Sparhawk says...

The Immediately Post-Gathering report

Just back from the Gathering. What can I say? I thought it went great!! <huge grin> I hope that everyone who went agrees with me. It was really wonderful to be able to put faces to callsigns and names and online personalities.

Reports will trickle in from the others who went, I'm sure, (They have orders to report, anyway. <evil grin>) There are pictures. But we'll need time to develope them and scan them and things. So, that will have to wait a bit. Do i hear a sigh of relief from those who were there? ;D

I don't have much to say at the moment. Just some observations about the RL Firebirds.

1. Blacky is 0.001% royalty! ;)
2. Falcon has a really cool Dad!! :D
3. Bats can really quote S:AAB lines verbatim!
4. Kes makes beautiful potato salad!
5. KF does really have a bloodthirsty streak in all his quietness!
6. Garry's threats scare you even more in RL than they do online! :)
7. Gossy will only save you when you are not breathing. :D
8. E doesn't piroutte. :(
9. Per isn't the oldest after all! ;)
10. Spar's hair is not red!
11. We all like sci-fi.
12. We had LOADS to eat!
13. We had some crazy moments.
14. We talked enough to last us for a long while and...
15. ... The time went by way too fast. :(

I'm toddling off. I'm totally pooped right now.

Bottom row L-R: Bats, Perry, Spar, Garry, Gossy, Kes
Top row L-R: KF, Falc, Blacky

Upon reflection...

And yes, to all those who are wondering, we did yell "Semper Fi!" at one point, and I swear that the family at the picnic table nearest to us edged a little further away. :)

There are all these bits of info floating around in my head, and I can't get them coherent enough to compile into a report. So, I'll list them, as I remember them, and you guys figure them out ok? I guess it's because I was there so early and I managed to be fortunate... or unfortunate enough to be one of the first to meet up with everyone. :)

So, here's some tid-bits leftover from The Event of the Year or EOTY as Blacky so succinctly put it. :)

• Bats relabelled the bottles of drinks with labels like "Chiggy von Rootbeer" and "Lethal Lethe" (Note: 88th Firebirds injokes) and when she and Per went off to plant the signs and balloons, Gossy turned up. So, there we were chatting, and I didn't notice that Gossy had lined all the bottles up in a row, lables turned out. Now, if you can picture this scene:

  Bright Sunday Morning in a park. Joggers going by. Families taking some time to relax. And as they pass this gazebo... what's that? Bottles of... drinks? with weird names... and by the time I noticed the stares and the growing number of joggers slowing down as they pass us, it was already too late! :) I had a good laugh though. Their faces were priceless!!

• There were these red-ants that were driving everyone totally bonkers!! They were everywhere! and at certain moments, you'd hear a cry of "Argh! Ants!! Die! Die! Die!!" Mostly from me, I admit. :) But I think they won the day after all, huh?

• Falcon's Dad. Coolest Dad this side of Tellus!! Falc got into the wrong park... come to think of it, so did Garry! And Falc called me. So, there I was, trying to talk them into getting to the correct place, and he says to talk to his Dad. And when he comes on the phone, I'm like expecting this gruff voice going "What the hell are you playing at, making us go round in circles??!!" and instead, I get a nice cheery voice going "Hi! This is Old Falcon here!" I just cracked up. He was such a sport, even when I met him coming out of the wrong park. And he ended his phone call by saying, "I might be old, but i can still fly around and look for the correct place. <sic>" Falcon, you can tell your Dad that I'm waaaaay impressed! :) Hoo-rah!

• It was nearly 12nn and I was expecting the last bunch. The ones coming from the city. And there I was, worried that they'd not find the place... 2 wrong turnings had me paranoid, ok??!! And I went out to watch for 4 people trudging up the hill. And saw none. So, back I went to make more signs, and when I go out to put them up (damn the authorities!) I see this straggly bunch coming towards me, waving one solo pink balloon, clutching a bunch of paper in their hands, a cheery ruckus and a "Hey, Spar!" and I thought, "Thank God! They made it!!" and they even had the presence of mind to pick up the signs along the way. So, one up for them! :) And trust me, they were totally not like what I expected them to look like! Well, expect E of course... but then I already knew her. :)

• KF was bartender and waiter for the day. :) Dunno why but he planted himself by the drinks and food... smart guy! And you'd hear cries of "LL, KF!" "KF! CvR!" "Ice, KF" "Pass the potato salad, KF" ... He was in great demand that day! :D

• There was a looney guy sharing in the picnic. :) Well, not really. He was there, sleeping or muttering to himself, but generally not being a bother at all. I'm surprised he didn't yell at us, or that our noise didn't chase him away. We were very noisy. Not Firebirds for nothing! :)

• Bats has a heart of gold! :) Towards the end, she suggested that we leave him some food because he had been there the whole day and not eaten anything. So, she, Gossy and KF (as interpreter) went over to leave him some pizza. Well, the toughest of them, most usually have the softest hearts. :) Way to go guys! Hope he ate it and not left it for the ants or something.

• We tried to take a full group picture with the pebble path 8 (on the main Gathering page) and were dithering over how to line up etc, and there was this couple sitting there, watching us, and probably thinking that we were going to ask them to take the pic any second. Well, they were right, but by the time we were ready, they upped and left! How rude!! So, we grabbed this girl off the road... Blacky did the sweet-talking ;) and made her take the pic. Also chased her friends off the path, just so it'd be clear! :D Well, we do tend to get our way most times. :)

• I get home and I notice that 2 of the balloons have writing on them. "Death from above" and "It's a good day to die" KF, i presume?! :D They are still in my room now. getting smaller, but still amuses me to no end. :)

• Oh, there were no push-ups. I said I'd given my word as an officer and a gentleman (generic term) that I won't dole out any, so I didn't. Though KF was sporting enough to ask "One hand or two?" when someone demanded push-ups. :) Falcon did do a lap down the hill and back though, with Bats doing the Drill Sergeant thing, running after him! We could hear them all the way from the top of the hill! :D I think we scared away a lot of people that day. :)

  Oh, there's really lots more to tell... but I just can't remember them now! Damn! :( Well, just read what the others have to say, and piece it all together and I think you'll get the idea that we all had an amazing time... And we DID!

  Addendum: For all those wondering about Raven, here is a picture that was taken at an earlier Gathering some time in September 1997, attended by Peregrine, Goshawk, Raven and Sparhawk, before Raven left for York.

  
  L-R: Spar, Gossy, Raven and Perry at 1 Utama

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