dragonlady7

Rolled into my driveway around 7 pm last night, car stuffed full of sandy-damp junk. I didn't pack really, I just sort of backed my car up to my tent (I was parked near a drivewayish area so it was easy, unlike most people), bundled it all into the car, and then went and worked for three hours on the common-area takedown stuff.
So I'm home from Pennsic.
It feels really, really, really weird to type. Everything else, I've adjusted to with little to no problem-- as if I'd just taken a really long nap, as opposed to living in another world for two weeks-- but typing, whoa. Having some trouble here. Pardon any typos.

I had a fantabulous wonderful time at Pennsic and have many, many things to say about it, pictures to post, etc. I am absolutely going to go back as many times as I possibly can. I know I was fortunate in that the weather was absolutely ideal the entire time-- it only rained maybe twice, never terribly hard; there was some wind but not much; it never got over 85 degrees; it wasn't very humid. Etc. It was perfect weather-- though I know a few who got heatstroke up on the Sweaty Geti, and the one day I spent more than 5 or 6 hours up there taking classes and shopping, I myself stumbled home pretty worn-out and slightly unsteady on my feet with heat stress, it was never unendurably hot down in the Swamp.

But at the moment, I'm trying to take my time back on the computer in small doses.

I definitely met people I'm going to want to keep my whole life-- Big John With The Kilt, and his diminutive firebrand of a girlfriend Danielle from Kindred, and Kilij and Z-I-can't-spell-the-rest from Wicked Monkey, Regan from St. Jones' Mission, and Amber "Multipass" from Vagabond, and I made the fleeting acquaintance of innumerable other people that I will certainly miss (I will especially miss the pizza from Die Fledermaus-- it's not delivery, it's Die Fledermaus!).
To say nothing of my own camp mates, but since I will probably be joining the SCA, and regardless will be in Rochester for various reasons, I do not need to feel quite so melancholy about leaving them.

I think I can sum up what I loved most about it, before I burn out on computering entirely, however (I have been on for hours, trying to get through email and catch up on LJ-- anything important I'll just have to hope that it gets repeated because there's just too much for me to sort it comprehensively):
Conversations. You can just sit there and have lengthy and interesting conversations with the most fascinating people, for hours and hours, over various quantities of alcohol or whatever (those quantities including "none at all" more often than you'd think). Nobody's playing loud music, nobody's got a TV blaring, nobody's texting. Nobody's on their Crackberry, or at least not much. And most importantly, nobody's really on a schedule. Nobody's just hanging out and marking time until something better happens-- this is what they're here to do. The most structured / artificial use of time I personally witnessed was several highly amusing and intense rounds of a competitive card game called "Pit", made yet more awesome by our replacement of the game's bell with a small squeaky-toy lizard.

In short, it was basically the most mellow time ever. I have discovered a wonderful group of people with whom I can have a wonderful time.
I will be back. Oh yes. I will be back repeatedly.