A picture may equal a thousand words, and some characteristics of people show in their faces, but I'm going to start a report about individual Downers, as I always enjoy reading what others have to say about the people they've met.
I must begin with a confession - I fell in love with one of the participants. The person is hilariously witty, absolutely charming, lovably cuddly - and two years old. I so enjoyed the WereDuckling! She will forget our encounter, I'm sure, but I'll always remember her adorable smile, and playing "oopsie spider" and "Hoppe Reiter" with her.
Oh yes, her parents were also present
- I'd met
Rikae and
Mac before, but only briefly, so I enjoyed getting to know them better this time. They are fun to have around and a good-looking couple to boot.
I've met
Squatter on numerous occasions and always enjoy hearing him talk about so many Tolkien matters with so much knowledge and erudition. He is as crazy as ever, especially in combination with
Hookbill. Their conversations were often hilariously wacky. The esteemed editor of the Downer was so kind as to draw a special Phantom and Alien comic strip on the event page of my Tolkien scrapbook, which I shall photograph and show in the near future.
Fortunately for the reputation of the nation, there was one normal Brit attending -
Kath! She is a delightful person! I met her briefly at Oxonmoot one year and enjoyed getting to know her better now.
Rune is another Downer I'd already met at other events, so his definitely strange sense of humour wasn't new to me. Conversation is never boring (and rarely family-friendly!) when he's around.
The rest of the participants were new to me, though familiar by nick from their forum posts, so I was very curious to meet them! I knew that
Pitchwife lives in Germany, so leaving the country to meet him was a rather amusing detour. He's a very likeable and interesting person, and comes across as equally smart and witty, just like his posts.
Skip is another fascinating person to talk to, and musical as well. His guitar playing at the bonfire really added to the atmosphere - and he dances too!
(Yes, he does have some resemblance to a Blues Brother when he wears sunglasses and a hat...)
Oddwen seems reserved at first, but when she says something, it's very, very funny! She has a wicked sense of humour and a way with words that make her interesting to be around.
Since
Shasta posts mostly on threads that aren't as familiar to me, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, he was very easy to get to know, a great conversationalist with a real talent for performance and a charming smile.
I've often read
Legate's thoughtful and well-written posts, so I looked forward to meeting him in person. He is just as intelligent as I expected him to be, and one of the people who actually thinks when talking! I also appreciated his friendliness as a guide when he accompanied me to an activity on one day which I would otherwise have had to do alone.
Like several of the other participants,
Volo posts mostly on werewolf threads, which I don't often read, but his nick was familiar to me as the person who didn't let the Downs photo gallery die. He really does walk barefoot a lot, but if he's a Hobbit, then he's drunk too much Entdraught, because he's so tall and has such long hair! His personality is just as charming as his looks.
Last but most certainly not least come our wonderful hosts! All four of them encountered us with a great deal of warmth and they went all out to make us feel at home. They planned activities, cooked food, and were our tourist guides.
Nogrod was the chief organizer, always willing to look up information for us and to figure out how to coordinate everything. He is also a wicked werewolf (player) who had lil' ol' inexperienced me completely fooled! I was one of the participants who stayed at his place, and his collection of books is mind-blowing. He is also very funny, and he plays guitar really well! He and
Skip jammed together and we all enjoyed that.
Lommy is a sweetheart! She is such a friendly person, always making us feel comfortable and willing to show us around and explain the history involved in various sites to us non-Finns. And of course she's one half of a very cute couple!
What words can I use to describe
Greenie that I haven't already used for others?! When she smiles, you feel like the sun rises. She is a very talented musician whose singing and
kantele playing charmed and moved us.
Aganzir is both charming and wicked, and she has a talent for bringing out similar qualities in others. Her teasing conversation is always amusing but never mean. Besides that, she bakes very good bread!
Did I already mention that all four of them are great cooks?!
Anyway, staying with this whole group for so many days really made each of them special to me. It was hard to say farewell to them on the last evening and to leave in the morning. I'm glad I was able to be there with them all and had a wonderful time!