Janice
female, 43 |
student
- / Finland
member since 15.04.2004
|
Have a whale of good time while surfing the net...
Although they say that it was the curiosity that killed the cat.
I guess I am curious. I want to learn new things.
I love to read a lot. I love to write too. At the moment I am writing only to a box under my bed....
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For the popular demand here's a bit of a story from the box under my bed.....
Someone once put it: "It was best of times, it was worst of times." But I don't know if it applies to my story. It took place on a sunny summer day. It was warmer than usual. There had been no rain in a while. People felt the effects of this heat wave. They dressed lightly. Women in light cotton t-shirts and shorts or skirts the bravest put on bikini tops men shirtless and with shorts. The clothing was in bright colours and patterns were quite diverse. The weather was lovely summer's day.
I too was dressed in my loosely fitting summer dress. Its hem reached well below my knees almost to my ankles in fact. Also I had summer's wide brimmed hat on. I felt comfortable but hot. I carried a fan with me. I was dying for the little breeze of a wind. I saw a booth with a ice-cream vendor. I stopped to get in line.
People around me were chatting happily and all were trying to decide what sort of ice cream the wanted. But I already knew.... I wanted a vanilla, strawberry chocolate ice cream!! Mmmmm. That'd be lovely!
I got the ice cream. I walked away. I had a day off. Actually I was on holiday. I looked around myself and saw the people of my hometown. I knew some of these faces. Some were strange. There were tourists and they came from all over the world. Some were Swedes, Norwegians and Danes; some had the appearance of coming from the US, Japan and other such far away places...
The market place is full of stalls and vendors selling all kinds of stuff. There were farmers selling their produce. There were vendors selling stuff they had bought wholesale. There were flowers, strawberries, vegetables, fruits, fish and flea marketers - all trying to sell their stuff. I liked the vista! It was one of the favourite scenes of mine. I loved the ambiance of the place.
I had read about it in the newspaper and heard about it on the radio.. Yes, there they were! What a crowd! There were young and old all dressed funny and acting funny - at least for people of our day. Every summer there’s this event here. It is called medieval festival. People are actually looking forward to it. I was too.
On the market place a crowd had gathered all dressed up in medieval style. They had gathered there for the start off of the 5-day festivities. They would walk on the street and head east toward the cathedral. Near the church is a square on which during Christmas time the councillor reads out the age-old Christmas peace declaration. This old townhouse and its courtyards held the venue for the celebrations. People march there and have fun. These people are amateur actors. Their day jobs are on different fields. There are people who sell their stuff. They have made their own goods. Anything sold here during this time is something one could reasonably expect to find on any given market of the middle ages.
The crowd set out and headed towards the church in an orderly procession. Police watched out for any disturbances and guided the traffic. I followed them to see the proceedings. It was fun. I saw the wooden fences around the square heard the bells chime. People had gathered and were waiting for the event to start.
Soon the festivities got started with a declaration of peace and instructions for the townsfolk regarding any misbehaviour. Vendors set up their stalls and the players started to tease people and act as if they had been brought through time. I enjoyed myself and looked at the stuff for sale. There were wooden toys, hand made jewellery, old style clothing and food. I stopped at a stall that sold roasted pork fried on open fire. It was sold on dark bread made of rye and added to it was cooked turnips and carrots. It was good. It was also my today’s meal. I enjoyed a small cup of home brew. Then I turned and looked at the crowd and noticed that they really were enjoying it.
There was commotion near the main platform and I edged closer. Oh yes! There were people about to get on with the trial. A horse was being accused of murdering its owner. A funny thought to people of the twenty-first century but not to people of the thirteenth century. A woman told the judge what she had seen. A man tried to defend the horse. While the judge tried to figure out the events I saw a woman with a six year old boy. The boy pointed to the horse and said in a surprised voice: - Mom! Look! The horse is peeing! And Lo and behold! There was a spray of urine forming a puddle on the streets cobblestones. The mother flinched and dragged her son further back.....
There is another thing I saw a year later at the same fair:
The medieval festival we had at the end of June was fun... I love to go there. This time we were in the year 1412 (I think). Here's some things I saw....
The day started with a little parade. The players of the market show followed 4 hourses. They went past me in an orderly row. The nobel ones first then came the borgeous and last the riff raff of any fair.
There was a group of school boys; the future priests and administers of the day up to no good again. They went to a local sauna-bar-inn hosted by women who were entertaining men dressed in yellow. The young bucks got drunk and the women drove them away. They knew the boys were broke.
Then the boys came upon a group of musicians and novice nuns. They talked the girls into a dance claiming it is a holy thing. After a nice spell of dancing their teacher and the nun entrusted of the care of the young nun pupils came upon them... What a sight! the both teachers took their wards to task. The boys were browbeaten and the girls chastened. In the end they were herded off to recieve their just desert chanting pater noster.
From the main market area there came a shot that shook the people. A mayor had been murdered by the squire of the German knight visiting the city. He had the only gun able to fire a shot. One of the ordinary people tried to speak up about what he saw. But the knight cut his toungue out. But in the end the squire was put under arrest. The german knight had to swallow his own arrogance and accept the unsurmountable evidence against his own servant.
There were other things too. There was an open door house showing the decor of the ordinary home. It was bare. It had no tv, pc or any other modern contraption. The bed, chairs and table were crude. THere was a stove made of piles stones. There was evidence that the occupants made their own barrels and other household items.
Then there were handcraft workers show off their trade and skills. They sold food cooked on open fire, iron ware made on the hot furnace and anvil, there were earthen ware burnt in kilns and so on... |
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