Bloody Lake

[hrayton]

While I have been socked in at work, I managed to wrangle Saturday off for a day trip to southwestern Wisconsin, for the Bloody Lake Rendezvous. While I live in an urban, and work in a semi-urban environment, my heart is never far from the woods. The drive across Northern Illinois was beautiful, where the country begins to roll in a series of small ridges, trees, and open farmland, when I got into Southern Wisconsin, and off of the main highways, I felt my heart begin to relax, open up, and take in the wide open spaces. There were fluffy white clouds, and warm sunshine, and a pleasant cooling breeze on my trek there.
     This was my first trip to a Rondy as a shopping expedition, I have lots of preparation to do yet for the Midwest Primitive, and I went in looking for raw materials, and found them! Part of me was a tourist, part of me was a historian, and part of me was an observer. I walked the vendors' stalls, and perused the trade blankets, I looked at what kind of clothing people were wearing, for the first time I took off the blinders of a tourist looking to be entertained by something novel, and really, well, LOOKED at what I was seeing...and what I SAW was amazing. I looked at shelters and the way they were set up, I watched the craftsmen making their goods, I looked at the stitching on leggings, and shirts, and coats, I loked at what people were preparing for dinner, and HOW they were preparing it, but mostly I looked at the people, the individuals, how they carried themselves, what they had for themselves, and how it was crafted. The interactions between them, and what I saw were confident, comfortable people, that knew who they were. I laughed at the envious looks that the tourist children threw at those that were there for the encampment, many were swimming and wading in the creek nearby. I saw the kids having a great time throwing hawks, and knives, and at play. "MOM! There are kids my age over there throwing axes! Can I do it too?" "I don't think so Tommy."    These were free people, unshackled from the daily grind, the smell of woodsmoke in the air, the rattle of muskets from the firing line, the sound of chopping wood and blacksmiths hammers...this was America the way it used to be, and I'm not just talking about the period dress...I think it was the sense of community in the air, of family, of values shared, of comradeship, and stories being told, even disagreements overheard had the sense of being calm, rational discussions, as opposed to well, the way things have become.
     What I wanted more than anything was to ditch my clothes, suit up, find a mug somewhere, roll up in a blanket and spend the night! I wanted to feel that calming sense of whatever was in the air, or maybe the woodsmoke was just an aphrodesiac for my soul. I spent five hours there, stayed until the public hours were over, then I trudged back to my car, got in, and came back to the grind of my life, feeling as if I had had a week off instead of just one day. They put on a good event there, and maybe next year, I will be there to camp.
     By the way, no one had a corn boiler for sale...so my quest continues...but I did find a lot of what I needed, and I didn't spend that much, and what I gained was a preview of what I can expect for at least two weeks every year for the rest of my life. I'm already hooked.

[voyageur1688]

 Its an addiction that will be there for the rest of your life. Sounds to me like you had a great time and didnt get discouraged which is a good thing. At our vous we often have people stick around after the regular day is over just to talk, ask questions and get more of a feel for what it is we do.
Voy

[hrayton]

By the way, I think I may have had the best hotdog ever while I was there, indian fry bread wrapped around it for a bun, no mustard or anything, just delicious the way it was. That an a small apple pie, cooked the same way as the dog, then rolled in cinnamon and sugar. I was tempted to order like 10 of each one, and take 'em home for the freezer! That reminds me, I have to learn how to make that fry bread. yummmmmmm.