Off to the Middle Ages

This weekend we will be leaving for the Society for Creative Anachronism's Pennsic Wars in Pennsylvania. This is the 41st war and will be the 9th one we have attended. Its is kind of like a Renfaire on steroids.  It is our chief family vacation each year. Although many of my friends think the idea of getting away to the Middle Ages for a bit is interesting, most of them don't think much of the camping in the woods for 2 weeks part. Camping is an activity we enjoy though, so that is not a bother for us, not even dealing with the (well maintained) porta-johns for 2 weeks.

This picture gives a small idea of the scale of Pennsic, you can see maybe a tenth of the household tents plus the merchant areas and the battlefield.

 Going to Pennsic is like nothing else I have ever attended (contrary to the popular belief by my children I was too young to attend Woodstock). Ten thousand plus people all of them in period clothing when they leave their camps, from all over North America, and other parts of the world as well. Most people camp in households, groups of friends anywhere from 3 or 4 to dozens.Merchants come from all over the country with wares that would only be available on line the rest of the year: Costumes, armor, swords, leather goods, medieval books, toys and specialty craft supplies. Lost arts (in our society) like spinning, blacksmithing, silversmithing, pewter casting and glass blowing are practiced, and can even be learned. One can fight like knights, shoot arrows like Robin Hood, dance like a member of the court of Henry VIII, throw axes, or simply attend classes on any of of these topics and plenty of others.

Pennsic University, where everyone shares their knowledge with everyone else is one of the high points for me. Over the years I have attended classes on how to cook a medieval feast, witchcraft persecutions, the effect of the bubonic plague on history, stage directions in Shakespeare's texts, depictions of King Arthur on film,  being a medieval pirate, preserving food without a cooler, and biographical classes on a number of people from this time period. I even ventured to teach a class once, on a particular knight from the court of King Richard the Lionhearted.

Over the years my children have learned alot about archery and thrown weapons and dance and Elizabethan theatre, not to mention period costuming. They have made friends from all over the States as well as Canada that they look forward to seeing each year. They have learned to never make fun of men in kilts. They have learned to live in an extended household for 2 weeks time (we camp with another family). They have also learned alot about virtues like chivalry and courage that are valued differently, if at all in our society today.  Maybe the most important lesson is that after doing without electricity, most electronic items, most news of the outside world and especially flush toilets for 2 weeks, they appreciate their conveniences all the more when they get back home.

For me there are 2 main appeals, beyond down time with the family and general diffusion of knowledge. One is that the theatre person within me loves all the costuming and ritual. The other is that there are no (visible) cell phones around....let alone land line phones. Indeed it is considered the height of rudeness to have that most pervasive of anachronisms announce  its presence. For a 911 operator, not hearing a phone ring for 2 weeks is full blown Nirvana.

There is also a slower pace to days. Although some events do take place

on a specific schedule, a lot of other happen when they happen. Not only do I not have to hear phones for 2 weeks I don't hear an alarm clock either. Also one walks to things. Most people have forgotten how to walk to something that is more than a block away. Walking imposes many things (what do I take with me when I go out that I must carry, how much time do I 

allow to walk 1/2 to be where I need to be.)It allows time for winsome detours like following a labrynth. Its also nice not to worry about the price of gas, or all those other drivers, for a whole 2 weeks.

For the kids Pennsic has provided chances to be independent in a relatively safe space...to make a little money selling ice to camps, to walk about with friends without excessive parental hovering. The wide variety of activities both keeps them busy and allows each to pursue their own interests.

They also get to do chores like wood chopping and fire building that allows them to feel the camp really depends on them (at least for dinner) in a way it doesn't at home.

And never underestimate the appeal of being able to shoot or throw potentially dangerous items, or even to just aim water pistols at a fort.

Having fun storming the castle.

Do not get me wrong, I wouldn't want to live without television, computers, electricity or flush toilets. But its nice to take a break once a year and remember what it essential and what is convenient.

Plus its just so much fun.

Trivial Pursuits

All my life I have been obsessed with trivia. My pursuit of trivia has taken two routes, accumulating random facts, and obsessively learning everything I can about any subject I am interested in. Books, articles, Internet searches, I check it all out. A long time ago my relatives refused to play Trivial Pursuit or any other trivia game with me. (The kids play trivia games, but the prefer specific topics sets  like Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit.  My daughter beat the pants of me at Twilight Trivia ) 

It probably started when I was a kid, watching  baseball. No other sport is as obsessed with trivia. Plus my dad was absolutely fascinated with trivia also, especially sports and history. I was able to easily learn things like the 12 Olympians and their attributes, the order of the Presidents of the United States, various Oscar winners,the line of descent of the Queen of England.

Really good trivia is more than just obscure facts.  The best trivia relies on a twist, or an unexpected outcome, some foreshadowing of the future or an interesting sychronicity.

Here are 5 of my favorite pieces of trivia:

In the US and around the world today there are a number of  memorials  to fictional characters. Among the most famous are the statue of the Little Mermaid in Denmark, and the statues of Peter Pan in children's parks all over the world. One of the most adorable is the statues of Mrs Mallard and her children marching into the Boston Public Garden just as they did in the book Make Way for Ducklings. (Theres Jack, and Kack, and Lack, and Mack, and Nack, and Ouack, and Pack and Quack) All over England, and at the Reichanbach Falls in Switzerland there are markers honoring events in the life of Sherlock Holmes. And in front of the Port Authority Transit Center in  New York city there is a statue of Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, TV's most famous bus driver.


The most famous of all sled dogs, Balto, was sold to a circus after his sledding days were over and was being kept along with some of his fellow dogs in poor conditions in California when they were found by a Cleveland businessman. He went home and organized a fundraising drive to bring the dogs to Cleveland. It was successful and Balto and six of his sled mates were brought to Cleveland where they lived out their lives in comfort at the Cleveland Zoo. There is a statue of him, at the Zoo, in addition to the more famous statue in Central Park, and Balto himself can be seen, mounted,  at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, where he is one of the favorite exhibits.


The career of the great 19th actor Edwin Booth was overshadowed forever by his younger brother, who assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Also forgotten in the shuffle was an act of heroism by Edwin, rescuing a young man who had fallen on the railroad tracks in Jersey City, NJ. The young man turned out to be Robert Todd Lincoln,  Abraham Lincoln's eldest son.

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain was a college professor who volunteered for the Civil War and received a commission as a Captain, was a General by the end of the war, and received the Medal of Honor for holding the Union line on Little Round Top at Gettysburg. He was also wounded 6 times during the war, most seriously at the siege of Petersburg when he was shot through both hip, the bullet damaging just about everything in between. He not only survived, but got back to his troops in time to figure in several more major battles and to receive the Southern Troops surrender at Appomattox. The Petersburg wound never really healed though, and he dealt with it for the rest of his life, while serving as governor of Maine, President of Bowdoin College, and head of the Maine Militia (putting down a major riot trying to take over the Statehouse), He died as a direct cause of the Petersburg wound in 1914...50 years after he was wounded. He was the last known veteran to die of a Civil War wound.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were friends, rivals, and at the end of their lives friends again. Both were greatly involved in the process of getting the Declaration of Independence approved by Congress, Jefferson as its chief author and Adams as its chief advocate. They were also the 2nd and 3rd Presidents of the United States. Both men died on the same day, July 4th, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence. (and by the way, the President at the time was John Quincy Adams,  John Adams' son.)

I could go on and on with this (and no doubt will in some other post some time) but for now, tell me: Do you have a favorite piece of trivia? Some interesting coincidence that just seems to good to be true?  I would love to hear about it.