Winona was cold, but mostly a good time. It was much more relaxed than Big Island, where two big events (the dinner and the waulking) dominated our schedule and consumed our resources over the weekend. Nothing like that at Big Muddy, which is just as well since we did not have nearly as many members present. There were no military drills or parades over the weekend, although backseatgaffer and I did some unassigned guard duty. Also, twolodge fired the mortars several times, and at closing on Sunday arranged for us to fire all our weapons as a salute.

I did some woodworking on Saturday, using my portable shaving horse. This went well, attracting some interest from patrons. At a couple points I found I had not brought the right tool for the job, and had to do some improvising. That was actually kind of fun.

The weather was actually better than I expected. It certainly was cold–below freezing Saturday night. However, there was no rain, and only a few snowflakes. We were able to pack dry canvas when it was over.

As usual on weekend events, mia_mcdavid and I did not get to church. The closest thing to it was trading verses for the “Five Constipated Men in the Bible” with bullettheblue and backseatgaffer (There are considerably more than five).

Some us had to deal with a difficult situation on Saturday morning. The second-guessing by those not on the scene has already begun.

The really bad news came Saturday evening: This was the last Big Muddy Rendezvous. Luke Acord, who has been running it, said he could no longer keep it going. This is sad; by all accounts it has always been a great event, and mia_mcdavid and I found it so this time. I am thankful for having been there once.