Impressions of Pennsic: Weather

[jducoeur]

Now that I'm back and mostly unpacked, it's time for the LJ diary of my summer vacation. As has become my style, I'm going to cover it a bit impressionistically, with several short entries about the high points and interesting bits arranged more or less topically, completely ignoring chronological order.

So to start off, let's get the whining out of the way, and talk about the weather, since that really was the principal topic of conversation *at* Pennsic.

Hot: hot hot hot, oh, hot

You know it's an excessively warm Pennsic when you go into the solar shower, turn on the tap, and your first reaction is, "Damn -- the water's warm".

Really, I can't complain that much: I gather that it was brutally hot for the week when I *wasn't* there, and the heat was basically unrelieved. But the list for next Pennsic definitely includes a fan for inside the tent at night, for times when it's that bad.

Wet: wet wet wet, oh, wet

You know it's an excessively damp Pennsic when, on Thursday morning, you take out the shoes that you wore through the Great Monsoon of Doom on Tuesday, and they've gotten fuzzy. And mind, I don't mean little spots of mildew here: I mean a fine magnificant white beard of fine little hairs, a good half-inch long, all over the shoes. Never have I been so eager to consign an article of clothing to the depths of the trash can.

The problem wasn't so much the rain itself, which was sufficiently over-the-top to be kind of fun. My backgammon class was during the Monsoon, and the result of walking from Lochleven to the Games Tent was me getting wetter than I've ever been in my life. (Finally outdoing the hurley event, which had been my previous benchmark.) But it was a relatively warm rain on a very hot day, and past a certain point you simply have to accept the amusement of wishing that your eyes were equipped with windshield wipers.

No, the problem was the fact that the rain was consistently followed by more heat and humidity, so that nothing could really get dry. By about Thursday, I had largely resigned myself to this, and wasn't generally bothering to change when I got wet, on the theory that I was rapidly running out of dry clothes anyway. But in general, the synergy of the rain and heat pretty much sucked, resulting in an enervating gooiness throughout.

All that said, it's worth noting that Friday and Saturday were particularly glorious, in the "I've stopped beating my head against the wall!" sense. For the last day or so, we got what I think of as nice, ordinary Pennsic weather, which was downright beautiful compared with the previous days. This allowed us to finish on a high note, and get a bunch of things dry before they were packed...

Comments

[rickthefightguy.livejournal.com]

As usual, I thought it was relatively pleasant that first week - sure, it was hot up top, but down in Tagmata it was nice - nice enough that I was never displeased that the shower was so hot that I never once failed to need to mix cold water in. (And I sampled - 2-4 showers a day just to be sure that it was always nice to shower.)

And it was always cool at night - never cold enough to need the heavy fur cloak of doom to walk around in, but I did use it to sleep under in addition to blankets.

I was sad to have missed you. I saw your lovely lady, twice in fact, during the last few hours that I was there.

[ladymacgregor.livejournal.com]

"the heavy fur cloak of doom"

Is that what I think it is?

[rickthefightguy.livejournal.com]

Ya, sure...you betcha! Susan MacGregor made it for me. :-)

It has been many years since it was cold enough to need it at Pennsic for walking around, but I am often grateful to have it for sleeping.

[ladymacgregor.livejournal.com]

Yes, yes, I did. And I have completely lost count of how long ago I did that . . . but I am absolutely delighted that you are still getting good use out of it. (The best compliment for *any* gift, in my opinion, is lots of use.)

It's a bit unsettling for me to realize that clothes I made over a decade ago are still getting worn by people (you, Colin Ursell). Although I do try to make things sturdy, I never thought they'd last a decade . . .

[rickthefightguy.livejournal.com]

I don't know if you remember, but part of the deal was that any time someone admires it, I tell them that "Susan Macgregor made it." I figure that applies even if it is you commenting on it!

[msmemory.livejournal.com]

I remember you trying to get the fur at the neckline to gather and behave!

You may not need that fan

[ferriludant.livejournal.com]

The fan may be unnecessary.

I was there for first week, though not for second week. The heat during the days was indeed unusual: It was hot enough during the day to stop me from fencing or fighting at all. Hot enough that I shifted my daily shower time to around 7:30pm.

But by evening, the heat was truly gone. I don't mean that it was cold: I went out awandering in just shirt and doublet, no cassock, but it wasn't sweaty. I did bring a battery-powered fan, and never used it once.

Re: You may not need that fan

[jducoeur]

Ah. Okay, that's more reasonable-sounding. What was the humidity like? If the temp was varying normally, then that usually implies moderate humidity, which means it wouldn't bug me nearly as much...

Re: You may not need that fan

[ferriludant.livejournal.com]

Humidity was high, both day and night. Dew was heavy - even inside my tent (though to be honest, it's been so long since I camped in nylon, which I did this year, that I may have forgotten).

But the the temp definitely varied. Of course, I can remember sitting under the tavern with Wyrm and remarking to each other that it had gotten nicely cool (around 7 one night), and discovering that it had dropped to 92.

Re: You may not need that fan

[rufinia.livejournal.com]

I found myself to be fairly uncomfortable at night, partially because I expected to sleep cold (and prefer to sleep cold) and really wanted a fan for some air movement.

Re: You may not need that fan

[ferriludant.livejournal.com]

Fair enough. For me, it was cool enough at night to sleep, and generally to want a blanket, but "chacun a son cool", after all.

[dcp2838.livejournal.com]

Backgammon class?? Backgammon!! Sorry to have missed it - I really need to read the schedule more closely in advance. Perhaps next year...

[jducoeur]

If you'd like, I ought to be able to send you the handout, assuming you can read Word documents. Drop me an email (my handle @ LJ), and I can send one back. The class was "So You Have This Backgammon Board...", and is several period variations on the game, ranging from basic Tables (fairly close to modern Backgammon) to some relatively odd variants like Re-encounter...