Yesterday and Today--Many pictures--kind of long

Yesterday: I woke up early to help out at gate after not sleeping well.  The event we went to was Birka.  I don't know the exact numbers but there were over 1500 people there.  I helped out at the gate where people pay their entrance fee, mostly by counting money in the backroom.  It is a dirty job, but someone has to it.  I also got to visit with friends.  Because I wasn't running gate this year I was able to leave before it closed to attend Baronial Court and then Kingdom Court.  Unlike our modern day courts, at these awards are given and people are recognized for good things they have done.

At the Baronial Court the Baron and Baroness presented awards and one of them was a brand new one.  They now have an award for children who participate in the Barony.  Three children were honored as the premiers.  One of these is Gideon. 

Gideon reflects on the award.

There were other awards given out to friends and acquaintances.  K made some of the scrolls for them.  

During the Kingdom Court there were many more awarded.  Most of these people I don't know, but a few I did.  One of my best friends was made a Baroness of the Court.  We have 2 different types of Baroncies, Landed who are the voice of the royalty in a specific area (state or county etc) and Court (See here).   She is one of the people who does a huge amount of behind the scenes stuff in helping our Barony run.

Some of us went out to dinner after court at the restaurant in the hotel.  A former King stopped by and said hello.  He knew 4 of the 6 of us right away and made conversation.  After a few minutes he recognized me as well.  A few years ago, when he was sitting the throne, he and his Queen inducted me into the Order of the Pelican.  It is a great honor and I was pleasantly surprised that he remembered me and seemed to with more clarity than I think I would in similar circumstances.  When one is royalty in this group they must meet hundreds of people in a very tight period of time (less than a year) and for me, it would be a challenge to remember them all I think.  As I write this however, I think of so many faces with no names that I see event after event that I remember from year to year as familiar, so maybe I would remember more than I think.  It was a nice mood booster to have been part of this conversation and it helps me to remember why I enjoy this group.

Here are a bunch of pictures from the day.

The Landed Baron and Baroness 

Gideon getting his award, Tabula Rasa.

My SCA Heraldry

Trying on her new coronet after becoming a Baroness. 

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Today: I went to a meeting in the morning at the Kingdom level.  It was the first time I attended one at that level.  It was interesting and I really liked the way they ran the meeting.  At the Barony level our meetings are much more laid back.  There was more organization and only certain people were expected to participate but anyone could attend.  After, I chatted with a few friends before heading out to a very late breakfast with K and other friends.  Always good to spend time with them.  

The rest of the afternoon has been unwinding.  Gideon and I watched a movie while everyone else went out.  The movie was more intense than I expected.  K told me that the beginning was sad but it had a happy ending and Gideon had seen it before so he knew that.  I'm not sure I would call it a happy ending, but perhaps that is my own melancholy coming through.  My moods have been a bit off kilter lately.  Small things making me want to cry.  Things seem to be going well for me, much less stress and anxiety with this job, or at least a different kind of stress.  Yet the last few weeks things that normally wouldn't bother me are bringing a tear or more to my eyes.  I'm writing it off to hormones for now.  At the same time my cheeks are sore from laughter and smiling over the last few days.  It is the laughter and smiling that are my happy for today.  May the laughter drown out the tears.  

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