It’s apparently been quite a while since I posted anything but Monster Cat. Oops.
Pennsic was chilly this year. Seriously. The chilliest since my first Pennsic, Pennsic XXIII. This was my 20th Pennsic and my camp’s 17th year in our current spot. Way to make me feel old.
Perhaps it was because I packed for Pennsic during a heatwave and my brain was like, “You always bring X and never wear it”, but I’m glad my over-packing instinct kicked in on a few things. I’m glad I packed wool, long-sleeves and an insulated raincoat for Winter. I’m glad I packed wool, long-sleeves and gore-tex for myself. She wore both her cute little cloak and a wool sweater that was originally made for one of my teddy bears, once upon a time.
All manner of hats went to her head. All manner of silliness commenced.
Sleep? Well, sleep was a challenge. Chilly nights are fabulous unless you wake up wearing a wet diaper. Or unless the camp just up the hill is being so stupidly loud you can’t sleep.
We had a little problem with the yurt we rented. We rented from the same guy as last year but he had new yurts this year. Yay! When a light rain started, I wasn’t worried by a little dripping inside the tent. New canvas needs to get wet for the fibers to blossom and become water tight, especially at the seams. When the rain got a little steadier, I was a little annoyed by the volume of drips – I’ve had a new canvas roof once or twice and it seemed like a lot of water on the wrong side of the canvas. However, the roof seams were 3 lines of chain stitch (which I question for other reason) so I wrote off the drips.
After putting Winter down for a nap, I stepped out of the yurt and mentioned my annoyance at the dripping to my friend. She looked at the roof and said, “Well, it doesn’t look like it’s all Sunforger canvas.” I looked and she was right. The center and edge sections were the thick, waterproof Sunforger canvas but the other sections were practically see-through they were so thin. Turns out the yurt guy got screwed by the company he outsourced his tent sewing to. Winter didn’t want to nap (probably because it was raining in her crib) and I moved everything around in the tent quickly to deal with the water. We then borrowed a huge tarp from across the street, collected a few extra hands to help, and put a hat on the yurt.
And then the skies opened up for real. The rain poured and poured. The tarp/hat held. And was there the rest of War.
Random other notes: Starting up a fire in the morning from last night’s coals is the best, especially when it’s 47 degrees F. Bundling up, in general, is wonderful. Needing a campfire in the evenings and the mornings is also awesome. Somehow, I seem to always run into the parading Japanese fertility ritual every year. They really are delightful. I made it to 1 class this year and it wasn’t that good. Winter loves doing stairs. Wandering around the lake is still entertaining even after all these years. Next year I need to bring my real camera again because the iPhone is awesome but I really wished I had the SLR a couple times. Our camp is awesome and we have great campmates, fabulous neighbors and we live in one of the nicest neighborhoods on site.
In other news, Winter walked up Heart Attack Hill (Runestone Hill) all by herself for the first time before Midnight Madness. She really had a blast when she wasn’t over-tired from not sleeping.
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