Renaissance Festival War Stories August 26/27, 2023

Continued from Weekend One

It's weekend two and the theme is bringing people together

A patron looked past two other people, b-lined to me, and said to me "YOU look like you know your way around here..." She asked me where she could find a certain scent of incense. She chose me, I could not let this woman down- she was getting red-carpet treatment. I offered her my arm, she took it and we went off. We went to one shop, no luck. She was ready to give up and return to her family, but I was not having it. We walked to another shop, one that belongs to a friend of mine, where, frankly, we should have gone first. We passed the Sidequest Stop and Nestor playfully gave us grief about us walking away. I told him we were still on our quest for incense. We went to the shop and got a bunch, and for a great deal. We talked, laughed, discussed her son, and her grand children. We were hanging out together for 15-20 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company.

Improv is the art of making things up as we go along, and it's magic.

This is a tale of two friends: Rachel and Ozzy. Rachel and Ozzy came up to the Sidequest Stop and asked what we do there. I let them know: lots of quests, games, and more. I am not sure how it came up, but I let them know I am an ordained minister and can perform weddings. We spoke of the honor, legal, and symbolic differences in what they mean and came up with an idea for them: a friendship wedding. We decided that it would include some kind of food dedicate to the Earth as part of the ceremony.

We had a laugh and the pair decided to go and find something food-related to dedicate. Until they came back with their fried pickle, I had forgotten about the talk we had and thought they wouldn't do so.

The three of us stood next to the oak tree. I started to dig a small hole for the fried pickle and had each of them dig a little more. Ozzy and Rachel held hands and I dedicated them to each other in friendship to each other. With love, sacrifice, and laughter, may they choose to be friends for as long as they wish. We covered the pickle in soil and set a rock on it to be the 'cornerstone' of their friendship.

At Queens gate on Sunday close, Vagabond was playing music. I was talking with some patrons and a woman had an edelweiss flower in a charm on her necklace. This is something I know well, Sound of Music is one of my all time favorite movies. If you know, you know. I went to Vagabond and asked if he knew 'Edelweiss'. He said it's been 30 years, but he'd try... he knocked it out of the park. As he started playing, I looked at her and said. "I asked him to sing this one for you." She was tearing up and her friend was holding her. She never saw it coming. Afterwards she asked, "How did you know? Are you psychic?!" I wish I had said yes. I indicated her necklace. She said she forgot she was wearing it. Mine is on my back, I forget I'm wearing it too.

Legends are people too

I was heading to queens gate late in the day after helping some patrons with some directions and I stopped to say hello to two legendary performers: Allan-a-Dale and Mandable. These two men are lifetime-achievement winners in our community and still do the work. They're still learning. They've probably forgotten more than I will ever learn in this community. But they still look at me, see a newer member of the community, my name I am sure they do not know, and still give me respect. During our conversation, Mandable asked Allan if he had composed any music during the lockdown times three years prior. Allan played a song he called 'Alone Together,' that was inspired by his wife. As he started to play it, I noticed it sounded suspiciously like 'Parting Glass,' because it turned out, it was. He realized this afterwards that the songs started out similarly. As a few of us tipped him, I walked away as he began to play 'Alone Together,' the original composition.