Renaissance Festival War Stories Aug 21/22, 2021

Aug 21/22, 2021

It's been 692 days since closing cannon in 2019. I am so excited. It's Christmas morning.

I have collected 125 four-leafed clovers this spring and summer. I have around 70-80 or so left to give away as fest favors. It was my husband's idea to do so. I wasn't sure how to determine how or who would receive them.

Much like four-leafed clovers, the answer jumped out at me on Saturday. While performing the riddle where the answer is 'cheese' there is a gentleman who solves it almost immediately after the first reading with no clues. I can SEE him solving it; there is a distinct look on the face of someone who solves a riddle. There is no hiding it. He hadn't solved any others. It was the sign I was looking for. He was wearing green. He was my four leafed clover. I get up, put on my mask and approach him. I specifically am wearing three brooches: an owl on my left, a four-leafed clover on my right, and my Tinka Boudit name tag in the middle. I ask him and confirm that he did not know the riddle beforehand. He said he figured it out while it was being said, it made sense to him. I tell him, "Somewhere between wisdom (point to the owl brooch) and luck (point to the clover brooch) lies me: Tinka Boudit (point to my name tag)." I tell him that I was so impressed by his wisdom to find the answers with no clues so quickly, yet with such luck we read him the riddle he got it right of the bat. And with that, he earned a preserved four-leafed clover that I pulled out of my side pocket. The look on his face, his boyfriend's face - he was touched, his boyfriend was shocked for him. He looked like he won the lottery. He was the only one who got a four-leafed clover on Saturday.

...

The next day, Sunday, a group of patrons start answering riddles. A pair of them were a couple of gentlemen dressed as Flynn Rider and a gender-bend version of Rapunzel. The riddle had the answer of 'scissors.' The gentleman dressed as Rapunzel guessed 'gay sex.' I am not sure what it was about the riddle that led him to that answer. I am the only riddler that caught the answer and I promptly laugh my head off. I told him I would tell him why I would tell him why that was so funny to me after the answer was revealed. We had to give out all the clues. Someone eventually got 'scissors.' I got up and whispered to his group. "You see why I found your answer of 'gay sex' so funny. You couldn't have been any closer without being any more wrong."

...

Another group of patrons were answering riddles and based on their costumes: leather, shirtlessness, and they were a little tipsy; we were reading our suggestive/saucy-sounding riddles. We tell them 'wheelbarrow,' 'finger nails,' and others. I get to the 'fish' riddle with the suggestive limerick. From the back of the crowd, not with the naughty crowd, very quickly, a young man, maybe 16-19 years old quickly answers 'fish.' I leave the booth, flag him down with his family, and confirm he didn't already know the answer. He said no, it was the way it was phrased that clued him in to the answer being 'fish.' I gave him the same owl-clover-name tag speech and told him that earned him a four-leafed clover. He and his family were pretty tickled and impressed with and for him.

...

One of the ladies who works at Da Vinci Scientifica stops me in the lane before the day on Sunday and tells me she read one of my Vocal articles. One of the ones about Fest. I can't express how touched I am.

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Saturday, a gentleman in garb sits down by a tree and I can tell he is sketching us. I don't make eyes at him, but I try not to move around too much. He comes by Sunday and shows us his drawing. It's not complete, but it's those of us in the riddle booth working the day before. I cry. If I see him again this season, he'll get my thanks (and a four-leafed clover). I was too choked up to say it.

...

More to come in the weeks to come!

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