Pensic

I am "home" from my vacation.  Though it isn't really coming home, its leaving home.  SCAdians everywhere know what I'm talking about, but most mundane people won't get it.  Just imagine a place so serenely beautiful and relaxing, inviting you through its gates with open arms and massive smiles.  Everyone there, from the lowest commoner to the High Kings strive to their utmost to be paragons of honor and hospitality.  But more than that, all the ancient gods, Jupiter, Hephaestus, Horus, Baste, Thor and Tyr permeate the very soil.  I am driven to walk barefoot so the ground can work its into my feet, so that I can walk on Pensic ground well after its over.

About midway through the first week, I returned to camp after a poor night out.  I was disheartened, and dwelt to much upon past misfortunes.  I reached the common area of my camp, and found it empty, the fire pit filled with coals.  I took a seat, lit a cigarette, and stared into the dying fire brooding.  As some minutes passed, the dying fire lifted itself, and a new flame lept among the crushed remnants of the logs.  The moon, waxing in the sky, was not yet full enough to give much light, so this new flame was startlingly bright.  Fire is in many myths, a gift from gods to man, so I took this as an omen.  On a dark night, a dying fire reached out for more fuel.  It was Loki's hand if I ever saw.  A bargain was struck, I fed the fire wood from the pile, and mead from my still full mug, and promised to seek mischief this Pensic, in return for respite and some happiness.

I preformed acts of guile for which I was neither caught nor punished, plotted future pranks, and minor evils, and dallied in dark corners.  It was a good Pensic War.  But it is over, and I am back to the realm of technology, and I find it hard to adjust to a world of shoes and shirts, pants and PDA's.  I long to spend more time in the cool shade drinking mead, or walking barefoot amongst the merchants hawking their wares.  I want every War to be better than the last, and I strive to be a better SCAdian for my clan and kingdom.  It is odd to talk of fealty when I have none in my more conservative life, but it is a strong pull, and hard to ignore.