Poem: "Bunker Skills"
This poem came out of the March 3, 2015 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
janetmiles and Shirley Barrette. It also fills the "Come to the nerd side. We have pi(e)." square in my 3-2-15 card for the Pi(e) Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Mallory thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"Bunker Skills"
[Saturday June 7, 2015]
Mallory drifted through the faire,
borrowed skirts swishing around her ankles,
and tried to think of herself as this Maudelyn person
whom she was trying to portray.
Maudelyn was the daughter of travelers,
her parents sometimes working as traders
and other times as entertainers,
often in trouble and never knowing
what to do with themselves or their daughter.
It wasn't so far from the truth, really,
but setting it at a safe remove like this
made it somehow easier to deal with.
On one side of her walked Heron -- now calling
himself Crahin, their guide to this odd echo
of the past; and on the other side walked Maisie,
who was making a persona as Emma or Em
and who at any moment might have been
Ham (mooning over the fighters)
or Clement (staring at the chirurgeons)
or Mira (watching the crafters).
The smell of smoke wafted past,
carrying with it the sweet and savory smells
of things cooking over a campfire.
A plump middle-aged woman beckoned
25 for them to come into the open-air kitchen.
She wore dresses of dark green over dull red,
a white cloth covering her head and shoulders
and another over her lap as an apron.
"Come to the nerd side,"
she whispered. "We have pie."
"Rohesia," said Crahin with a laugh.
"It's good to see you again.
What workshop are you doing today?"
"Improvising in the Kitchen," said Rohesia,
"how to cook without common ingredients,
or making tasty food out of unusual ones."
"Oh, bunker skills," Em said
on a note of recognition, and
that sounded like Ham, but it was
clearly Mira who pulled their trio
into the demonstration.
Maudelyn looked askance at
the green pumpkin sitting on the sideboard.
"What do you plan to do with that?" she asked.
"As I just said, we're making pie," Rohesia explained.
"The trick is to do it without butter or sugar, or to use
something odd like an unripe pumpkin. We might not
always have the luxury of a modern kitchen and
all the supplies we could possibly want."
"It's good to be prepared," Maudelyn said,
who as Mallory had been an Activity Scout.
"That's why we learn bunker skills,"
Em agreed, reaching for a bowl.
"Even if we hope we don't have to use them,"
Crahin finished softly as pulled his knife
from the sheath at his belt.
So Maudelyn listened carefully
while Rohesia explained how to bake
a green pumpkin pie with a crust made
from almonds and yogurt and maple syrup.
They peeled and cut up the pumpkin,
saving the seeds for another recipe,
kneaded dough and fitted it into the pan,
and finally put the pie to bake
in an oven made from loose bricks.
By then Rohesia's older son Francis
had come to sit beside the table, making
some kind of cord, his long persimmon shirt
hanging over loose pants of pale gray.
Her older daughter Avice the Valiant
dropped by with her longbow in hand,
wearing a tunic over bare legs and sandals.
"New ingredients," Rohesia announced
as she brought out a basket of whole fish.
"You can't be serious," Maudelyn said.
"We're making stargazy pie next,"
Rohesia said with a firm nod.
"Huzzah!" said her younger daughter Lowdy,
just come from a dancing competition,
her tomato-red dress clinging to her damp skin.
Crahin already had his hands in the next crust,
and Em was looking over the fresh herbs.
"Fine," said Maudelyn when Rohesia
handed her the boiled eggs to peel.
Rohesia's younger son Pask
appeared next, his burgundy tunic
rucked up so he wouldn't trip over it,
and started industriously washing the dishes
they had used to make the green pumpkin pie.
A mouth-watering fragrance reminiscent of baked apples
was already floating up from the improvised oven.
Meanwhile the haybales around the kitchen area
had filled with an assortment of audience members,
some in ordinary clothes and others in faire garb.
"How come we've got such a crowd?" Maudelyn asked.
"It's pie day," Pask said seriously.
"Nobody wants to miss that."
When the pies finally came out of the oven
and were divided among the onlookers,
Maudelyn could understand why.
* * *
Notes:
Rohesia (Laura Lancaster) -- She has ruddy skin, brown eyes, and short curly brown hair. She is 45 years old in 2014, and turning plump over time. She has two daughters and two sons. Rohesia is her persona within the Society for Creative Anachronism. Her older son (age 25) Frank appears as Francis, a craftsman who makes a living through historical recreation with such skills as cordmaking, embroidery, felting, and carving. Rohesia's older daughter (age 20) Ava appears as Avice the Valiant: knight, archer, woodland scout, and a skilled repairwoman at maintaining arms and armor. Rohesia's younger daughter (age 17) Deanne appears as Lowdy, a talented dancer. Rohesia's younger son (age 9) Paulie appears as Pask, already adept at simple camping skills and eager to help.
Rohesia excels at practicing and teaching the skills of traditional cooking, kitchen work, and event management. She also researches and interprets domestic documents such as recipes and supply lists. Her day job is teaching high school history. She is a friend of Elisabeth Finn from their college days, and their children have grown up together in SCA.
Qualities: Master (+6) Feastocrat, Master (+6) Teacher, Expert (+4) Mother, Expert (+4) Weather Tolerance, Good (+2) Christian, Good (+2) Research and Interpretation, Good (+2) Steadfast
Francis (Frank Lancaster) -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and long brown hair with a short mustache and beard. He is 25 in 2014. Frank is the son of Rohesia (Laura Lancaster, age 45), older brother of Avice the Valiant (Ava, age 20), Lowdy (Deanne, age 17) and Pask (Paulie, age 9). They are family friends with the Finns through the Society for Creative Anachronism. Frank appears as Francis, a craftsman who makes a living through historical recreation with such skills as cordmaking, embroidery, felting, and carving. He's not good at seeing the big picture, though.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Dexterity, Expert (+4) Handicrafts, Good (+2) Industrious
Poor (-2) Seeing the Big Picture
Avice the Valiant (Ava Lancaster) -- She has fair skin, hazel eyes, and long wavy blonde hair. She is tall with a pear-shaped face and large breasts, but moderate hips. She is 20 years old in 2014. Ava is the daughter of Rohesia (Laura Lancaster, age 45), younger sister of Francis (Frank, age 25), older sister of Lowdy (Deanne, age 17) and Pask (Paulie, age 9). They are family friends with the Finns through the Society for Creative Anachronism. Ava appears as Avice the Valiant: knight, archer, woodland scout, and a skilled repairwoman at maintaining arms and armor. Outside SCA, she works as a first responder and a repairwoman. She's not good at backing down from challenges, though.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Warrior, Good (+2) First Responder, Good (+2) Repairwoman, Good (+2) Tough, Good (+2) Valiant
Poor (-2) Backing Down
Lowdy (Deanne Richards) -- She has fair skin, brown eyes, and straight brown hair just past her shoulders. She is short and slim with shallow curves. She is 17 years old in 2014. Lowdy is the daughter of Rohesia (Laura Lancaster, age 45), younger sister of Francis (Frank, age 25) and Avice the Valiant (Ava, age 20), older sister of Pask (Paulie, age 9). They are family friends with the Finns through the Society for Creative Anachronism. Deanne appears as Lowdy, a talented dancer. Her exuberance inspires other people to join in. She's always been a bouncy little girl, and everyone thought she'd grow out of it, but so far she hasn't. At school, Lowdy excels in Theatre and hopes to major in that at college later.
Qualities: Good (+2) Dancer, Good (+2) Exuberant, Good (+2) Inspiring People, Good (+2) Spatial Intelligence, Good (+2) Theatre Student
Poor (-2) Sitting Still
Pask (Paulie Lancaster) -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and curly brown hair to his chin. He is 9 years old in 2014. Paulie is the son of Rohesia (Laura Lancaster, age 45), younger brother of Francis (Frank, age 25), Avice the Valiant (Ava, age 20), Lowdy (Deanne, age 17) and Pask (Paulie, age 9). They are family friends with the Finns through the Society for Creative Anachronism. Pask is already adept at simple camping skills and eager to help. He's small for his age, though, which limits some of what he can do.
Qualities: Good, (+2) Camping Skills, Good (+2) Helpful
Poor (-2) Small for His Age
* * *
The Society for Creative Anachronism is one example of historical reenactment. Worth mentioning, in Terramagne Dr. Infanta was one of the people in the park when it was established.
Survival skills, along with traditional arts and sciences, are among the things taught in SCA. You can learn the basics of most skills in about 20 hours. That can be 20 one-hour lessons, 5 half-day workshops, or a 1 weekend of cramming.
Apocalypse cooking has a lot in common with period cooking.
There are text and video recipes for making Apple Pie without Butter and Sugar.
Green Pumpkin Pie is good too.
Unripe pumpkin seeds are tasty and useful.
Stargazy Pie is a Cornish tradition.
janetmiles and Shirley Barrette. It also fills the "Come to the nerd side. We have pi(e)." square in my 3-2-15 card for the Pi(e) Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Mallory thread of the Polychrome Heroics series."Bunker Skills"
[Saturday June 7, 2015]
Mallory drifted through the faire,
borrowed skirts swishing around her ankles,
and tried to think of herself as this Maudelyn person
whom she was trying to portray.
Maudelyn was the daughter of travelers,
her parents sometimes working as traders
and other times as entertainers,
often in trouble and never knowing
what to do with themselves or their daughter.
It wasn't so far from the truth, really,
but setting it at a safe remove like this
made it somehow easier to deal with.
On one side of her walked Heron -- now calling
himself Crahin, their guide to this odd echo
of the past; and on the other side walked Maisie,
who was making a persona as Emma or Em
and who at any moment might have been
Ham (mooning over the fighters)
or Clement (staring at the chirurgeons)
or Mira (watching the crafters).
The smell of smoke wafted past,
carrying with it the sweet and savory smells
of things cooking over a campfire.
A plump middle-aged woman beckoned
25 for them to come into the open-air kitchen.
She wore dresses of dark green over dull red,
a white cloth covering her head and shoulders
and another over her lap as an apron.
"Come to the nerd side,"
she whispered. "We have pie."
"Rohesia," said Crahin with a laugh.
"It's good to see you again.
What workshop are you doing today?"
"Improvising in the Kitchen," said Rohesia,
"how to cook without common ingredients,
or making tasty food out of unusual ones."
"Oh, bunker skills," Em said
on a note of recognition, and
that sounded like Ham, but it was
clearly Mira who pulled their trio
into the demonstration.
Maudelyn looked askance at
the green pumpkin sitting on the sideboard.
"What do you plan to do with that?" she asked.
"As I just said, we're making pie," Rohesia explained.
"The trick is to do it without butter or sugar, or to use
something odd like an unripe pumpkin. We might not
always have the luxury of a modern kitchen and
all the supplies we could possibly want."
"It's good to be prepared," Maudelyn said,
who as Mallory had been an Activity Scout.
"That's why we learn bunker skills,"
Em agreed, reaching for a bowl.
"Even if we hope we don't have to use them,"
Crahin finished softly as pulled his knife
from the sheath at his belt.
So Maudelyn listened carefully
while Rohesia explained how to bake
a green pumpkin pie with a crust made
from almonds and yogurt and maple syrup.
They peeled and cut up the pumpkin,
saving the seeds for another recipe,
kneaded dough and fitted it into the pan,
and finally put the pie to bake
in an oven made from loose bricks.
By then Rohesia's older son Francis
had come to sit beside the table, making
some kind of cord, his long persimmon shirt
hanging over loose pants of pale gray.
Her older daughter Avice the Valiant
dropped by with her longbow in hand,
wearing a tunic over bare legs and sandals.
"New ingredients," Rohesia announced
as she brought out a basket of whole fish.
"You can't be serious," Maudelyn said.
"We're making stargazy pie next,"
Rohesia said with a firm nod.
"Huzzah!" said her younger daughter Lowdy,
just come from a dancing competition,
her tomato-red dress clinging to her damp skin.
Crahin already had his hands in the next crust,
and Em was looking over the fresh herbs.
"Fine," said Maudelyn when Rohesia
handed her the boiled eggs to peel.
Rohesia's younger son Pask
appeared next, his burgundy tunic
rucked up so he wouldn't trip over it,
and started industriously washing the dishes
they had used to make the green pumpkin pie.
A mouth-watering fragrance reminiscent of baked apples
was already floating up from the improvised oven.
Meanwhile the haybales around the kitchen area
had filled with an assortment of audience members,
some in ordinary clothes and others in faire garb.
"How come we've got such a crowd?" Maudelyn asked.
"It's pie day," Pask said seriously.
"Nobody wants to miss that."
When the pies finally came out of the oven
and were divided among the onlookers,
Maudelyn could understand why.
* * *
Notes:
Rohesia (Laura Lancaster) -- She has ruddy skin, brown eyes, and short curly brown hair. She is 45 years old in 2014, and turning plump over time. She has two daughters and two sons. Rohesia is her persona within the Society for Creative Anachronism. Her older son (age 25) Frank appears as Francis, a craftsman who makes a living through historical recreation with such skills as cordmaking, embroidery, felting, and carving. Rohesia's older daughter (age 20) Ava appears as Avice the Valiant: knight, archer, woodland scout, and a skilled repairwoman at maintaining arms and armor. Rohesia's younger daughter (age 17) Deanne appears as Lowdy, a talented dancer. Rohesia's younger son (age 9) Paulie appears as Pask, already adept at simple camping skills and eager to help.
Rohesia excels at practicing and teaching the skills of traditional cooking, kitchen work, and event management. She also researches and interprets domestic documents such as recipes and supply lists. Her day job is teaching high school history. She is a friend of Elisabeth Finn from their college days, and their children have grown up together in SCA.
Qualities: Master (+6) Feastocrat, Master (+6) Teacher, Expert (+4) Mother, Expert (+4) Weather Tolerance, Good (+2) Christian, Good (+2) Research and Interpretation, Good (+2) Steadfast
Francis (Frank Lancaster) -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and long brown hair with a short mustache and beard. He is 25 in 2014. Frank is the son of Rohesia (Laura Lancaster, age 45), older brother of Avice the Valiant (Ava, age 20), Lowdy (Deanne, age 17) and Pask (Paulie, age 9). They are family friends with the Finns through the Society for Creative Anachronism. Frank appears as Francis, a craftsman who makes a living through historical recreation with such skills as cordmaking, embroidery, felting, and carving. He's not good at seeing the big picture, though.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Dexterity, Expert (+4) Handicrafts, Good (+2) Industrious
Poor (-2) Seeing the Big Picture
Avice the Valiant (Ava Lancaster) -- She has fair skin, hazel eyes, and long wavy blonde hair. She is tall with a pear-shaped face and large breasts, but moderate hips. She is 20 years old in 2014. Ava is the daughter of Rohesia (Laura Lancaster, age 45), younger sister of Francis (Frank, age 25), older sister of Lowdy (Deanne, age 17) and Pask (Paulie, age 9). They are family friends with the Finns through the Society for Creative Anachronism. Ava appears as Avice the Valiant: knight, archer, woodland scout, and a skilled repairwoman at maintaining arms and armor. Outside SCA, she works as a first responder and a repairwoman. She's not good at backing down from challenges, though.
Qualities: Expert (+4) Warrior, Good (+2) First Responder, Good (+2) Repairwoman, Good (+2) Tough, Good (+2) Valiant
Poor (-2) Backing Down
Lowdy (Deanne Richards) -- She has fair skin, brown eyes, and straight brown hair just past her shoulders. She is short and slim with shallow curves. She is 17 years old in 2014. Lowdy is the daughter of Rohesia (Laura Lancaster, age 45), younger sister of Francis (Frank, age 25) and Avice the Valiant (Ava, age 20), older sister of Pask (Paulie, age 9). They are family friends with the Finns through the Society for Creative Anachronism. Deanne appears as Lowdy, a talented dancer. Her exuberance inspires other people to join in. She's always been a bouncy little girl, and everyone thought she'd grow out of it, but so far she hasn't. At school, Lowdy excels in Theatre and hopes to major in that at college later.
Qualities: Good (+2) Dancer, Good (+2) Exuberant, Good (+2) Inspiring People, Good (+2) Spatial Intelligence, Good (+2) Theatre Student
Poor (-2) Sitting Still
Pask (Paulie Lancaster) -- He has fair skin, brown eyes, and curly brown hair to his chin. He is 9 years old in 2014. Paulie is the son of Rohesia (Laura Lancaster, age 45), younger brother of Francis (Frank, age 25), Avice the Valiant (Ava, age 20), Lowdy (Deanne, age 17) and Pask (Paulie, age 9). They are family friends with the Finns through the Society for Creative Anachronism. Pask is already adept at simple camping skills and eager to help. He's small for his age, though, which limits some of what he can do.
Qualities: Good, (+2) Camping Skills, Good (+2) Helpful
Poor (-2) Small for His Age
* * *
The Society for Creative Anachronism is one example of historical reenactment. Worth mentioning, in Terramagne Dr. Infanta was one of the people in the park when it was established.
Survival skills, along with traditional arts and sciences, are among the things taught in SCA. You can learn the basics of most skills in about 20 hours. That can be 20 one-hour lessons, 5 half-day workshops, or a 1 weekend of cramming.
Apocalypse cooking has a lot in common with period cooking.
There are text and video recipes for making Apple Pie without Butter and Sugar.
Green Pumpkin Pie is good too.
Unripe pumpkin seeds are tasty and useful.
Stargazy Pie is a Cornish tradition.