Nov. 13th, 2002 10:09 am
Synchronicity
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muckefuckLast night, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monshu asked what I wanted to do this weekend and I said, "JOUSTING!" He laughed and I responded, "It's the state sport of Maryland, y'know!" I don't know why this was on my mind. I was born in Maryland, but I haven't lived there in decades. My uncle raises horses near Silver Springs, but if he's ever jousted, I haven't heard of it--and, besides, I never hear from him anyway. Mulling these things over a few days ago, I thought, Hmm, Maryland must be more 'horsey' than I knew. Not surprising, considering that I've only experienced it as a child and not a child of the horsey set.
In any case, this morning I heard a news report on the Maryland State Jousting Championship. Just so y'all know, this style of joust doesn't involve tilting at another rider. Jousters compete to schnag small rings (the smallest the size of a LifeSaver™) on the tips of their lances. The most interesting bit of the report for me was the news that jousting recently fended off a challenge to its state sport status from duckpins. (A form of bowling with pins so small it's possible to strike out by passing between them.) My dad's not a bowler, but it's a sport he's talked about fondly.
Still, my loyalty is with jousting. It's just so wonderfully archaic--not to mention classy. (Even if riders tend to wear jeans rather than jodhpurs.) Plenty of states, I'm sure, have inclusive, plebeian state sports that don't require thousands of dollars in annual expenditure to participate in. Let 'em have 'em! And be the battle queen of yore, Maryland! My Maryland!
monshu asked what I wanted to do this weekend and I said, "JOUSTING!" He laughed and I responded, "It's the state sport of Maryland, y'know!" I don't know why this was on my mind. I was born in Maryland, but I haven't lived there in decades. My uncle raises horses near Silver Springs, but if he's ever jousted, I haven't heard of it--and, besides, I never hear from him anyway. Mulling these things over a few days ago, I thought, Hmm, Maryland must be more 'horsey' than I knew. Not surprising, considering that I've only experienced it as a child and not a child of the horsey set.In any case, this morning I heard a news report on the Maryland State Jousting Championship. Just so y'all know, this style of joust doesn't involve tilting at another rider. Jousters compete to schnag small rings (the smallest the size of a LifeSaver™) on the tips of their lances. The most interesting bit of the report for me was the news that jousting recently fended off a challenge to its state sport status from duckpins. (A form of bowling with pins so small it's possible to strike out by passing between them.) My dad's not a bowler, but it's a sport he's talked about fondly.
Still, my loyalty is with jousting. It's just so wonderfully archaic--not to mention classy. (Even if riders tend to wear jeans rather than jodhpurs.) Plenty of states, I'm sure, have inclusive, plebeian state sports that don't require thousands of dollars in annual expenditure to participate in. Let 'em have 'em! And be the battle queen of yore, Maryland! My Maryland!