[Artemisia] A New Discussion - SCA Skills in a Modern Plague

[Susan E. Macnamara]

This has been a very interesting topic! I've had a morbid fascination  
w/the plague since becoming a SCAdian. There is one book in particular  
that may relate to what we might experience. I don't recall the name  
but it is the story of a village surviving the plague written from the  
3rd person POV of a priest. One question we'd have to deal with as a  
community would be spirituality/existential issues.  
Organized/disorganized religion would likely become very relevant for  
many of us.

Missing sugar was mentioned. Of more importance is salt. So BLS would  
have a great trade advantage. Likely we'd become a major producer and  
exporter of the stuff!

 From a woman's perspective: what about tampons? There are menstrual  
cups that are reusable on the market. Also sponges are used in some  
parts of the world.

WARNING: possible TMI follows: I used one for a while when in college.  
It wasn't very practical because our modern public bathrooms aren't  
exactly socially amenable to rinsing one out in the sink. That might  
be a problem solved, however, by more "basic" facilities. I stored the  
sponge in vinegar, BTW, between uses for hygienic purposes. Have no  
idea whether or not this really was a safe practice.

Certainly my hand sewing skills would come in handy. Ultimately thread  
and fabric would become an issue. But initially fabric wouldn't be a  
problem. We all have way too many clothes! These could be  
reworked/remade for quite awhile. Plus, if we're talking a significant  
die off of the population, for a number of reasons, there would be all  
the clothes of the deceased to use.

Further thought on clothes. I don't think burkas would become a  
fashion choice, but certainly in many parts of Artemisia being more  
covered up would be the choice of many. Sun block creams would  
disappear pretty quickly and we'd all be outside a lot more. I think  
our bodies would have to adjust to the lack of AC and the harshness of  
the heat. My husband took a sabbatical from work in 2000 and spent  
some time hiking in southern Utah. He found after a while the heat  
didn't bother him nearly as much as it did at first.

Another group that would have supplies for survival, at least early  
on, would be river runners. Sounds strange, but this is a group that  
has developed some simple ways to filter water using gravity and oar  
tripods. Any such devices would become very precious, of course.

My, what fun this is! Thanks, Duke Alan, for kicking us into action  
with this topic. Suddenly the Aerie is much busier.

Luveday de Saleford