dancing between the raindrops

The forecast for yesterday was absolutely dismal, but this was Atlatl Day, one of Jesse's favorite events of the entire year, as evidenced by the fact that this is the fourth year in a row that it's been featured on this blog (and we've been going for even longer than that). Leah's been out a lot lately, so she chose to stick around home and work on her own projects while Scott was baking for the day. Jesse and I packed up our wet weather gear and headed out. It was still raining when we left home, but the rain got lighter as we neared the shore and it actually stopped raining by the time we arrived!

It's now held at Hammonasset State Park, so we walked over to the beach before heading a little further inland to our destination within the park. We were psyched to discover that the atlatl and flint-knapping event were combined with the Hammonasset Festival this year, with vendors, exhibitors, and a full day-long schedule of entertainment and events "celebrating Native American culture and spirit, honoring the environment and her ecology."

Jesse, of course, was most interested in the atlatl practice sessions and later competitions.

His spears are the ones with black fletching, shown here in the mastodon's foot and neck. I and many other passersby tried spear-throwing with atlatls and I can tell you that even coming near to the target is a feat, let alone sinking a spear in the area where you're aiming!

There was one period of raindrops that turned into a downpour as we reached the pavilion for shelter, but otherwise the day was dry. I loved the Native American music and dancing, the demonstrations by craftspeople and organizations, and especially the birds of prey demonstration. Jesse joined me here and there, but mostly he was launching those spears, including holding his own in a round with world-ranked atlatlists and continuing until closing time. Again. :-)

Home in time for a round of soapmaking ('tis the season!) and a spectacular thunder and lightning storm. So much happy chatter around the house, with all four of us having stories to share about our day.