[TheForge] Age of Iron- what fun ;-)

[A. Vida]

Phlip wrote:
> 
> Well, as some of you know, this weekend was the weekend I had planned for a
> mundane event, a hammer-in.
> 
> "Mundane" in this context means non-SCA- a "hammer-in" is a meeting of
> blacksmiths.
> 
> The event was held at Hancock Shaker Village, in Massachusetts, a lovely,
> well-maintained historical village created by the religious sect known as
> the Shakers. If you don't know about the Shakers, they were wonderful
> people, very much responsible for shaping their segment of early American
> history. I don't know if there are any still alive, 

	They went extinct except for the few remaining at Sabbath Day
	Lake, as I recall.  They stopped taking new members in 1967.
	SDL began taking new members once again in the 90s.  I don't 
	know where they are these days.  I can't imagine they will
	fare well as I cannot imagine anyone under 60 being willing
	to completely forego sexual relationships in this day and
	age.  That was their downfall. no seX == no children.  Sister
	Anne had some odd ideas about humanity and God.  But they were
	in fact very cool people, from all accounts.  I recall reading
	that in places such as Hancock Village, they would plant more
	corn than they needed.  This was to accomodate crows and other
	thieves.  One of the quotes went something like this: "crows and
	thieves need to eat, too".  Tis a very kindly sentiment and I
	believe they took their "christian" duties and ideals very
	seriously.  Significantly more so than most people I've met that
	call themselves "christian".  Despite their weird seX-thing,
	there was a goodness about these folks that seemed one could
	consistently rely upon to be there as expected.  You don't find
	a whole lot of that these days.