FORT KING GEORGE LIVING HISTORY

Once again Fort King George had a living history festival last week.  Reenactors came from all over to spend the weekend and play their parts. This was a shot of part of the encampment.

This soldier was on duty. Notice the water bottle that was out of character, but hey, it was a warm day!

This guy was showing off his pistol.

These people were looking at shirts from the seamstress.

This guy belonged to a blackpowder group. Their motto is "Save the Whiskey" he told me, translating the Celtic words on the sign. Kind of scary, if you ask me -- people imbibing around  gunpowder!

 This piper played for some lovely dancers. I noticed he wore a wrist watch so evidently he isn't too sold on authenticity!

Here he is with the dancers preparing to do their Scottish 'lilt' which isn't as rambunctious as the Highland flings and reels, according to their teacher.

And here they are in the dance itself.

Going into the fort itself, we find another bagpiper watched by some soldiers.

Also inside the stockade are these blacksmiths.

 This guy looks like a villain, doesn't he? Made me shiver.

These people are cooking. The guy's actually cutting potatoes. The haggis was already done on the campfire.

This is a close-up of the lady sitting by the out-of-costume box.

And these soldiers were guarding the road as we wandered toward the exit.

There were more things, too. A Guale Indian encampment, a booth of spices and seasonings, a mock battle, cannon firings...

All in all, a tiring but happy day!

TWO OF COLUMBUS' SHIPS

This weekend, replicas of the Nina and Pinta visited Brunswick. We rode over to view them and found it worth the ride and the cost of admission. The ships are manned (and womanned!) by volunteers. They spend eleven months a year traveling from port to port, educating students and others interested in history.

Both ships are black because in their day, ships were made waterproof by coating them with pine tar. And both are terribly small for traveling over the ocean! It was hard to believe twenty-four men traveled on the Pinta and twenty men on the Nina. It was hard to believe Christopher Columbus had the gumption to set sail in them, even if the Santa Maria was larger! (They don't have a replica of the original flagship. Reasons given were that its hull would be too deep to get into ports they travel to and also it was lost before Columbus got back to Europe.)

Here's a picture of the Pinta from the side:

And here she is from the back (looking at her from the Nina):

And moored right behind her was the smaller Nina. This is a front view:

Here's a photo of her front lines:

And here are a couple of her crew members:

If you get a chance to see them, you should go!

EYES

So I have a problem with my eyes. Most of the time, they don't bother me but every two or three years, something happens. My old opthamologist explained it like this: "Imagine a callus growing over your cornea lens. It's hard to see through something like that. We'll take it off and you'll be able to see again."

I found out later that the 'callus' would grow back every few years, so then I get my cornea peeled or scraped or whatever. This time, since we moved, I'm using a new doctor. He looked at my eye and nodded his head and seemed to know what was going on so I felt confident when I went in to get it done. I pretty much expected the same procedure I've been through before.

Not exactly. To begin with, no nerve soothing IV. Just stretch out on the table, get a numbing drop, and we're starting.

I think: Okay. It doesn't hurt. I've been through this before. I'm fine.

And I was. Until in the middle of scraping, he says: "A lot of scar tissue here. An awful lot. I don't know..."

Then he suddenly asks: "And you've been able to see after this procedure was done in the past?"

I say, heart aquiver: "Well, yes. To an extent. With glasses."

He goes back to scraping. Then: "I don't know. You may need a transplant but we'll do what we can."

And I'm thinking: EEEEK! You wait till I'm on the table, then bring this up? Why didn't we talk about this before now? Why didn't you notice all the scarring earlier? Why didn't you take pictures like my old doctor so you'd know exactly where to scrape and peel? What's going on here?"

It may be just me, but it seems I had a harder time recovering than usual. I'm dreading my check-up visit next week.

But it's gotta be done if I want to see. Sigh.

WITH A SONG IN MY HEAD

I bet everyone's had a song stuck in their head. Mine is "All About That Bass" and it's been driving me crazy since before Thanksgiving.

I first heard it when I saw a version by strings and a prim singer, as it would have been done in the thirties. It was catchy, so I looked for the original by Meghan Trainor, Then copycats started singing their versions. Then parodies started showing up: "All About That Baste" (with a turkey) and another version by NASA interns, and a version for moms: "I Also Need Some Space" and a bunch more.

Now it's March and I still find myself humming that darned tune! I can't take this much longer. I simply have to find another song to rattle my brains.

Not "Let It Go" though.

No.