A Laurel's Appreciation

Because I believe it is important to thank those who have had an impact on our lives or played a major role in our life's events, I penned this thank you after the occasion of my Elevation to the Order of the Laurel. For those who are not members of the SCA, this Order is the highest level of award that can be received for one's participation in the Arts and Sciences in the SCA. There are many people who inspired me and helped me to achieve the level of skill for which I was recognized. But this posting was about the people who made this special day possible. They are the ones who made The Dream come alive! And so, they deserve my thanks.

After a week of crusading in the south, traveling great distances to get there and return and then journeying to the lands of much snow with a whirlwind of activity and surprise, my mind is still a bit addled. As has been noted on the wires, this past Saturday, I was honored with induction into the Order of the Laurel for my research and work in the equestrian arts and sciences. There are many people I would thank for their role in this. If I forget anyone, it is merely because my brain is still addled.

Thank You :

To the Order for deeming me worthy to be included in their ranks. There are many people in this Order who I hold in high regard - some of you are my role models while others I hold in such esteem that I could never hope to equal your nobility. To be regarded by the order's members as your Peer, is an honor beyond measuring.  To their Majesties, for Elevating me in their Court and for their kindness and support. And to Their Highnesses, for that same support and for fighting nicely with Their Majesties over the timing of my Elevation. I am honored by you all and proud to serve in your Courts. To those who orchestrated the whole affair and apparently knew about this for several months and managed to keep it secret.

For those who don't know, they set up a ruse that the Æthelmearc Equestrians  were doing an equestrian display at Ice Dragon so they got me to bring all my equestrian arts stuff. Several people commented to me how amusing it was that they got me to set up my own vigil. And then the plan was to get me in court to be served my writ by telling me that the Crown wanted to present me with my Pelican jacket in court. Due to a backlog in supplies for the embroidery, Mistress Tiercelin had been unable to finish it in time for my Pelican elevation, so she wanted to give it to me this past weekend in court. And of course, I agreed, because her work is exquisite and deserves to be seen and presented formally. So yes, I fell for that ruse too. So, when I went into court to receive my jacket she had already embroidered the laurel leaves on it. The King was to lay it upon my shoulders, but he carefully hid the back as he walked around behind me and showed it to the assembled populace. Oh yes, I heard their "ooos" and "ahhhhs" as they responded to seeing the laurel leaves, knowing I was to be served with my writ to consider elevation to the Laurel. But of course, I figured they were all just marveling at the beautiful work of Mistress Tiercelin. The Queen joined in on the deception as she engaged me in conversation to distract me from the fact that the King was silently assembling the Order of the Laurel at my back. When he urged me to turn around to look at the jacket, they were already there and the King taunted me with the jacket, telling me it was mine...but not yet! Very sneaky! The whole lot of them! But I love them all - for all the efforts they made to surprise me and make this special. Their efforts speak of their affection for me and I am so thankful for that!

Mistress Tiercelin at my Pelican Elevation

I cannot possibly thank Mistress Tiercelin enough. She orchestrated this mess. She made my jacket which now bears the emblems of the both Orders. The embroidery is unbelievable.  Her craftsmanship comes through anything that she makes, and this jacket is no exception. I have to thank Lady Hara for the incredible kumihimo cords that she wove for it as well. Thank you Tiercelin also, for opening your house to visitors attending events. Your hospitality is epic - you open your private residence to SCAdians all the time, giving freely of your larder and abode. Thank you for the soft bed and warm blankets that allowed me to get the rest I so desperately needed after my travels so that I could truly appreciate the day.

I want to thank the co-conspirators such as THL Meadhbh, Lady Aaliz and THL Morien, and Baron Tigernach who helped to make this all happen. That includes everyone who worked hard to set up my vigil and work it such as Lady Meave, THL Rhiannon, Baroness Morgan. And of course those dear friends who came to be with me on this day such as Debrogail and Michael, my dear house mates. They also gave me a gift of their own art. Debrogail and her daughter, Alexandra Aks performed during the procession. Alex played the harp and Debrogail sang a Sakura filk that Michael wrote for me.

I was touched and humbled by the words from the worthies who spoke on my behalf. Baron Tigernach for the Pelican, THL Rhiannon for the Golden Lance, Sir Bear from the Chivalry, Mistress Tiercelin from the Laurel, Prince Timothy  as a Royal Peer (how cool is it to have the sitting Heir speak on your behalf!), and our own Queen who quietly asked me if she could also speak for me as I knelt before her. Such a gracious and noble Queen - how could anyone deny her? Viscount Alexander also sent his words from far off Calontir, and the halls echoed with the presence of Rannveigr who was such an inspiration to me and many others.

Great thanks go out to the artists who produced my scroll. It is incredible! Baroness Una de Saint Luc completed the artwork, and Baroness Daedez of the Moritu did the calligraphy. It is a work of art that I shall treasure for all time.

Last, but certainly not least, thank you to all of you who have reached out to me, either in person or on the net, to share your kind words with me. I treasure you all! You are the reason that the SCA is a magical wonderful place and the reason I keep coming back each weekend!

An afterthought - As is common while sitting Vigil, some of my guests urged me to not stop working and researching, confident that I would not. I love the arts and I love making things and learning new skills. So there is no fear of that. As a service related peer as well, my thoughts turn to how this event can benefit the equestrian program which is such a large part of my SCA passion. I reflect - I am an Equestrian Laurel! There have been a few made in the SCA. Not many and none in our Kingdom that I know of at this time. (I hope that any Equestrian Laurels reading this blog will comment and identify themselves.) I also hope that this occasion will inspire others in the equestrian program, especially in Æthelmearc. Don't just rely on my research, but look deeper and delve in to the arts further so that we may advance our understanding of the equestrian arts in the medieval period. I hope to sit in court and witness many more elevations to the Peerage for Equestrian Laurels, as well as Equestrian Pelicans.

Court and the Ram

This is the kind of story only a farmer in the SCA can tell, or imagine.  "No sh..t, there I was.." (because so many good SCAdian stories start that way) waiting in the back of court at Ice Dragon in Buffalo, NY, when a phone rings. My friend sitting next to me says, "who's phone is that?" with some irritation in her voice as it is so impolite not to turn your phone off in court. Suddenly, I determine...oh heck, its my phone. I don't routinely turn mine off as most of my friends know that I don't talk on the phone when I am away at an event, so they don't call me. And I keep it on just in case the only person that matters at that point would call me...my farm sitter. Now, when you are a SCAdian farmer, it is no simple thing to leave your house and attend an event out of town. Someone needs to feed the stock, put the dogs out to pee and watch out for things while you are away. And if things go awry, that person needs to be able to get in touch with you. I have received a variety of calls while at an event. Some were over minor issues, like feed questions, while others are of a more serious nature. On this day, the call was of the latter type.

Upon seeing that this call was from my farm sitter, I bolted from the room, phone in hand. The news - the ram was out! The ram in question was bought last year for food production. Last fall, he appeared to be interested in breeding the ewe I bought at the same time so I decided not to butcher them at that time, but instead see if they produced a lamb. The plan was to butcher the ram in the spring after the ewe lambed, keep her until her lamb was old enough to be weaned, and fill the freezer with lamb meat. One of the first days I was away tis time, my farm sitter told me how gentle he was being with the lamb, so I decided to postpone his date even though he was getting increasingly ornery. Now he was loose - Oh heck! When you are 200 miles from home and the ram is loose, there isn't much you can do except offer some advice for your sitter and hope for the best. I gave her that advice and scurried back into court as I was due to be called up for an important affair. The last thing I did was ask her to text me as soon as the ram was secure. I rejoined my friends, who were of course curious about the nature of the emergency call, and related, "The Ram is Out!" I am sure that is not something most people hear everyday but my friends know that I operate a small farm, so understood my concern. For the next several minutes, I waited, checking the phone several times, worried that my sitter who is elderly may not be able to get the ram back in the fence, or that she would get hurt.  The other real fear is that the neighbor might try to catch, steal and butcher the ram for his own use, because he is like that. After several more minutes, the text came "He is In!"  With great relief I relayed to my friends, "The ram is secure!" This is not something most people hear while sitting in court waiting for their friend to be called into court to be elevated to the Order of the Laurel!  All in the life of a SCAdian farmer ........  By the way, said Ram was delivered to the butcher this morning, as his stay of execution was revoked.

Early days in the SCA

A little while back I was asked by a friend in the SCA how long I had been around. I responded to her in an email a little about my early days in the SCA. Part of that response is below - with a lot of editing.

My first Japanese name - before I ever thought about registering it was Goshin. It is something that I just thought up one day, based on the style of martial art. Not too smart or wise in the ways of things of the SCA, I didn't really give it much thought, and the SCA was still so young then. There weren't many people around to advise you of things like that back in 1977. But the old saying is right - whatever name you first pick is one that people will always want to call you by - it just sticks. And it is hard to change. So when I thought I might like to have an "official" name, I found out that "Goshin" was not an acceptable name. I researched names in medieval Japan, looking for something similar to "Goshin," and came up with Tora-no-Shida Gozen.

Unfortunately, the heralds would not accept that name, citing the only source they had at the time on Japanese names. There were not many of us in the SCA who had adopted a Japanese persona. This was before the days when the mini-series Shogun was aired on TV and started a Japanese craze in the SCA. There was not much information about Japanese naming practices available to the College of Arms, and despite what I thought was sufficient documentation, they rejected the name.  So a year or so later, I went to the Herald's Point tables at the Pennsic War and said to the heralds working there, "Just help me figure out something that sound close." 

That is how I ended up with my present SCA name, Shishido Tora. "Gozen" is a name they wouldn't accept as it was also used as an honorific in feudal Japan. Well "Gozen" can mean "Lady" in Japan or the English equivalent of it, anyway. So I kept using the Gozen part as I had already earned that title in the SCA when I was awarded arms and it was what people knew me as in the SCA. During my wandering to Florida and Arizona I generally just used Gozen the Nomad, because that name described me pretty well at the time.

Actually, when I first joined the SCA in 1977, I used the name Aelfrica.  My first persona was a Teutonic barbarian wench. This was way before the Tuchux were doing their thing, so it wasn't that I wanted to be one of them. I figured that was likely a part of my heritage as I was descended from German stock. I had found the SCA my freshman year at college. I was attending school at Penn State's main campus at University Park and with a few other friends, we discovered the SCA. It was a small group; really just getting started. The local group's name was Nithgaard and it was just struggling to become a shire. That was when I met Master Cormac though he hadn't earned that title yet. There was just a few of us then - none of that first group are still active in the SCA except Cormac and I. We had a Seneschal - Porter I think his name was, or some such. All I remember about him was that he was a big fat dude who stole my membership money that first year. Bastard! He collected the membership money for us and said he would send it in but instead pocketed it. He left shortly after that. Being a college student with little money to spare, it was a big issue for me. But I managed to scrape up the funds again and sent my form in myself.

Michael and I at my first event

I went to my first event in Cherry Hill, NJ. It was the coronation when Fredrick of Holland was stepping down from the East throne. I don't remember who was assuming the throne, but Frederick sure made an impression on me. Now he was the picture of regal! I remember I went with Michael, a fellow I would later get engaged to, but never marry. That was mostly because he later didn't share any of my interests, including the SCA. My friend Mary, who would later be my college roommate, went as well. We slept at the site that night - a whole bunch of strangers shacked up together- crashed in the main hall of the church. Those were the Seventies and it felt like a happy hippy commune party. Nobody worried about anyone doing anything inappropriate or rude. It was love and free will!

Mary and I at Coronation, 1977

After Porter left, leadership of the group fell to Cormac, who was a graduate student in Medieval Studies. I remember going up to visit him in his office in the Towers,( I believe it was.) At one point I was the acting Seneschal for the group, but I don't remember for how long or who took over. I have some old papers identifying me that way, or else I wouldn't have remembered doing that. What I do remember is that Cormac and I formed a PSU student organization -VVV -Vikings Vandals and Visigoths. The plan was that with a student organization, we could utilize more facilities at the University and maybe get some student club funding. I don't think it ever really worked out that way, so we dropped the whole thing. I stayed active until I graduated.  I met some of my oldest friends during that time - Izumi (who was Harold of York then), Dennis (who was still Decadent then), Tryvar, Sugitori (who isn't active anymore), and Cara (though I didn't meet her through the SCA but brought her into the organization).

The battle on Runestone Field, 1981

The first Pennsic War I attended, we camped on the Runestone Hill. The event at that time was very small - about what War Practice is today. The battles were fought on Runestone field below the hill.  And the present day battlefield was the parking lot. The Pennsic Inn was there then and it was a magical place to go at night, and sit and listen to the minstrels and watch the people walk by. Pennsic nights weren't the chaos of partying and debauchery it is now. I remember the one year wandering with Sugi, passing a bottle of plum wine between us, as we walked around the dark quiet camps. 

The group I camped with moved the next year down to Willow Point. We might have returned back to Runestone Hill after that. Or I camped in a different area, as evidenced by this picture on the right, which was taken in 1984. That was my tent, I believe down near the lake.You can see how early it was because there are not a sea of tents, with everyone crowded up against one another. Life got a little complicated for me after that. I graduated from college and moved to south central PA for a job. My relationship with my fiancé went sour and I was trying to make ends meet. I was pretty low key in the SCA for a time. My focus was on trying to make a living. I was working crazy shift work and it was tough to get time off. I was also very involved with horses - showing, training and instructing students and trying to get a business off the ground. I ended up moving again, to Lewisburg, in pursuit of a better job and income.

Even though I wasn't very active in the SCA during this time, I stayed in touch with a few people. When I came back to things, I got involved with the shire in my area which was just getting started. This was the Shire of Abhainn Ciach Ghlais and the year was 1989 (or 1988). I went to Pennsic again that year after missing a few. Since I wasn't sure where my old group was camped, me and my old college room-mate, who went with me, set up a camp down along the bottom of the lake.  It was a rough War for me as I had seriously injured my back right before going out. I didn't know how bad it was until I got home and went to the ER and was told I needed surgery as soon as possible. I had a severely herniated disc with spinal cord involvement. War was only a four day event at that point - running from Thursday to Sunday.

Pennsic War in 1984.
The view from inside the Pennsic Inn.
This is close to where the MidRealm camp is now.
Across the road were tents , now - there are merchants.

All healed up from my surgery, I went out to Pennsic again.  It was the only event I was attending at that point, because of my work schedule didn't allow for weekends off. My sister went with me that year as I had introduced her to the SCA. I moved to Florida for a few years but came home to see friends at Pennsic. It was a chance to reunite, tell tales and catch up. Down in Florida, I started a new shire. We were a small group and things were going fairly well, but when I moved to Tucson, the group fell apart. In Arizona, I wasn't involved with the local group much because of the demands of my job, but I attended a few events. The one event that that I regretted not being able to attend was the Estrella War. It was close by but because of work I couldn't get off to attend. I also couldn't make the trip back east for Pennsic for two years.

After my years of wandering, as I call it, I returned east and was fortunate to live very close to the Pennsic War though not as close to some of my old friends as I would have liked. Seniority in my job meant I had more time off, and a better schedule.  I took another position for a while which gave me guaranteed weekends off which was something I had never had before. So I was able to get much more involved directly in the SCA. And the rest is history from there.

Blogs as a Learning Experience

I have never had any experience with Blogs or blogging before I created this page.  I have read a few blogs but only a few, so I have very little understanding of how they are structured or set up.  But I am fairly good at learning new computer programs, so I figured - "How hard can it be?"  Yeah, right! 

This has certainly been a learning experience!  Fortunately, I am also involved in a blog project for my Kingdom in the SCA.  (A Kingdom is similar to a regional branch of a organization; we just use medieval sounding names for things.)  This project is an attempt to spread information about our organization, its activities and news.  Its also a way to advertise the organization and recruit members.  Its called the Æthelmearc Gazette and can be found here.   So as a contributing and daily editor, I have gotten a crash course in blog creation and I am hoping it helps me with my own blog (which I started working on before being invited to help with the project...... good timing there!)

I started by going to the Internet and searching for things such as "best blogs" and "how to start a blog" as well as various other topics.  I try to use the wealth of information available on the Web to my advantage.  There is an incredible amount of information out there.  It is amazing, really, when you think about how quickly the information age has come upon us and how quickly the Internet has grown.  Its equally amazing how we used to be limited to finding all this great information by going to the library.  (I also appreciate how the Internet has aided my research into my family roots.)

After searching the Web and reading several sites' advice, I decided on Blogger because I came to understand it was fairly easy and commonly used by first-time bloggers.  Additionally, I discovered that, as I gain experience with blogs, I can "upgrade" and convert my blog to a WordPress blog at a later time.

So as I am trying to learn how to format the pages, set up the blog's appearance and post.....it has been a trial and error sort of thing.  I guess the best advice I can give to others....Don't be afraid to try it.  If you don't like what you post, you can delete it.  And you just have to try different things and look at other examples from the Web.