Castle Building

          As the plane rolled to a screeching stop, I slid my widow shade up to take a look at our new home. This day had been six long years in the making, with endless phone calls, faxes and trips to see the progress and discuss the architecture- but finally it was done and ready to be lived in.
          My husband, Rick, gripped my sweaty hand, which was pulsating with excitement. Our son, who had flown us in the plane (he had acquired his pilots license six months earlier), came back from the cockpit, led us off the plane and escorted us across the yard to stop in front of the moat.
          Yes. A moat. We had built a castle. A full-scale stone castle, complete with turrets and arrow slits. It had been a life long dream for Rick and me, as we were both frequent faire goers and active in our local SCA (Society of Creative Anachronism) group. We could think of little better than living in a castle.
Our castle staff lowered the draw bridge and came out to greet us, wearing our castle’s insignia and colours; a blue hawk swooping through a golden ring with a green branch in one talon. It was a compromise between Rick’s family crest and my own.
          Our staff was mostly friends and past employees from various Renaissance Faires and Festivals. They all knew how to handle an exuberant faire people group, which was fortunate as we planned to host a Faire on our grounds during the summer. We greeted them with hugs and tears and offered a tour of the castle to our son.
          We spent the next three hours or so, walking around the castle, showing him the great hall, the kitchen, the many bed chambers, the chapel, and the ornate fireplaces. We had opted for a modernized castle, with heating and air condition, but we wanted to keep the historical appeal of the castle with fireplaces in each room. It had cost a few extra hundred thousand dollars, but looking at the finished product and hearing the appreciative murmurs made it completely worth it.
          We settled into the castle without a hitch and all was well, until January rolled around…..