappears for another year like a magical mirage. Farewell, Pennsic, until next summer.
For almost 34 years now, I have been a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, an international organization devoted to the study and re-creation of the Middle Ages. Our biggest event of the year just took place these past few weeks in Pennsylvania, and it is called the Pennsic War. This year was the 40th year for that event, a significant milestone. It being an anniversary year, tens of thousands of people from around the world gathered on the campground where we gather every summer, to camp, wage battles, teach each other many things, display our arts, sell many wares and meet in good fellowship. The battles we wage out on the battlefield are most amazing, as thousands of armored combatants meet on the field and fight epic battles with wooden weapons in full armor under the hot summer sun. As long as I have been involved in this, I still do not know how people go out there for hours on end in all that hot armor and wage these battles. Fortunately, I have some training in responding to heat injuries so I work as a first responder when people go down with those. I keep people hydrated as well by making sure that they are consuming plenty of fluids and electrolytes while out there. I keep supplies on hand to make sure that everyone plays safe and I also find myself called on once in a great while to repair armor if need be. It's exhausting, it's hot, and being out on the battlefield for hours on end makes my body ache like mad, but I would not have it any other way. What helped this year was to make sure I got 8 full hours of sleep each night plus late afternoon naps around 5 p.m. Fatigue was definitely a factor this year, moreso than in past years. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it is the fact that I am growing older and have less stamina than in my younger years. I don't know, but whatever the case may be, I got plenty of sleep this past week while being out there in the hot summer sun for a solid week.
For me, what makes it all magical and amazing is the music. There are several really good groups of musicians who perform in the central marketplace where we shop, eat, gather and meet each day. There are eateries where one can purchase quite good meals and there is really no more need to bring one's one food anymore. So many people eat in the marketplace during meal times and it's a great place to go to both see old friends again AND to hear great music played while you dine. Of all the groups who come and perform for us each year, my absolute favorite is a group out of Europe called "Wolgemut" who have become the Pennsic favorites over the year. I always tell the man in the red cap in the photo here, Micha, that it just isn't Pennsic until Wolgemut arrives. Last year they did not make it due to a conflict with a Ren Faire someplace where they were booked to play. It simply wasn't the same without them, so much has their presence become a part of at least my personal Pennsic experience. One year they decided to forgo their usual loud bagpipes, rauchpfeifes and other instruments for more quiet music of the stringed variety. At first I was quite disappointed, but the more I heard these new musicians play the quieter early music, the more enchanted I was and I found myself spending an inordinate amount of time following them around the campground from place to place just listening to them play. Music is a big part of what makes my Pennsic experience whole and complete. Sure, the atmosphere, the battles, the amazing architecture that people construct for the two weeks we are there, the tens of thousands of people you meet from all around the world, the nights when walking down a torchlit road while looking up at colorful banners flapping from towers in an evening breeze suddenly make you feel as if you've stepped through a time portal - it's all absolutely amazing, magical, astonishing and fantastic, but take away the music and it just would not be the same. That is the icing on the cake for me, hearing the beautiful sounds of music both loud and quiet wafting from a marketplace while people stroll about in all varieties of period clothing. I am so glad that each summer I can take a small trip back in time to get away from the all that the modern world has foisted on us. It's both tough and wonderful to come back to the amenities of our current age. I just wish I could stay longer. It's our little Brigadoon every summer in Pennsylvania, a city of over 10,000 people that appears on the landscape for several weeks, then disappears for another year like a magical mirage. Farewell, Pennsic, until next summer.
1 comment:
I'm glad you had such a nice summer getaway!
Post a Comment