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Veteran's Day and an Etiquette Question
2004-07-17 - 10:13 p.m.
Colonial Williamsburg
I went to Colonial Williamsburg for probably the 140th time in my life (okay.. that's an exaggeration, but not by much). As a kid, whenever we had family from out of town visit, we made the trek to Jamestown and Williamsburg (and let's not forget the Pottery).
My love's parents are in town for the weekend and they wanted to go see "Williamsburg" so we wended our way to Williamsburg, by way of mapquest, who decided that we needed to go via route 5. After much consternation we discovered that Route 5 has the bridge that's currently under re-construction and there's a 67 (no, that's not a typo) mile detour. We re-thought our trip and ended up going on 295 and I-64 East. We got there, no worse for wear.
We got to Williamsburg, and we walked.. and we walked and we ate lunch, and we walked some more.... but just before lunch, in one of the outbuildings I found the Colonial Williasmburg Weaver. I was in heaven.. lemme tell you. I think my eyes were about a big as a five year old at Christmas. It was awesome!
The weaver was getting ready to leave that particular exhibit and go over to the folk art museum and work on something there.
We went to lunch (it was expensive for what we actually were able to find on the buffet) and then we found ourselves right across the street from the museum that the weaver had mentioned.
We went inside and found him on the lower level in front of anothe mostly wood period loom. He had it warped for a bed rug. It was made of linen and wool. The linen was the warp, and it had a twill base with a wool pile (hand tied, but it looked like rug-hooking). Each row of wool was spaced evenly apart and the twill was woven around the wool and for a quarter inch past the wool, to "lock" it in place. The fun part was, anyone who wanted to could add some of the wool fibers and then we could sign the book that was nearby. The bed rug and the book would be delivered to Mount Vernon and the bed rug would be used as part of George Washington's Winter bedding "from this point on". It was awesome to be a tiny part of the project. It will be delivered shortly after Labor Day and will be put on the bed in November, when they change the bed clothes from Summer to Winter. I plan to go to Mount Vernon to see my contribution.
The best part was, I was able to have about five minutes with the weaver and we talked about weaving and he gave me some ideas and things to think about. He's been involved in weaving for something like 40 years. (I may not have the number of years right, I was too star struck to really remember all but the last part). I found out from him that temples or stretchers were in use around 1066, so that makes them "in period", and he told me that if I come back to Williamsburg in like February or March and knock on the door where I first met him, he would open the door and let me in to spend time with him and he and I would be able to sit down and talk as much about weaving as I like for as long as I like... Woohoo.. How's that for an invitation! :-)
On the way home a thought struck me... does anyone know when "bed rugs" came into use? I know they've been documented back to the Revolutionary War era, but does anyone know if they go back further than that? I'm not asking anyone to do the research for me... but if you could point me in the direction, I'd appreciate it.
I was on cloud nine, lemme tell you.. I got to talk to someone who actually weaves for a living. He doesn't refer to himself as an "artist" he calls himself a "technician, because he's more interested in the how and why and if, than he is in the "artistry" of what he does.
I was there in the museum when he finished a row of knotting and I stood there with this stupid goofy grin on my face while we wove the picks in to secure the wool. The sound of the loom and the hard double beating was better than any music I've heard in a LONG time. It really was music to my soul... and I've been so busy lately that I didn't realize how much I've missed it. Today showed me how important weaving has become to me. How much my heart really needs to hear the sound and my fingers need to feel the warm wood shuttle between my fingers. It's as close to religion as I've felt in a very long time.
I need to weave, to feel that connection to someone... How messed up is THAT? :-)
After we finished at the museum, we went on and toured a few more buildings and then hit the tourist trap (Market Square) and did some shopping. After that, we headed back to the hotel my love's parents were staying at. We said our goodbyes and headed for home, exhausted but happy. I cat napped on the ride home and woke up just as we were crossing 895. We talked a bit and then as we got home, we decided to try the riding lawnmower piece of shit knowing that it wouldn't start. But it did... so we did a round of front and back yard mowing, while I worked with the $4.99 cheapass garden shears to trim some of the really high weeds (with 1 inch thick stalks).
After which, we went to get some Subway for dinner and are now in the process of crashing after a day of walking (we figured it out and we believe we came close to walking something like two miles today in the heat at C.W. It was hot, but we survived intact with no heat issues (although we were both wearing jeans and shirts and they were soaked by the time we got home).. but we considered it Pennsic prep. It was nice to know that while my feet HURT, I was able to make the walking without much of a problem... so camping in B05 won't suck as much as I think it will.
That was a relief.
Tomorrow, we might end up meeting the parents for the aviation museum at RIC Airport...or not. We do have the Canton meeting tomorrow, and we'll definitely be there for that... it's the last meeting before Last Chance, so it's important that we get all of the last little plans ironed out.
Okay.. it's time to let the puppies in and think about going to bed for the night.
Later ya'll.
BTW, I'm still looking for Count Ragnarr, if anyone has any contact information him, please email me at [email protected]
Please don't forget to answer my survey... it's research for a small business idea... all comments appreciated, no reasonable offer refused!!! It won't take five minutes, I PROMISE!
