Thursday was L and my 16th wedding anniversary :) Like any day, it had its ups and downs, but I think more up than down, lol

Special stuff that day? Well, L had the first part of his health assessment at The Body Tailor, then we went to the kung fu school so we could refresh on what we'd learned of a two-person weapon set last April (Spear/Staff side), and L learned the Sword side of the set. We'll work on getting that set first, and then I'll start learning the sword side as well. Then a trip to the hot tubs; always welcome after kung fu!

Traditional 16th anniversary gift is tourmaline and modern U.S. is silver holloware (silver service pieces that go with your china). I think the class and hot tub were better :)

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Yesterday, went up on the hill with a friend and learned a bit about tracking and even a little about hunting (good places to set up and where deer and turkeys like to hang out), as well as generally chatting about miscellaneous interesting things. Ostensibly I'm also up there looking for antlers, but that's a challenging proposition, so if I get some, great, but if not, oh well. We were up there for a few hours, so it was a pretty good hike. My plan is to go up on the hill at least once a week, get more familiar with the area, learn more about the critters there, and maybe, if I'm lucky, find some antlers. There are a lot of deer up there, but antlers are a hot commodity with wildlife, so I've got some pretty fierce competition ;)

12th Night was a lovely day! Took a couple of Concentus members down with us. Everyone managed to find someone to travel with, carpooling was definitely to the fore. Yay!

Met old friends and acquaintances, and also chatted with some new folks. We joined in on the sing along during the day, and then ended up recruiting a few folks for the court recessional. Had a terrific time singing with some of the folks there along with accompaniment by Fracti Mundi and friends; the instrumental group is out from Smoking Rocks (Cape Cod area of Massachusetts), but our Lady Em was playing with them as well earlier in the day, and also after the singers broke up. We were getting in a little practice time before dinner, but kept going because dinner was running a little late, so the event steward was happy to have some of the entertainment be before dinner. Sicut Cervus was absolutely marvelous -- wish we could sing with these other singers more often! Felt great to be able to play well with others :)

There were peerage meetings, of which I went to the Laurel one. Too hungry for the Pelican one, so went off to get some lunch and let L take notes on that one. I'd thought I might be able to make part of the meeting, but ran into various folks on the way to and from the dayboard. A good day for making connections, seeing how various folks are doing, and enjoying good company. Excellent pie (cheese, carrot, and a bit of orange peel on top) and the chicken was good too. And had an egg, a couple pieces of cheese, and a piece of pita with a garlicy hummus on it.

Did a tiny bit of shopping, getting a small horn cup, and also a pendant with a deer on it, encircled by a wreath of knots - perfect for fitzw I thought, and happily he agreed :) The horn cup has rather striking markings on it, looking sort of like a mountainous landscape in the mist.

Did see jdulac take a most excellent gentle as an apprentice. Anssem van Reinen ran a fencing tourney at Boredom War this summer past; the tourney was much enjoyed, and the presentation in court most eloquently done.

Dinner was most excellent, and too many dishes to list. The theme was Spain, around 1492, with a mix of Spanish dishes from the three main cultures that were co-existing there at the time, Spanish, Jewish, and Islamic. Really liked that they tried a variety of types of flavored waters, done with fruits and ginger and such, not fake stuff or lots of sugar. Very nice indeed!

Did do a little bit of 'work' - taking some dishes and pitchers back to the kitchen, helping fold cloths. Nothing serious, and nothing that a lot of other folks weren't doing as well. I would have liked to do more, but I was down to using just the one hand by dinner time.

I like jducoeur's philosophy, of volunteering a 1/2 hour at any event he goes to -- it's amazing what can be done in a short time, and if more people did even such simple things as clearing and folding up the cloths on the table they sat at, helped take down some hangings, or wash some dishes, that everything is done so much more quickly and in good cheer. Always nice when the core cleaning crew doesn't have to stay for several hours after an event!

It was probably too long a day for me, altho' I catnapped a couple of times, leaning on L for a minute here and there. Saying goodnight to folks, I suddenly got dizzy for a moment, so L walked me out to the car before fetching our riders. The cool air outside was lovely, and the ride home helped to restore me somewhat. It's the longest drive I've been on since the surgery, close to three hours each way, including the brief stops for gas and such. We got home a little after midnight.

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Today's a quiet day. Might even take a nap later, to help with recovering from yesterday. It's our 13th wedding anniversary too, but I think our celebration will be staying home and just enjoying each other's company.

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Found this article through Energy Bulletin, on another cause for warming at the Arctic Circle: Melting Ice May Not Explain Warming. The scientists involve aren't claiming that the energy being transferred by cyclones to the arctic is the sole cause, but that it is probably part of the reason for the accelerated warming there. Could lead to further studies both on affects there and at the Antarctic (there's a link at the end of the article to an older article on warm air over the Antarctic).

It would be naive to think that only one thing is causing accelerated warming, so it's good to read that scientists are looking at the whole system. I hope someone's also looking into what might be causing the increase in cyclones. The Earth is a complicated organism, and no doubt these things are all connected in one way or another. The more people learn of what is happening, the better the opportunities to understand how people affect the environment of which they are a part.