Renaissance Festival War Stories: September 3/4/5, 2022

Photo by Noah Boudit

...Previously during Weekend 1

I was walking back to the riddle booth after an errand. A toddler in regular clothes plus a pink starry tutu dress with part of it in their mouth stops in their tracks and stares at me. Much like any deer in nature, I stop and stare back. I crouch down to their level. I am masked, but I take my dangling scarf and pinch it in my mouth over my mask, eyes locked with the child. Seemingly stunned, they drop their tutu out of their mouth and smile. (My mask has a smile on it). Mom is watching and either taking pictures and/or video. The child and I exchange names and pleasantries. We shake hands and mom calls them along. She tells them to wave back bye-bye.

While I am usually loud, ridiculous, and usually confused around children, this child and I were fully understanding of each other in this quiet moment. As I stared into their eyes, it was like looking into a mirror of my own past at 2 and a half years old. I would have had short curly hair, a tutu over regular clothes, and stared in fascinated confusion at someone like me. Chances are, I probably did. And now, the cycle continues.

...

There are things in this world that always have belonged to you, they just haven't arrived to you yet.

I had a couple mugs I had obtained from the thrift store with the intent to resell for profit, neither had sold. I noticed that rookies Jum Jiggles and Fez didn't have mugs. While neither of these mugs are amazing, and let's be honest, how many of us still wear our first season fest garb 10+ years later, there is something special about having your first mug.

I let Jum know I had one for him and brought it. If you haven't seen Jum perform yet, his juggling is even bigger than him and he can teach and perform fluently in Spanish. He needed a mug to match. The ceramic mug I gave him probably holds about 50-60 ounces. It looks giant in most people's hands, but looks like a normal coffee cup in his.

The mug I gave Fez was narrow, milk glass with an iridescent bubble-like sheen. Something a little magical-looking for a magician. I even curled a dollar over the lip of it so if he's performing and has his mug out, people will know what to do.

I told them both, these mugs are ceramic, they will not last forever, they may break or you will want to upgrade, but that's okay.

The mugs made it to their final destinations. They made it to who they always belonged to.

...

I mentioned in the improv guide, you can't always solve a problem for someone, but you can help in a moment. Right now, I have a friend going through a hard time. For the sake of anonymity, I will simply call them Friend. Some time ago, I asked Friend for help with a project; I thought their skill set was close enough to the project be able to complete it. In that time, while they have completed it, things have been difficult for them, mentally, physically, and emotionally. MNRF is still work for them and still a happy place, but work first. Their work is leaving them shorthanded and the days have been difficult for them; not including life outside the festival.

I stopped by to see Friend a couple times to see if they had my project item. While they had it among their possessions, they were unsure of where it was. Friend had told me how difficult things had been; while not in a lot of detail, enough for me to realize, my item is the last thing they need to worry about. I took them in my arms: long hug, several deep breaths, relax for this one moment and take the full dopamine hit of this hug. After that, I told them to pick ONE thing they had to complete, just one, and it couldn't be finding my item. I kept eyes for them and entertained anyone who came by and answered questions on Friend's behalf as well as I could. When friend was done with their task, I gave them another long hug and reminded them to breathe through the moment, have a long drink of water, and as I walk away, pick one more next thing to do.

I can't solve their problems, but I can make a couple moments a little better.

...

On a busy afternoon, we had a great group of answerers. Since we didn't have a lot of extra riddlers, we didn't have an opportunity to do side-riddles for children. A family approached around the time we are doing a medium level riddle. We perform it a couple times and we are about to give out a clue. Right at the rope, this little girl, maybe six or so, jumps up and down and yells the correct answer. My jaw drops. There must be at least twelve adults present and this child gets it with no help from Mom and Dad or anyone else. I mask-up and approach the family. I talk to these children and ask them a couple more riddles each. They both answer correctly. These are fabulous, well-behaved children. I give them each a four-leafed clover and tell Mom & Dad that they should be quite proud of their wise children. Mom & Dad: beaming with pride.

...

This weekend also brought the visit of my husband Noah Boudit to the Festival. While I wasn't able to get out of the rope stations to even hug him, I got to see him. He got to meet the visiting Riddle Master, Query from Arizona. He captured some wonderful pictures and makes me smile like no one else. If any one can Noah Boudit, it's him.

Weekend 4, here we go!