{"id":21198,"date":"2025-10-06T17:42:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T21:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/?p=21198"},"modified":"2025-10-06T17:42:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T21:42:02","slug":"viking-sales-and-setbacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/?p=21198","title":{"rendered":"Viking sales and setbacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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My apologies to anyone <\/strong>who may \u2013 possibly \u2013 have come to Viking Fest Minnesota <\/a>in Farmington on Sunday, and found me not among those present. It was due to what television announcers, when I was young, used to call \u201ccircumstances beyond our control.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I drove down to the Dakota County fairgrounds on Saturday morning, without incident. I babied Sigrid the Haughty, my Subaru Forester, as planned, and she did not overheat. My confidence in her grew \u2013 I felt I could probably continue driving her lightly until I get a different car \u2013 as long as it\u2019s soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day went fine. The festival is set up in two sections \u2013 there\u2019s the central area for the hard-core reenactors, so that visitors can get some idea of an authentic, period Viking camp. Few or no modern objects on view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around that is the periphery, where I was posted. Mostly vendors. A lot of people from the Renaissance Fest. Crafts, mystical crystals, knickknacks. I was there, with my tables of books. I had a friend manning the booth with me, selling a few of our club\u2019s white elephants. We chatted pleasantly. Many people came by, and a fair number of them bought books. I saw a couple visiting friends. The weather was unseasonably warm \u2013 almost 90 degrees Fahrenheit. And the wind was annoying \u2013 not as bad as Minot had been, but several times we had to set things aright after they\u2019d been knocked over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it was over, at 6:00 p.m., we moved my books and gear into a friend\u2019s tent for the night. My plan was to go home to sleep, and return the following morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I headed for the parking lot, I was stopped by someone (I won\u2019t identify them, or even their sex) whom I didn\u2019t know personally, but who knew who I was. Facebook friend. They greeted me and told me they were on my side. They were aware of some trouble I\u2019ve had with a different Viking event \u2013 something I haven\u2019t written about here, and still won\u2019t for the time being. They said  they didn\u2019t entirely agree with my opinions, but they supported my right to express them. I told them this was very gratifying, which it was. I left with a warm glow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That glow faded as the engine temperature in my car spiked, just a couple miles outside of town. I ended up calling AAA for a tow home. I called one of the Vikings to tell him I wouldn\u2019t be able to be there on Sunday. I no longer trust Sigrid the Haughty to get me places.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not practical to replace a head gasket on an old Forester with turbo. So I\u2019ll be getting a different car. Just as soon as I can move some money around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I can get it in time, I plan to be at the festival next weekend. If not, so be it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh yes \u2013 it rained yesterday and some of my books got wet. Not the fault of the guy whose tent was sheltering them \u2013 these are the chances you take when you camp out. Or when your books camp out. Books are essentially indoor pets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m not griping. I have my health (mostly). I am alive, and free, and not living on the street. This too shall pass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My apologies to anyone who may \u2013 possibly \u2013 have come to Viking Fest Minnesota in Farmington on Sunday, and found me not among those present. It was due to what television announcers, when I was young, used to call \u201ccircumstances beyond our control.\u201d I drove down to the Dakota County fairgrounds on Saturday morning, … Continue reading Viking sales and setbacks<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[5725,3272],"class_list":["post-21198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bookselling","category-uncategorized","tag-viking-fest-minnesota","tag-vikings"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21198"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21199,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21198\/revisions\/21199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}