Life Happens

A year ago this month, I was in a car accident. My car was totaled. So I spent the next few months obtaining another car, and recuperating. It was a major setback, physically and mentally, and I lost time spent with the SCA. In the past year, I have only made it to three events. It was disappointing. But it took a while to get the insurance money to buy a new car, and then there was the issue of finding one. When I did find a car I could afford and I liked there was a snag hit with the title. When all was said and done it took months to have my new car titled. Once I did have the car licensed and titled I still had to allow for the rest of the healing process to complete before I felt up to attending events.

That is not to say I was doing nothing. My warrant as Amlesmore Herald was up in March. I decided to continue on as a herald at large as it was clear the shire would need me for another office. The Shire of Amlesmore is a small shire, so folks willing to hold office are at a premium. Our seneschal's warrant was up in June so in June I stepped up to become the new seneschal. It was a bit of a learning curve. On one hand being a very active herald accustomed to name and device research and filing paperwork as well as correspondence I was ideal as seneschal. I already knew there would be paperwork, and it had to be filed in a timely manner. I have had no problem helping get events on the kingdom calendar, filing reports, and helping get flyers submitted to kingdom. But being a seneschal is so much more than just paperwork. It also means one has to constantly, at least in a small shire be on top of things. In addition to the usual administrative duties I find myself being event planner, counselor, cheerleader, brainstormer, troubleshooter, gofer, secretary, leader, follower, did I mention cheerleader? And the list goes on.

And there was a lot to be done. The shire decided to hold two major events a year which meant we have to be ready for those. We had a major three day demo coming up. Vacant offices had to be filled. And after a period of dormancy over the winter we had to become active again. I didn't hit the ground running, but after a few months in office, I'd like to think the shire has things under control. We held our demo, we held our annual moot, started planning on next year's two major events, and we have become more active as a shire. We even did a whole redesign of the shire website to make it mobile device friendly. On top of that, we submitted a name change for the shire. The shire originally wanted to be called the Shire of Amleth Moor. This name was rejected due to the mixing of Danish and English which is not allowed. The name Amlesmore was suggested so that was settled upon. The name Amleth Moor was resubmitted several years ago and rejected on the same grounds again.  After consulting with senior heralds I struck upon the name Amlethsmor, which is wholly Old Norse. Only time and the blessings of God will tell if it is accepted.

And all the while, I was continuing doing consultations and research as a herald at large while trying to help plan a local fair here in town. What I learned is that being seneschal is a whole lot of work. Being a herald is as well, but you are not pressed for time. You can pace yourself and take however long it takes to document a name or help a client with a device. You move at your clients' paces, and I have found clients tend to be in no rush to register names and devices. The only things you had to be timely about was keeping appointments with clients, submitting forms, and doing reports. You do not have such luxuries with being a seneschal. Some things HAVE to be done by the next business meeting, and instead of dealing with a limited number of clients (who all basically want the same thing, a name and device and/or badge) you are dealing with many different individuals all needing or wanting different things. In essence, you have to learn to multitask. I have found though I enjoy it all I love my shire, and love handling business for them. It keeps me on my toes, and I enjoy serving the kingdom and the people of the shire. If I had to do it over, yes, I would take on the office of seneschal again.

Unfortunately, being seneschal means I have to curtail some things. I have cut back on heraldic consultations, allowing other heralds in the group to take up the slack (in addition to myself, and the shire herald, we are blessed with a former principal herald, and a herald in training). I no longer check Letters of Intent as often as I probably should. I am not in charge of planning next year's fair in town. And as you know, this blog has not been updated since April. Which is the whole point of this post. While I will try to make posts once in a while, they will be far from frequent. I must dedicate my time to being a seneschal.

All For One: A Commentary on Branch Bickering

I first left the SCA in the mid 80s due to bickering between branches. Some shires just couldn't get along. I left before even getting my AOA, and looking back I can see I personally was part of the problem. I feel guilty over it, but the individuals I wronged are no longer in the SCA, and therefore not there for me to apologize to.

I have come to the conclusion since that if one unfairly criticizes another branch of the SCA he or she is attacking a whole kingdom. After all, SCA branches are not individualized entities, but part of something greater. An individual that unfairly criticizes another canton, shire, or barony is like the finger that criticizes the foot. The finger does not stop to think the foot, while different is needed to move the rest of the body of which the finger is a part.

Unfortunately, I have seen cases where one person has a problem with one or two members of another branch so they take it out on the entire branch, sometimes over things that happened long ago of which new folk were not a party to.

Giving another canton, shire, or barony a hard time, making things difficult for them is not chivalrous behavior. Indeed, it is the opposite. Groups and individuals within a kingdom should seek to help each other. That is the chivalrous thing to do. People should put aside issues in the past, and instead make sure every branch succeeds at what they do. If anything else we should refrain from such behavior least we drive new folk away.

The SCA is in addition to an educational organization a social one. And its social interactions are supposed to be of a chivalrous nature. SCA members should go out of their way to be kind to one another, to help one another, esp, when they are members of the same kingdom. There is no room for grudges, for rivalries, for petty jealousies. I wish when I had first joined the SCA 40 some odd years ago I had realized that then. I certainly do now.

War College May 6-8 2016

My shire, the Shire of Amlesmore, Kingdom of Calontir is hosting our annual event, War College.  This event consists of training and drills to prepare the army of Calontir for upcoming wars. In addition to heavy fighting, there will be archery as well as thrown weapons. The event is free, and there will be a free inn on Saturday. In addition to the combat, there will be an A&S competition of a  roundtuit in any medium. After the fighting Saturday there will be a post revel consisting of songs around the fire, good drink, and lots of tale telling. This is a camping event, and folks can camp from noon the 6th to noon the 8th. For more information, see the event flyer at:

http://www.amlesmore.org/events/WAR_COLLEGE_2016.pdf