The Minnesota faire is my home faire, and every year when it is about ready to begin I am pumped up and ready for it in a big way. During the run of faire I put all my other hobbies on hold. Those 7 weekends are for faire and nothing else. But, when those 7 weekends are up I am pretty much ready to return to my mudane life and to get back into my mundane hobbies and pleasures.
During the faire off season, though, there are some things that remind me of faire and make me wish I was back there in a big way.
Every year at faire my wife and I buy a bunch of incense sticks at a booth at faire. We just love the smells of them and burn them quite a bit. Of course, we are usually all out of them by the end of October!
A couple of weeks ago I was doing some cleaning and ran across a couple of packets of incense we bought last year. I found a dozen of both Frankenmire and Pine incense. Some how we had misplaced them and thought we were out. Well, we started burning them and as soon as the smell hit my nose it took me right back to faire, and I am now so ready for faire to start that it isn't funny! Thankfully, it does start in another couple of weeks!..LoL
Any way...I was just wondering, what things make you all think of faire during the off season?
Truthfully, I never stop thinking about faire! No matter what I'm doing during the rest of the year, the thought is ever present..."How long til the next faire?!" Fortunately for me, one of our friends is an Irish Troubadour and sings at many of the Pubs in Pittsburgh. So, when I'm in desperate need of a ren-fix, we can go down and listen to him and hang with our other rennie friends ;D
Thats me, I never stop thinking about it. Theres either something I want to make or repair or spiff up. Its always something. Then you have the boards, where you can talk faire 24/7, how great is that! I just have to remember that theres other things I need to keep in mind to get them done. :D
I think for me it is certain smells.
Recently I was walking outside to my car at a strip mall, and one of the restaurants there, the exhaust smelled like our fest does. I stood there for a few seconds inhaling deeply.
Oh, and the smell of leather. For obvious reasons.
Otherwise, I don't stop thinking about fest.
Yeah, for me it's smells. I can wake up one morning and go outside (I live in the country) and I will tell my husband "it smells like Scarborough outside" or it smells like Mount Hope in PA. Faires Like King Richard's in Carver Mass. well, they all have their own special aromas and that really does it for me.
I think of faire everytime I log on here!
i too always think about faire. off season, i read only historical fiction and non fiction, watch period movies, look at faire photos, look up all the faire across the usa and study them...look at videos on you tube..the list goes on and on.
i also stock up on incense!!!! when i burn them ( every day ) my lord always comments...."hmm. smells like the faire right now" :)
enjoy your season..LF
Certain movies. Making clothes for faire. While I'm making I am thinking this would look good on so and so with such and such. Irish music and going to certain pubs in my area.
Certain songs, of course, but mostly certainly other kinds of sounds and scents. The sound of bells and coin scarves. Turkish coffee warmly wafting up the hill and that slightly damp scent that clings to haybales in the morning. In the distance, armor sounds, the clink of metalworkers, crowd "huzzahs" and "Make way for the Queen!" Dumbeks and zils, ouds and lutes and harps and of course brass, but so much less brassy than the modern versions.
When I was in NZ for 6 months, I really missed faire (They don't have them over there.) What really hurt me was when we went out to an ancesteral home of a local Maori tribe. (NZ natives)
The comradery of sitting around the fire singing old sea shanty's. The huddling under awnings when the weather got bad. Talking to the local crafts people when they made their shell jewery, and hand woven flax items. Sharing a mug of coffee on an early morning with people, as the fire slowly dies, and the dew lingers on the grass and the tents.
And I also have to agree the smell of certain incenses sets me off as well. It makes me want to run home and make garb for the next faire, even if it is 6 months away.
Ren gatherings with McLotofus and AARG are the best. The CD's and perfumes I've bought at fair.
Pachouli, sandalwood, and the smell of grass and hot pine needles all make me think of TRF.
Doumbeks, bagpipes, bodhrans, zills, and jingly little bells.
My backyard has so many pine trees that on a warm fall day it actually smells a bit like TRF back there...it's part of the reason I bought my house!
I have this bodywash...sandalwood and cinnamon. I get reminded of Faire every time I shower. It's wonderful.
Those lovely cool mornings when everything's shiny and fresh and feeling like autumn, bagpipes, sheep, the fabric department at work, my closet, this site, a bunch of the songs on my iPod, a lot of the stuff in my bedroom...xD The list goes on and on.
Quote from: Sir William Marcus on July 28, 2008, 06:44:11 AM
I think of faire everytime I log on here!
seconded. coming to this forum on the off-season makes me sad.
Besides faire smells and movies and such, one thing that reminds me of faire are jingly noises. When I want to remind myself of faire I put on my anklet that jingles.
Bahahah, I saw something on TV that had a Rubber duckie and that brought back a lot of the pool humor from AARG this weekend. :)
My belt with both tankards, tail, and pouch, hang from my door, which is always open, and I brush past them often, bumping into and hearing the jingle, reminds me of pre-cannon.
Mmmm, this is horrible! I was already rensick thanks to AARG, this is only making it worse!
Early morning, standing outside with a cup of coffee, the sounds of the area around waking up and people moving around..
Pulling out of my driveway. ( I live across the street from my faire.)
Quote from: captfletcher on July 30, 2008, 09:36:54 AM
Pulling out of my driveway. ( I live across the street from my faire.)
You're lucky you can get that heap you call a car out of the driveway.
Dude, DO NOT debase the El Camino. (Oh, and it's a truck.)
Quote from: captfletcher on July 31, 2008, 11:27:13 PM
Dude, DO NOT debase the El Camino. (Oh, and it's a truck.)
Are you kidding me??? It can't decide whether it is a car OR a truck.
On the plus side, other than being very limited on passenger space (helps a lot when going somwhere and you don't want to use YOUR gas), it allows for hauling stuff as well.
I've found that I have a lot of music that reminds me of my time at RenDezvous. When I hear it now, I think back to driving the back roads in TN at 3 in the morning, and getting ready in the parking lot at faire. I remember the smells, the sights, everyone. I suppose I mourn a little each time, because I miss it so much. Nothing could ever or would ever be able to compare to the feeling that I got when I was in TN. It was magical, and I love each and every one of you for making it possible.
Quote from: PurpleDragon on August 01, 2008, 09:29:18 AM
Quote from: captfletcher on July 31, 2008, 11:27:13 PM
Dude, DO NOT debase the El Camino. (Oh, and it's a truck.)
Are you kidding me??? It can't decide whether it is a car OR a truck.
On the plus side, other than being very limited on passenger space (helps a lot when going somwhere and you don't want to use YOUR gas), it allows for hauling stuff as well.
It's a truck. the title says it's a truck, it has truck license plates, and Chevy calls it a truck. And I'd like to know who else here has a vehicle that's 25 years old that gets 17-22 miles to the gallon...
Quote from: captfletcher on August 02, 2008, 11:27:29 AM
And I'd like to know who else here has a vehicle that's 25 years old that gets 17-22 miles to the gallon...
*raises hand*
Mine is 34 years old. I get 22 mph but it takes premium.
I don't have to miss faire so much as my best mundane friends are rennies too. We settle in with his homemade wine and plan our next faire trips.
That supersweet, spicy smell wafting from somewhere unknown...
makes me think of Pre-Cannon and the first smell of Loki in the morning.
Walking through the camping section of a sporting goods store/walmart. We are always looking for our next tent. Find one that is big enough to hold all our renstuff, tall enough we can get dressed in it, and large enough that if it rains (like it always does at TRF) our bedding won't touch the sides of the tent to get wet.
(We found a 15x17 tent this weekend for TRF, heee ;D)
Then looking for the various things I know we would love to have in our camp for TRF.