[Mid] A Flamingo Tale

>>>Pink Flamingos??!!??
>>>I sincerely hope those much wiser than I can find MANY reasons why this
>>>should be rejected.

>>Sorry, Aonghas, you're =much= too late to protest. ;) The dear fiends -- I
>>mean friends -- of Mistress Grazia-Geralda de Navarre reregistered a
>>variant of Grazia's arms as a badge as a...er...gift, years ago. The
>>prominent charge of the badge, for reasons perhaps Best Not Retold*, is a
>>pink flamingo holding a holly branch in its foot.

>> * OTOH, I =am= a historian, and it doesn't ever take much armtwisting to
>> get stories out of me... :)

> twist, twist... had enough yet? :)

Well, since you asked... *grin*...

There are in the annals sagas of Royalty at Play, and of Things That Seemed
Like a Good Idea (or at least Harmless) At the Time. Such as knighting
inanimate objects, in jest.

It is said that HRM Hugo once knighted a guitar (Finnvarr? Do you know
anything further about this one?) and I have had it related to me that HRM
Talymar once knighted a teddy bear. That HRH Reynard knighted a plastic
lawn flamingo at Pennsic 17 is indisputable -- there were too many
witnesses to the event. That Grazia set the events in motion leading to the
flamingo getting the accolade...well...let's just say I'll bear witness.

Throughout the reign of Reynard and Brynhildr, flamingos became the Joke
that Refused to Die.* That the joke survived the reign is also Grazia's
Fault. Now, you must understand that I love Grazia dearly; she is one of my
protege-sisters (the only one who's left the nest). She is, however,
Sicilian in thought, manner and deed both in fact and in persona. And she
screams so nicely when provoked. Anyway, it got to the point that just the
word "flamingo" tended to touch off a fit of epic proportions. (I'm not
making this up. She was having her persona done by William Blackfox at
Pennsic one year, someone said "flamingo," and she carried on so long that
he couldn't resist ornamenting the background with a pink avian chorus
line.) So for years afterwards her dearest f/i/e/n/d/s friends presented
her with flamingo paraphanalia of every description...just to watch the
reaction.

I'm not sure who originally came up with the idea of the Grazia Heraldry
Project -- reregistering her coat of arms as a badge, incorporating a
flamingo, and presenting same to her as a gift. It might have been me, it
might have been Einarr, it could have been half a dozen other people. But
it seemed only fitting to wait for the Proper Moment to carry out the plan.

One year Grazia was hit by a series of personal disasters, including
serious illness of both parents, a death in the family, and herself falling
seriously ill. She was unable to attend Pennsic, and was sorely missed
(particularly by all the fighters she feeds every year on the mornings of
battle). I ended up going around the Northwoods, Darkyard and Ironwolf
encampments, taking up a collection to buy her some souvenirs.

It was amazing. Really. I'd tell this sad story, and people would nod in
commisseration and give a little.

I'd remind the fighters how often she'd fed them, and people would nod in
rememberance and give a little more.

I'd inform them that part of the proceeds were going to go toward the
Grazia Heraldry Project. =That's= when the wallets came out.

The reactions of the researchers at Heralds' Point were...well...pretty
priceless. But there appeared no problem with a flamingo, and no conflict
(other than with Grazia's own arms), so the badge got submitted. We bought
her lots of neat toys** with the remainder of the proceeds and smuggled
them into her apartment, and she was very happy we remembered her...

...well, at least until the April =Pale= came out with the Kingdom Herald's
report from Laurel.

She caught up with me at the next event. Suffice to say that her dulcet
tones and threats on my life were probably heard from one end of the hall
to the other (honest, I don't know why she decided to pin the blame on
=me...=) until I finally said, "Look, Grazia. It's not =who= did it. It's
=how many.="

Incredible. The carrying on ended in a single strangled startled squawk.

Thus ends the Heraldry chapter of Mistress Grazia and the flamingos...

Rhiannon Ottersdale

* Yep. More stories.

**I've related the emerald story elsewhere. Does anyone remember it?
From: Ree Moorhead Pruehs <rpruehs@ismi.net>
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Received on Fri Jan 2 18:31:31 1998