So as many of you know, I was a bit worried about going to Gulf Wars in Lumberton, MS because I had not been to any Society for Creative Anachronism events in years and didn’t know anyone at all. I expected to be in open camping with strangers and my anxiety really kicked in.
I was worried about forgetting equipment, about setting up alone among strangers, about keeping myself busy and about being able to charge the battery for my CPAP machine I need to sleep with. I made a small amount of garb to wear at the event the week before and hoped I wouldn’t stand out too much.
The drive itself was pleasant enough, about 3 or so hours and just over the state line. No rain, just a nice sunny day. I met my aunt in Pickayune, MS to pick up a vest she was giving me to round out my wardrobe, she had picked it up in Afghanistan. Vest acquired, and a quick snack at McDonalds and I was on the road for the last little bit of the drive to the site.
I saw the SCA signs easily enough on the side of the road and followed them into the site itself, and made my way to “Troll”— where you sign in, pay your fees and pick up your site token — your pass for all events on site and to leave and return from the mundane world. This year’s token was about 3 inches in diameter with a mounted knight printed on it, it was the XXVIII gulf wars event, with about 3500 people attending.
The first unplanned encounter was with a guy from Lake Charles, LA, who signed me in and moved me from open camping to “Gleann Abhann” camping — that’s the local kingdom I live in. (The world is divided up into “kingdoms”— geographical areas that have a united SCA culture and hold a tournament every 6 months to determine who the rulers will be. There are currently 20 kingdoms in the SCA, most in the US covering a couple of states. Gleann Abhann covers Mississippi, Louisiana, most of Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee.)
Now, I at this point didn’t know anyone in the Kingdom, or even exactly where the land was on the site, but I had a contact name and off I went in my truck. After circling around a few times I asked for directions — and found I actually was at the right place and pulled in to talk to the land officer and find out where to set up. I got set up in the middle of the camp, said hello to a few people and crashed out the first night, I was exhausted. The next day I had some classes picked out, and was still a little weirded out by being in the middle of a group of strangers. Nice strangers, but strangers nonetheless.
I went to my first classes, and had a Household memorial meeting to go to that night, so I didn’t do a lot of socializing. I did make a Viking armband, using metal files and a collection of punches, so that was fun. It didn’t come out quite as nice as I had hoped, but I know what do to to make more now.
I did meet some more members of the Gleann Abhann group as the day went on, and was invited to have chili for dinner with the rest of the camp. I had some after my meeting and it was delicious, and I socialized a little bit by the fire that evening before going to bed.
The next morning I sat in the kitchen tent with some of the others and began to come out of my shell a little bit. I had more classes lined up through the entire war week, but this was the first time I really sat and talked to people in daylight and learned a bit about who was who.
Over the course of the war, the strangers became friends. We sat in the kitchen or by the fire talking late into the night, I learned a lot about the politics of the kingdom and the peers (high level members that help keep the SCA running) in the area and was introduced to a lot of people.
In my classes, in addition to the Viking armband I made a sipsi, which is a reed instrument — like a tiny oboe or clarinet — did several pysanky, which are Ukrainian decorated eggs, made a pot in a simple pottery class and learned how to do chip carving one afternoon. I did some shopping and met Trimguy, another Kossack who was at the event. I also took in a lecture course in Love, Sex and Gender in the ancient near east, which was fascinating.
I picked up several yards of trim for future garb, some windingas, which are Viking leg wraps, and a pair of “period” shoes with bone toggles rather than laces. They look really good with the windingas. I also bought a new pouch and a couple of books on natural dyes.
By the time the event was over on Sunday, I was ready to be back in the world of flush toilets and hot showers, but I had a great time and made new friends. I am planning to go back to the event site over the summer to help make improvements to our allotted kingdom land with the others in preparation for next year. My Household has very few members in the kingdom, so my best bet is to camp with Gleann Abhann from now on.
My next event will be in the kingdom of Ansteorra (Texas) with my best friend from high school, called Steppes Warlord in May. It’s only a weekend event, but it should be a great time to catch up with Robert and meet his family, I haven’t seen him in over 30 years. Now that I’ve had a positive event out, I’m looking forward to it. My last event of the season will be Pennsic War in July, a 2 week war in Slippery Rock, PA. Roughly 10,000 — 11,000 are expected for that one.
So in conclusion — went to the event, had a great time. I had forgotten how lovely SCA people can be to newcomers, and those of us who return after a long time away. I was greeted with “Welcome home,” and indeed it was home after all.
