Today found me back at home, waiting for my friends to show up while I packed for the next trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival. It is an annual ritual that I have with friends. I ALWAYS go every year in the fall and even book it off two months in advance. Sure, it's huge, commercialized, BUT it's fun getting lost in the crowds and treat this as an opportunity to get away from our high-tech society just a little bit, not to mention the beauty of the huge trees and the simple buildings there. There are good performance shows to watch as well as crafts-making demonstrations like glass-blowing, metal-smithing, and so on.

We left for Conroe in the afternoon so that we could spend the night there and not have to wake up as early to drive to the festival grounds. We just hung out after dinner and got caught up on news in our lives. While we were out we noticed this black bird walking around on my newly-washed and waxed truck. I pulled out my alarm to try to scare him off before he pooped on it. Instead, it startled him and caught his curiosity. I tried several times, but he ended up leaving when HE decided to. Fortunately, no poop.

The next morning, we drove in and went to the front gate. We were a bit late, as there were a lot of people watching the entrance show in front of the front gate. The show is typically a humorous one. Here are photos from years past when my friends and I got there early enough.

These are my dear friends, Greg and Candy. Greg and I go way, way back to college days in the late 80s. After Candy got her costume as shown below, we walked the streets.

The first show that we went to was the Mud Show! There IS a reason I sit all the way back.

Looking up at the reed/straw covering that shades the audience from the warm sun.

It was a beautiful day of relaxation for me. It was a little chilly, but warmed up later in the morning. I love these fairs because it's a chance to go back in time for a while, away from the complicated world of modern life. I have considered traveling on the rennie circuit primarily as a "tag-along" or a visitor. It was also a day of gratitude and thanks for me as well, being thankful that I'm able to schedule off nearly anytime I need to get out of Dodge and appreciate a world away from the world. With the recent addition of Sherwood Forest Festival near Austin, TX, I could get out of Dodge in this manner at least three times a year, the third one being Scarborough Festival in Waxahachie, TX.

This is a wedding chapel with vines gradually covering it over time. There wasn't a wedding there, but in years past, the entrance to it looked something like the second photo.

Near it is the English Garden, another wedding venue. The greenery and flowers are beautiful.

Nearby is the Water Garden, another wedding venue (there are five wedding venues to choose from for the lucky couple or poly group).

Another thing we like to do there is watch bands play. This one is Circa Paleo, a very good band. Check them out at http://www.circapaleo.com/about/ - I always love watching them play.

Next up is an unusual instrument called a carillon, played by a carillonneur. This instrument contains 35 bells (C4-C7) and weighs about 4 tons. Note the foot pedals under the bench. The man playing them is Frank DellaPenna, a very nice man whom I have never seen without his trademark performance costume, so I have no idea what he looks like! I've had Greg nearby so that he could say to me what Frank would say to me in our greetings post-performance, as I can't lip-read him, obviously. If you are there or at Scarborough Festival, this show is a MUST SEE! I cannot describe the beauty of the bells and how it ties into the music. Frank's performance at the keyboard is interesting to say the least.

In the afternoon, we went to see the glassblowing demonstration. Here, you see very interesting glassworks being made. The glassblower is firing the molten glass before working it with her tools.