Mephistos

Busted Flat

By Ray on March 11th, 2009

So I am mulling over this blog in my head for the last couple of days and I finally have decided to put proverbial pen to ink. I kept trying to think about just exactly how to start this blog and finally it dawned on me, as it is definitely hitting the way I am feeling right about now. “Busted flat in Baton Rouge, headed for the trains, feeling nearly faded as my jeans…“ – which we all recognize as the famous opening to Me and Bobby McGee, much more famous because of the version that Janis Joplin did, but in fact it was written by Kris Kristofferson. Oddly enough, while Kris himself did have some short-lived fame, his own musical career was probably eclipsed by his songs being performed by others.

Anyway, I am getting distracted. I am sitting here, once again preparing for my journey to the southern Mississippi for the annual event called Gulf Wars, this being I believe the 5th one that I will attend in twice as many years as I only make it bi-annually. I find it interesting that I am currently planning on leaving on Friday after work and the most recent forecast has it snowing, with some accumulation on the grassy areas and elevated surfaces for late Thursday evening/early Friday morning. Interesting, as I am pretty sure the last two times I have gone, leaving from here in Kentucky it has snowed or been snowing when horses were being loaded for departure.

It is with a huge amount of, well busted flat, that I note I will not be taking the horses this year. The first in my years of attending the event that I will not have a trusty hoofed companion with me. Over the years, I have always taken a horse for myself and in all the previous years I have also had a traveling companion and hence took Angel. My horse over the years has been one of three different ones, S.D. (Special Dark), Dusty (Carbon’s Gold Dust), and Jack (Mad Jack Juett) – but Angel has always been there. I feel like Fatus Obscuros is striking again, which I have been told could roughly mean ‘the Gods will otherwise.’

This year it will be different. After purchasing a truck and getting things ready with back in January and up through February, including putting a braking control package on it and after searching and not finding a trailer, instead almost begging to borrow one, on Saturday past when hauling the trailer to do some repairs, my truck quit. It was a big time quit too, the engine seized. It may not be obvious to everyone, but seized engines do not get repaired quickly and are very expensive to replace on top of that.

So that brings me to not going or going down in the car without horses. That is kind of tough, given the extra money I know that will be required to fix the truck upon my return if I do attend. It is even worse though, as I am supposed to be early on event staff and be around the barns during the early part of the week for horses arriving. Further, I was running the big event, the emprise and hauling down the equipment that has been amassed over the years. That will not happen. Matter of fact, I am having overwhelming feelings with just thinking about packing armour, clothing, and the big tent in my seemingly big enough four door (mini) sedan.

Anyway, hopefully I will figure it out on the morrow with some testing of getting the stuff in the car, as I have decided as of right now I am still planning on going. I am not going to hold out for getting to ride at all though I do have a couple of friends and maybe I will get to hack out a horse at some point over the week. I do feel like it important to uphold my obligations to my friends though in regards to the things I agreed to do if at all possible and will make sure that happens. I am sure that I will enjoy the new-found joys of the heavy combat melee’s and at some point or another when folks I know are enjoying a good equestrian competition, especially like the joust or heavy mounted combat, I will feel just about the way Kristofferson when he hears Janice sing his song on the radio – happy for her, but yet just a tinge of busted flat over the whole deal.

One last thing, I will be posting this same blog over on eligius.org, where I have decided to revive the site. Eventually it will get the archival pictures and videos, but in the short-term I am going to blog about the medieval equestrian activities that I involve myself in this summer.