Scarborough Faire 2012

One fun thing about losing so much weight, is that doing the same thing a year later can feel like a completely new and different experience! This year, going to the Renaissance festival was no exception. Last year I just remember feeling hot, ugly and miserable, and was still pretty reluctant in public and having my picture taken despite the fact that at the time I had considered it pretty awesome that I had lost 20 pounds at that point. Well, 85 pounds feels even better. So much better, in fact, that this year, it was my turn to ride the elephant with Dresden.

The people in the back (I named them Rodrigo and Ana, I have no idea who they were) were afraid to get on with us...they were afraid of hurting the poor elephant, lol!

Hi!

Elephants are oddly beautiful, don't you think?

It was the highlight of his entire day, and maybe the highlight of mine, too, because I was specifically adamantly against riding it last year when Alex tried to get me to do it, because I was embarrassed. This year, I climbed right up! It was a pretty crazy feeling being that high atop a lumbering creature whose ears were flicking back at us every few seconds. Dresden was in heaven of course, but did amazing when I said it was time to get down. That was a special memory for me, doing that with him. Here's to the first of many elephant rides in the future!

We were also able to sit through pretty much the entire falconry show this year, which Dresden would have nothing to do with last year. I seriously love raptor birds, just love them. I think they are so beautiful and majestic. I feel like I might have even said that in my post last year about the faire, but it remains true. I even got sort of a soft spot in my heart for the vultures after he told us their purpose is to rid nature of animals that may have died of disease, so that the diseases don't enter the water supply through run-off from rain, and he showed us how well-trained they can be. It was pretty interesting.

The falcon...

The flying hawk. I think it's kind of cool that he was black and red and so was his handler...

The infamous vulture...I guess we should think of them more as just another species of bird and less as an icky scavenger and then it wouldn't be so bad...

I thought Alex caught a cool shot of it in flight...

The one thing that was slightly crazy was that this man, the falconer, was very, very outspoken in terms of his beliefs about hunting (um, extremely PRO), and religion (PRO) and patriotism (PRO, PRO, PRO). Now, I am "pro" these three things as well, but this guy was relentless! He had a woman bring out a bald eagle at the end, and well, first of all, this eagle was NOT bald.

See?! No balding! Not even a slight Captain Picard on this eagle, nothing!

It was brown all over, so I think most people were confused when he introduced it as bald...but I digress...he flat-out SCOLDED all of us for not standing up when he brought it out. "Not one of you stood up...not one of you placed your hand over your hearts..." and he really was pretty upset. I kept waiting for him to say "I'm just kiddin', how could I expect a group of people dressed like elves and fairies and bar wenches to stand up for an eagle!" but he never did! I really think most of us were just confused because the bald eagle really was not bald, lol! Also, I don't think most of us are used to them hauling out bald eagles at school assemblies or before baseball games. We stand for our flag, we stand for our National Anthem; dude, give us a little break!!! Am I right?!?! Still, all shame for our blatant lack of patriotism aside, the falconry show was great...Oh, until the very end when the little falcon flew off, miles and miles away. He explained that it happens all the time, but I'm still very worried about that poor falcon.

We were hot, sweaty, and tired, but trekked around the rest of the faire (which I might just start calling an arts and craft show in Renaissance garb), and got our fix for the year.

Dresden beggggged us to let him ride on this boat swing thing. This is a picture of us taken by Alex on the other side of the boat. What you can not see pictured here is my churning stomach from the swinging motion. Never again D, sorry! LOL.

And of course, he had to ride his llama just like last year...

So happy...

I do have to say, it really isn't the same when you don't dress up. I don't think anything will top the year I went in Colorado with Laura and Stephanie and we dressed up. I'd love to pull out the dress Laura's mom made for me to wear that year, but if I wore it in Texas I would surely die of heatstroke, and two, it would fall off anyway, because it's 8 sizes too big! One of these days I'm determined to go in costume again.

Alex and I have decided we want to start our own Renaissance Festival with strict costume requirements and etiquette "laws". If people dressed and behaved the way they do today back in the Renaissance, they'd be locked in the tower for public indecency, I'm sure. Plus, do people not realize that elves/fairies/goblins/trolls/centaurs/etc. were NOT a part of the Renaissance? And neither were pirates who looked like Jack Sparrow? Some authenticity, that's all I'm asking!!! ;-D

Anyway, we had fun, and I'm looking forward to going again as Dresden gets even older (and more cooperative/less likely to run away and get lost!)...Is anyone else attending Scarborough Faire this year? What is your favorite thing? Least favorite thing? Go, talk amongst yourselves!

Love,

Cassie