Saturday, October 15, 2011

The Ren Faire

This is just a follow up to last weekend's outing:

I arrived with one overwhelming, burning question . . . where is the jousting? Lead me to your horses!

The fields around Casa de Fruta--an oasis in the Central California Hills--had been converted into the likeness of an English village, circa 16th century, and was filled with merchants, artisans, musicians, and merry-makers dressed in varying degrees of period authenticity. There were also a few small boys 'slaying' princesses in ballerina skirts and somebody complaining that someone else's wing had just poked her in the eye.

Apparently this is "Fantasy" theme weekend, but really, I've never seen so many sparkles, tutus, or fairy wings outside of Disneyland (or a very small girl's birthday party). Then there's the goth side too, with the black spiderweb hose and, well, mostly black everything. And wings. *Sigh* But there was plenty of true(ish)-to-history apparel too, and lots of noisy shenanigans all around. I especially loved the young man cantering around pretending to ride a horse, in peasant's clothing and a crown on his head, followed by another cantering peasant clopping coconuts together. Extremely silly and I loved it.

Soon after arriving I found an area that seemed suitable for equestrian maneuvers, but nothing was happening so I continued on my way. The best costume I saw was a man dressed as a tree, very cleverly too. I thought, "He's meant to be a bandit, perhaps from Sherwood." I asked him if this was true and he seemed disappointed that I didn't recognize him as an 'ent.' Apparently my imagination is lacking. But then, I had forgotten that this was "Fantasy" weekend. It was an awesome costume none-the-less.

As usual, I was mostly drawn to the areas where there was music being performed. I was able to get short videos of this, so when I finally get my editing program figured out I'll put them together for you.

One of my favorite vendors was a man selling leather journals. (Gee, I wonder why that caught my attention?) They were lovely, all different sizes, and filled with cotton paper. His website is here: The Journal Guy
Eventually (when The Glister Journals has enough fans) I would like to give one of those as a prize. Allison would love them.

I want to keep this post positive in nature so I am NOT going to mention the food.

By the time I made my way back to the "tournament" area, it was impossible to get close enough to really see anything at all, let alone take any pictures. I hung out for a short while, hoping others might get tired of standing and move, allowing me to inch closer to the action, but it didn't happen. I'll have to remember that next time.

I am still looking for the software that came with my camera so I can download the photos I took (I had lost it before I moved, then found it again, but haven't seen it since. I am still wading through boxes!) When I do, I shall post them and let you know!

More Glister info and chapters at the book's website here: theglisterjournals.com

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