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Solstice Feast
They eat, they drink, and in communion sweet quaff immortality and joy.
-- John Milton
Saturday, December 20, 1997
Friday we had what they call a "bluetray" or "brownbag" presentation at work. This means that it's ok to bring your lunch into the room where they are presenting. I got to learn something about WebTV and our future plans. Another presenter showed some pie-in-the-sky interface ideas. It's hard for me to know what to think on such topics, because they are intended to make things easier for the "typical" computer user, and by definition, anyone who works in the software industry is no such animal. So these new interface ideas never appeal to me; they are not designed for the way I work.
It is instructive to remember how grateful the home user we visited a few weeks ago was, when I told her she could "Alt + Tab" between applications. She was more than a beginning computer user, but she didn't know that!
In the evening I did some work on my costume for In-Santa-cide, the last minute Cacophony event being sponsored by Wally Glenn. I wasn't able to buy a Santa hat, but I had what I think will be a better idea: I cut out a large-ish circle of the red polarfleece fabric I bought the other night, and gathered it with some elastic that is designed for bride's garters (strange vestigial custom, to throw the bride's garter!). The elastic is pretrimmed with some very nice lace, which made a perfect frill around the edge of this "Mrs. Santa" mobcap.
I also purchased an oversized red fleece shirtjacket, so I won't have to sew a Santa jacket as I thought I would. This left me time to construct something to carry that will look like a jester's baton, with a soft-sculpture Santa head on top!
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Today was a long, busy day. It was my turn to drop off bag lunches/breakfasts for the homeless men at my church, and I (I thought!) needed to shop for supplies for the Solstice Feast being held this evening by the Fremont Arts Council.
I was able to restrain myself at Price Costco and only buy one edible treat for myself, in addition to the yogurt, satsuma oranges, string cheese and muffins for the homeless men: some curry dip with apricots and hazelnuts. Imagine my disappointment when I opened it up this evening and found it had already gone moldy!
I packed up the lunches and ran them down to the parish house, then came back and did a quick (and slanted) hem job on a beautiful patchwork dress that Freddie Baer gave me earlier this year at Potlatch. It's such a special, festive dress, that it deserved to be worn to a feast! I bathed, then put my hair up in a neo-Victorian style, with a chignon on the crown, and tiny braids from either temple curving back and up to the chignon.
I picked up my six-year-old nephew J---, looking dapper in a white dress shirt, black bow tie, red vest, and black felt hat, and off we went to the feast. Jane was nearly done with the setup for the food area. I hadn't received her mail in time, and the supplies I bought (a zillion napkins, paper plates, plastic cutlery, cups, etc.) were all redundant! Sheesh! Oh, well. I'll either take it back, or we'll use it all for some other event.
Then the pagan/new age spirit of the people most involved with the feast once again interfered with the people who were doing the work. Although we weren't ready, at 5 pm everyone had to get out of the feast venue, "to let the energy of the space settle." So we went to Jane and Luke's for an hour and chatted. J--- was thrilled to get a chance to play with some army guys he found there.
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The feast was a blast! The hall was decorated beautifully with candles and greenery and luminaries and pillows and columns and draperies and tree branches tied with crystals and fountains and a walk-in pyramid. My nephew was quite impressed, as was I. I ended up doing a lot of greeting folks at the door and helping them get their food sorted out (labeled as to veg or non-veg, dish marked with their name if they ever want to see it again, etc.). One thing the Fremont folks are good at, showing appreciation for the work you do. Several people spontaneously came and said what a good job I was doing! It's true that the food committee is the one that is working while the feast is happening. Decorations happen before, cleanup happens after. Jane has headed up this food committee effort for several years now. The Arts Council is lucky to have her assistance! It's a job that demands organization, calm and planning, not qualities that many of their members are noted for.
There was a variety of music, including a string band that J--- was dancing to, to great applause. I wish I had seen him dancing! There was also a woman doing a dance while twirling balls of fire on the ends of two ropes. J--- was getting tired, so we left before things really got wild.
It was nice to see some of the luminairies that I've helped Luke with get reused this year. A number of large cubes, decorated with fancy printed paper and tassels, were the first Arts council project I helped him with, a little over two years ago for Trolloween. These were set up at one end of the hall. Some of the small luminaries, folded paper painted in red and orange with an irregular (burnt) upper edge, that we made last year for Trolloween, were set up outside the entrance to guide people in.
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