Balls and Walnuts
more than you ever wanted to know
Now, this is special . . .
We came back from Bakersfield today, and along the way we passed a huge fenced area on the western side of the highway, near the Fink Road exit (Exit 428?) I mean, we’re talking huge, with what look like 15-foot-tall or higher fences, as if they feared being overrun by giraffes. There’s some sort of factory in the middle of all that land, but no signs. Very mysterious. If you do a Google Map search for “Crow’s Landing Fink Rd.”, click ‘satellite,’ and pan left, you’ll see what I’m talking about.
So I googled “Fink Rd. I-5 gated” and came up with this very odd invitation . . .
Daniel and Aeschine,
Prince and Princess of Cynagua, request the pleasure of your company at the Investiture of Their Heirs,
Eric and Annora
on Saturday, July Eleventh at:
Harvest Hall – 3800 Cornicopia Way in Modesto, California.
The Lady of the Swan and Her Incipient Champion invite you to attend a Pas de Arms between Investiture Court and the Feast.
FEAST:
Barone Antonio Giordano da Sicilia will be preparing a bountiful feast. Pre-sale tickets will be available on-line via ACCEPS for $10 for Adults (>12) and $5 for Children (12 and under). The feast is capped at 80 tickets. If there are spaces left, tickets will be available at gate.
Menu (Subject to change – please address any questions to the head cook)
Salad, Bread, Leek Soup
Roasted Chicken Breast with a Basil-Verjuice Sauce, Asparagus with Shallots, Mustard Greens
Cold-sliced Beef with Pepper-Vinegar, Zuchini with Fennel Seeds, Garlic Mushrooms
Roasted Pork with a White Wine Onion Sauce, Cabbage with Fennel and Onion, Carrots in Ginger Sauce
Assorted Table Grapes
ARTS & SCIENCES COMPETITIONS:
Games and Toys
Any Item Using the Cynaguan Black Swan
Research Paper: Cooking for the Viking Hearth
There will also be a display table for the members of the populace to show the items they have created.
Details regarding other activities will be added as they become available.
Site Fees:
Members $10
Non-members $13
Youth aged 5 to 12 years $5
Children aged 4 years and under $0
Autocrat: Dona Eleonora Lucretia del Fiore
I was a little curious about the Principality of Cynagua, so I googled that, too, and found a pic of the Prince and Princess in the royal flesh.
Turns out this is all part of the Society for Creative Anachronism, “a group devoted to the recreation of the Middle Ages ‘as they ought to have been.’ choosing to ‘selectively recreate the culture, choosing elements of the culture that interest and attract us.'” I guess that means gallons of mead and dozens of buxom wenches!
Now, the curious thing is, I wouldn’t have found out about this if I had searched “Fink Rd. I-5 fenced” — I mean, ‘gated’ was kind of a mistake, yet somehow it had pulled up a SCA party.
Back to my investigations . . . A search for “Crow’s Landing Fink Rd.” led me here and then here, where I found some truly wild speculations about the site. A NASA Ames Area 51-style research lab? A naval base (where the nearest water is the California Aqueduct)? A detention facility?
Probably something far more pedestrian . . . it’s may be some sort of waste treatment plant.
Ok guys, calm down, the big fence is to keep garbage (papers, cups, plastic, etc) that escapes the primary containment area from blowing out onto the freeway and causing a crash on I-5.
If you take note of the fence, it is tall and lanky like one that might surround a gold course driving range. It is clearly *not* a high security perimeter fence. The fence is so tall due to the geographic location of the plant against the hills and the attendant high winds that are often present there.
Yup, a waste treatment plant, right next to the aqueduct. I liked it better when I thought it was the Principality of Cynagua.
D.
