I haven’t posted anything SCA in a long time. I used to be all about the fighting, but in recent years my focus has shifted to running “Battlefield Brewery” at SCA events. Essentially once per month throughout the camping weather months I go set up the bar and pour lots of free beer for my friends. It’s fun as hell, and I meet a lot of people I might not otherwise meet, and get to hear lots of stories and philosophies.
There are down sides as well: Essentially every event now takes 2 weekends (one weekend for brewing, then one weekend for serving), which is a pretty big chunk out of my calendar. Then in the cold months I go through withdrawal, because events move indoors and most indoor sites are not alcohol friendly (and even if they were, people who aren’t camping the night are less inclined to imbibe, with good reason!). Finally, there’s the small matter of me being too busy to do anything else. I know, I don’t have to be… I could fight during the day then open the bar after I finish fighting, but I just have an over-developed feeling of responsibility to the beer.
I’ve just come home from Crown Tournament, watching my good friend Lord Orn fight for the right to put my wife, Lady Faoiltigherna on the throne. It was a dry site, so I left the bar at home. Possibly the only event I’ve attended in the past 4 years where I did not spend the majority of my day devoted to beer. It was nice and relaxing, and I got to watch some highly skilled fighters lay into one another. Sadly, Orn did not win the day, but I was still inspired. When I started losing weight back in February, one of my stated goals was to get back into fighting. I think it may be time. I can spend my winter months in combat and my summer months at the bar, and any spare weekends (HAhahahahahahah, right…) in training.
Next step: see how much of my armor still fits me (probably none), and start making the necessary modifications. Maybe swing some sticks at the punching bag in the attic…
