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Santa Maria Pirate Weekend, September 2012 - Columbus, OH

Photo: Mark Gist
Interested piratess Epilogue: Some brief thoughts on one of the patrons and the meaning of life; Thanks to the photographers; Some nice still life photos; Still more photos of the Dufrenses because they're frequently doing curious things and A couple of remnant photos that didn't fit anywhere else.

There was a little girl... who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead...

No, wait, that went horribly wrong.

There was a little girl who had visited the ship in May who returned this weekend to see us again. I recall her from May because she asked me a LOT of questions about surgery and the pirates. I noted in the previous chapter that there were a lot of little girls interested in pirates these days and many of them dressed up. This lass was their queen.

She hung around with Mark Gist a lot, probably because he looked like the pirate captain.

Mark noted that,

Photo: Dolphin Danie
"She spent at least three hours running around the ship. Her father said that she spent just as much time on the ship in May. She spent around 20 minutes steering the ship with her father calling directions. He has a sailboat so he knew what he was doing. She is wearing a recorder because of the staff member with the flute [Sarah] in May. She saw Zac come through a hatch and wanted to do it. I told her that she could have the run of the ship, too, if her father dressed like a pirate and helped us on the ship all weekend. She pulled off his hat and stuck her pirate hat on him."

I like to tease people who say that 'We do these things for the kids.' I always tell them that we do it for ourselves. And, in a way, I know I'm right - if it wasn't fun on some level, I sure wouldn't keep doing these things. Even your best friends get on your nerves after prolonged exposure.

Photo: Dolphin Danie
However, that is only in a way. I am frequently amazed at how the simplest things you do impact other people, especially if you do them without expectation and with integrity and sincerity. I don't know if this girl and her dad will return to help out. I hope they will. But even if they don't, you know you impressed something important about pirates and history about this girl's consciousness. She probably spent the next week talking to her parents and classmates about nothing else. Maybe she'll get into reenacting and spread that enthusiasm.

If has to be 'all about' anything for me, I guess it'd be all about joining in with and spreading the enthusiasm for this hobby I enjoy. Because I've noticed that you can always find a good time somewhere at a pirate event.

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As always, I must take a moment to thank the photographers who took the time to capture moments, post them where they could be seen and borrowed and gave me permission to use them.

Dolphin Danie Photo: DB Couper

Mark Gist Photo: DB Couper

These photographs are linked to the photographer's albums. Most are on Facebook, so you will have to be friends with them to actually see their albums.

Dufrenses Photo: Mission

Mission Photo: Mission

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The ship seems to bring out the artist in good photographers. (This is in contrast to your author who seems somewhat obvious to the potential for artistic photos while on the ship. Of course, I did say 'good' photographers.) Dolphin Danie, whom we've established as being cool, took some neat still life shots with which I'd like to start.

Photo: Dolphin Danie Looking down a sail

Photo: Dolphin Danie Ropes & Sheaves

Photo: Dolphin Danie Mark Gist's Cannon on board the ship

Danie also took a number of photos of the barrels in the hold of the ship which were neat. For some reason (and no one will ever be able to understand why), Zach climbed into one of the barrels. They put a rat on him, which I'm going to guess is some sort of reference to the plague as seen on the Horrible Histories with which all the Dufrense children seem most familiar.

Photo: Dolphin Danie Barrels in the bilge (or hold)

Photo: Dolphin Danie Zach in the barrel...

Photo: Dolphin Danie ...being nibbled by a rat

Photo: Dolphin Danie
Looking down a sail Danie got a number of shots of the various stairways on the ship too. (Are you sensing a theme here? Danie took a lot of interesting photos and I am using them for the bulk of the Epilogue page. What can I say? As I explained before, we are talking about good photographers here.)

The one at left I liked because it was like the stair way to the hold was looking up at the new, second stairway that had been installed this year to allow access and egress to the Quarter Deck. (As I recall, Mark Gist suggested that such may have been on the Santa Maria originally for you purists.) I do wonder if the old stairway was admiring the new stairway. Perhaps it was wishing that it, too, could have new wood. Or perhaps it was thinking what a hot little number that new stairway to the Quarter Deck was. Or perhaps I am just imposing my stray thoughts on inanimate objects.

Below are several other shots of the stairs to the hold, In the shot below right, I wonder whose hand that is pushing Zeke up? And why?

Photo: Dolphin Danie Zach on the way to the top

Photo: Dolphin Danie Gin a body meet a body coming up the stair

Photo: Mission You have to be extra careful when doing this...

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There were also some interesting shots of people, including a couple of neat photos of your author and one goofy one. I had to leave one out, though. (Guess which one it ended up being? Keep guessing, you're wrong.) The first one below was when I was chatting with the Dufrenses on Saturday afternoon. I really like the way the Patrick Hand Original™ Planter's hat is positioned in that one. The second is one Danie must have taken from the Quarter Deck. It almost looks like my brown waistcoat is ripped at the shoulder, doesn't it? The last one is just sort of bizarre.

Photo: Dolphin Danie Patrick Hand Original™ hat in the foreground, its slave in back

Photo: Dolphin Danie Ripped waistcoat?

Photo: Dolphin Danie "Welcome to my ashram, seeker."

Photo: Dolphin Danie

Photo: Dolphin Danie
Danie (natch) also took some good ones of Bryan Brubaker on the Quarterdeck.

I decided to include them because, although Bryan was around from Saturday evening all through the closing of the ship on Sunday, I didn't give him much Journal time. I think this is because we didn't talk about Star Wars enough.

See, Bryan is a space movie fan and I was a big Star Wars fan as a kid. Well, sort of. Indy was really my kind of movie series as I mentioned before, but the first Star Wars movie still holds a special place among my favorite movies.

Alexander also sort of got short shrift as far as face time goes in this Journal. Some people might say this is due to the author's neurotic fear of babies, but it's actually because, well, Alexander doesn't really do anything that interesting. As Dennis put it, "They just eat, sleep and poop." However, here are a few, none of which really give a lot of "face" time, because most of the time when you see him, he is just being held in way that hides his face so he doesn't yowl. (He was actually a pretty good baby for the most part. As far as babies go, that is.)

Photo: Mission Zach holding an apple, Danie holding Alex

Photo: The Dufrenses A nice shot of Alex & Danie

Photo: The Dufrenses Sometimes you DO need a pistol to change a diaper

Photo: Dolphin Danie
A sketch of the author by Danie

Photo: The Dufrenses
Zach as the Closet Monster
I don't usually add things to the Journal once they're posted. (unless I am correct errors. Ahem.) However, a couple of things came to light (or were left out. Ahem.) since I published this one and I thought I'd add them as they are releveant to what was said.

First, at left, is a picture of the author as drawn by Dolphin Danie. It is better than the ones I used to draw of myself, although I do look awfully innocent in this image.

Second, at right, we have Zach in his starring role as the Closet Monster. I was wrong about him wearing a wig, apparently. He looks like something out of Alice in Wonderland, doesn't he?

Then there were Zach and Zeke. If anything, they got way too much face time in this Journal, but who can resist? Had I been able to hang out on a pirate ship for a weekend dressed in period pirate clothes, I hope I would have had this much fun (and still have been as well behaved as they were.)

Photo: Mission Battle ready

Photo: Dolphin Danie The boys wrestling on the deck.

Photo: The Dufrenses Zeke is down for the count.

There were also some less alarming photos of the boys that make a nice way to close this Journal in my opinion. Well, OK, that last one is slightly alarming. (What would his dentist say?)

Photo: Mission Zeke looking out to sea

Photo: Mission Alfalfa Zeke!

Photo: Dolphin Danie Oooh. Dot's Scaddy!

 

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