Renaissance Faire on the South Oval at The Ohio State University

Drunk and Sailor 

OSU Students in Festive Attire

Scottish Country Dancers Jane and Laura
also do English Country Dance. Laura is
my Scottish Country Dance teacher.

Kyle Meadows on Hammered Dulcimer
is joined by Fiddler Stewart Brand

I went to the Renaissance Faire with hopes of watching or dancing around the Maypole. I love this ritual and I'm still amazed to see the ribbons weave their way down the pole. Each year, the organizers need to re-locate the buried pipe which supports the Maypole, often with the help of a person with a metal detecter. This year, a construction fence curtained off the area where the Maypole was usually located. The Maypole lay on the ground, and workers at the information booth informed me that the Maypole would be happening later in the day. In the meantime, I caught the act of Drunk and Sailor as they encourage the audience to join in their fun, rousing choruses. I joined friends towards the end of their English Country Dance demonstration. After listening to a hammered dulcimer player for a long while, I purchased one of his CD's. When I read the back cover, I found that he lives about 15 minutes from where I grew up. Another interesting connection!

Harp Crate

When I talked with my dad on the phone to make arrangements to visit over the weekend he said, “Go ahead and bring that harp crate down when you come so that you can take the harp back home. Your mother hasn’t done anything with that harp since you brought it down last month.”  

After my mom played for awhile on Sunday, she said, “Well.” I asked what she meant and she said, “I think I’m done playing for now.” Then she began playing again and continued for another 15 minutes. As she continued playing, my dad said, “Well, maybe you can leave it here for awhile yet, and we’ll see how it goes.” 

1st Communion Coincidence

Before I left for the weekend, I dug out my 1st Communion Rosary. While driving home, I wanted to pray for a dear friend who had a lump in her breast biopsied the previous week and was going to have the lump removed next week. 

I love the coincidence that when I joined the musicians at my parent’s church, it happened to be 1st Communion Sunday.