I’m in LaGuardia Airport waiting for a flight to St. Louis. This weekend is the 8th Known World Bardic Congress and Cooks Collegium (aka Known World Cooks & Bards, or KWCB). I’ve wanted to attend this event ever since I decided that “bard” was a thing I wanted to do. Known World gatherings for any given interest, or complementary pairing, usually happen every other year. (Other interests that have gatherings include dance, music, scribal arts, and brewing. There are many.) KWCB, however, is being held for the first time in 5 years, because various challenges came up (including the recent spate of 50th anniversaries for the SCA and the earliest kingdoms, as well as the challenges of finding a suitable site).
I’m excited and nervous—the site is apparently very rustic, and as someone who is flying in, alone, that may present challenges of comfort and organization (I’m packed to the gills, and having to Tetris this stuff back into two bags for the trip home without my wife’s help is kinda terrifying). But there will be bards there. Some of my long time Pennsic friends, and some that I have never met in person.
If you’re headed out to it and want to know what I’m up to, I have signed up to perform (Saturday 4 pm local time), and to teach my “Songwriting to Tell a Story” and “My Guitar’s Persona Is a Lute” classes (though I won’t be able to demonstrate on Amyrillis, because there is no room for a guitar on this trip for me).
Whatever you’re up to, enjoy these last rays of summer… and see you on the flipside.
Drake Oranwood 