Steed and Bear arrived Friday evening from MFF, and we went out for dinner and hung out. They stayed overnight and this morning we had breakfast (I made an apple-filled German pancake, with bacon and lots of coffee) and we played around with the horses and dogs and then took photos of Steed in his fursuit before they went back to the hotel to catch the parade and head home.

So I got a little bit of MFF without actually having to brave the madness.

Went grocery shopping, and observed that the price of gasoline is fluctuating wildly in town here. This week the observed prices have been:

Monday about 8 pm, $2.62
Tuesday afternoon, $2.63
Thursday about 8 pm, $2.75
Saturday 2:30 pm, $2.59
Saturday 4:00 pm, $2.57

This is all recorded at the exact same station. Meanwhile, up in Harvard, prices have been locked solid at $2.74 for a couple of weeks. Down in Dekalb on Thursday the price seemed to be $2.59 everywhere I looked, and it was similar to that in Indiana last Sunday. In Ohio I saw one station at $2.39, though, and several at $2.44.

Some NaNo progress, gaining ground but not fast enough.

Current word count: 19,878
Today's quota: 35,007

Tags: farm, friends, mff, nanowrimo, writing
Current Location: Home in the oak grove
Mood: busy

Our farrier friend's wife called and said he was under the weather and they were out of bedding straw for their horses. She couldn't find a source within reachable distance, did we know of one? Well, not offhand, but Gary offered to hit the cheapest local source of shaved wood bedding and bring them a dozen bales. So we dropped everything, ran to Union Feed, loaded up Gary's station wagon with wood shavings (not loose, they come in plastic bags) and stopped by the local grocery to get some lunch fixings, then made the 21 mile drive to John and Linda's.

Unpacked the shavings, after which I got to pet and smooch several horses including my old favorite, Accelerator, who I know recognizes me and always comes for a hug. In fact, he kept making a fuss when I tried to walk away from him, banging on the gate with a hoof to get my attention until I finally told him to stop it. John has a new quarter horse paint stud who is really handsome though a bit over-spirited for my taste. After I'd petted and snugged him a bit and he'd nibbled on my coat pocket flaps and ears as many horses seem to like doing, Linda called to me to be careful as he is "nippy" and might take a chunk out of me. Well, no. We got along fine and he is very sexy and handsome even if not quite as personally affectionate as Accelerator is. Talked to and petted John's gray dapple mare also, who is really pretty and sweet but seems not to have many brains. She tangles herself in everything hurtful she can find, most recently a wire fence that cut her face badly though it has mostly healed without serious scarring. They have one yearling Haflinger colt and he's a sweetie too. I can't have any more horses than I have now, but I'd have loved to bring him home with me. Didn't visit their sheep or nutty llama as the snow is too deep.

We had a reasonably healthy lunch of sliced turkey sandwiches, low fat chicken noodle soup, and some blueberry pie (well, it has anti-oxidants, right?) and a nice chat before hurrying back home to take care of our own critters.

Contrary to the weather forecast, the sun never came out today and it snowed very lightly most of the time. I don't think the groundhog saw any shadow though.

Tags: friends, horses
Mood: sleepy

Dropped the car off again this morning to have the windshield washer pump replaced (they couldn't get the part in time last week) and then swung by the library to pick up my paycheck and return a book. I have today as vacation, and part-time colleague Carolyn was at the desk. She's covering for my hours today, in part. She greeted me with "I know where you were."

Sure enough, she did. She had read about the con in a newspaper, I guess. My fursuit badge was still in my pocket and I showed it to her. She was quite affirming actually, and said she thought it sounded like a lot of fun.

So... Obviously it isn't always as necessary to hide furriness as we seem to think. Intelligent people are not ready to believe the drek and nonsense that comes out of tabloid journalism like MTV and CSI. They see us for what we are, certainly harmless and unthreatening, and at worst eccentric.

As someone (I forget who, sorry) pointed out at innerwolf's panel on Saturday morning, if you went to a Shriner's convention for a weekend, no one would make a pariah of you for it, yet the Shriner's are notoriously eccentric in some of what they do and certainly can be just as strange as anything furry. So there it is.

Off to have lunch and see Harry Potter movie 4 with my mate, since he took care of the farm by himself all weekend. NaNoWriMo and the podcast will have to wait a bit longer.

Tags: friends, furrycons
Mood: giggly

So here's the rest of it:

( Con report behind cut )

Tags: friends, furrycons, fursuits
Mood: giddy

Back home safely, happy, tired, wish it were longer even though I know I'd have been completely overcome by it then.
[EDIT November 21 to add some details omitted first time.]

( Longish MFF con report under cut )

Tags: friends, furrycons, fursuits
Mood: exhausted