[TheForge] Pennsic XXXII

[Phlip]

Well, I promised a description of Pennsic, so here it is. I'll be editing a
lot out, simply because there was so much happening, but there were still a
lot of Good Things happening.

I took off on July 31 in the evening, because I posulutely had to be there
by 9 AM Sat morning for Land Grab, where each camp negotiates for the land
they're camping on. There are lots of pre-negotiations, of course, when you
figure there are going to be about 12,000 people gathering in one place, but
the final decisions are made on Sat morning. I stopped in NY to pick up my
'Prentice, Alaron, who was riding with me in case I had trouble on the road,
and was glad I did because we had another flat tire on the trailer before we
crossed the NY border into PA. For those who don't know, I started out in
eastern CT, and Pennsic is in western PA, just north of Pittsburgh- about a
12 hour run.

Got there earlyish Friday morning, and were told we couldn't camp on the
battlefield until noon, so we went into town, picked up a few things, and
returned to the end of the road, where we hung out with other Pennsic goers
until we were allowed on site. Threw up my tent for shelter, invited a few
friends to join us, and proceeded to involve ourselves in the pre-Pennsic
Party in the Parking Lot.

Next morning, hangover and all, we sorted out the land and set up camp, as
well as serving the Harbinger's Bash for all of the people camping in our
block- fed maybe 50 people pasta and sauces, salad and antipasto and other
good foods, and eventually turned in for the night.

Next couple of days were slow- we were trying to set up camp, but it kept
raining, so we'd get something arranged, get out of the rain, go do
something else, etc. Finally, Tuesday night, I asked Alaron to set up my
forge shelter, then Wednesday, since he'd done it with me before, I asked
him to set up my forge. He did a very good job, and we were ready to play.
Meantime, I put in my first shift at Chirurgeon's Point (a Chirurgeon is an
SCA medic) and discovered Johan (John Husvar) had arrived, so spent some
time with him, watching the guys get him set up, and catching up on a year's
worth of smithing ideas and projects and personal news. Got down to camp
Wednesday evening, and discovered that no one was in camp except the guy
starting a fire in the fire ring, a storm was coming in, and no one had
staked the shelters down or cleaned up camp. Was very busy for a while,
running around getting things picked up and staked down.

Most mornings at Pennsic, I head up the hill to the merchant area and stop
in Johan's forge- he allows me to stash a couple of things there so I don't
hafta haul them up the hill- and chit chat a bit before my shift at
Chirurgeons, then after my shift, I head over, drink a beer or two, and
relax before heading back down. It's a great place to be, because he knows
so much about smithing, and most smiths at Pennsic wind up there sooner or
later. If I'm not picking his brains, I'm meeting interesting people, and a
good time is had by all ;-) Among others, I met Pam, a young lady into
metalwork, who is getting ready to start into smithing, some of the people
from Trimaris (Florida) who brought and set up their forge, and several
other folks with interests in metalworking of all kinds. Through Pam, I
eventually met the brother of one of the best bladesmiths in the SCA, Oso,
and a fine smith in his own right, and others- Pennsic is a great place to
meet people from all over the country. Lotsa metalwork got talked, and lotsa
cool pieces got looked at ;-)

Johan had to head for home for a few days to pick up more stock and do some
fabrication, so in the meantime, we fired up my forge in camp, and Alaron
made himself a piece, and with Rob's help, made a piece for a friend of his.
I was pretty proud of him- Alaron's very new to smithing, and he just looked
at my piece, a simple poker, and reproduced it to spec for the customer.
Very nice work, as little as we've been able to work together ;-)

Pennsic rolled along, as it does, Johan got back, and later in the War, a
friend asked me to make him some pieces for his shop. Since Alaron had never
worked on a propane forge, we headed up the hill to Johan's, and Johan and I
guided him through- very simple, basicly straight 1/2 inch stock, pointed on
one end, bevelled on the other, but this gave us a chance to teach him
production techniques and cutting with a chisel. He did a good job, and what
impressed Johan, was that when he ran into a problem, he thought it out and
fixed it himself. I'm very proud of him ;-)

Monday and Thursday of the second week, btw, Olaf taught his bronze casting
class in my camp. He's talked about it on EK Metalsmiths- if you guys on
TheForge want to hear about it, ask him- I'm sure he'd be happy to discuss
it.

Now, the following has nothing to do with smithing, but I found it almighty
amusing, and perhaps some of you might, as well. As I have mentioned, I
volunteer as a Chirurgeon most days, and had one of the more amusing calls
of my career. At Pennsic, we have what we refer to as the Classic Swimming
Hole, where bathing suits are optional. We got a call about a couple that
were drunker than skunks and passed out down there, and I and another lady
were sent to investigate. I was quite willing- it was hot and dusty at
Point, and a ride in a golf cart with a cool breeze, and the shade trees of
the swimming hole sounded great. We got there, and there must have been 100
or so nekkid bodies, either stretched out relaxing or in the swimming hole.
I knew at least half of them, including a couple of gentlemen whom I'm happy
to see unclothed any time, and our dilemma was, which of all those bodies
were the ones passed out drunk? Well, when you're good, you're good- I found
them in one ;-)

And Pennsic ended, as Pennsics do, and we headed home...

Saint Phlip,
CoDoLDS

"When in doubt, heat it up and hit it with a hammer."
 Blacksmith's credo.

 If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it is probably not a
cat.

Never a horse that cain't be rode,
And never a rider who cain't be throwed....