Musings

Last night Pat Rogers and Scott Denning hosted their Halloween party. We were also celebrating Pat’s birthday so it was a joyous occasion all around. Now you have to understand that when Pat and Scott throw a party it’s AN EVENT. Two years ago the Halloween party had a pirate theme complete with buried treasure and the skeleton of a pirate, ghost stories around the bonfire, Scott looking devastatingly handsome in his full coat, tricorn and lace.

Well last night’s party was an Egyptian theme. It was stunning. Beautiful. Eerie. Magical. When we walked through the gates we were met with banners with pictures of the Egyptian gods. Our way was lit by firelitos decorated with Egyptian symbols. The front garden was adorned with twenty or thirty pumpkins carved into haunting faces, candles flickering inside. (The pumpkins were all grown by Pat and Scott which somehow added to the wonder.)

As we approached the front door of the house we went past an camp site with a sign that stated British Museum expedition 1921, which was a copy of the opening scene from the original Mummy. There was a mummy laid out on the table, a camp chair, boxes, it was perfect.

Then we entered the house. The walls were covered with hiroglyphics and paintings of the gods. It was stunning. Walter Williams pointed out to me that Pat and Scott had thrown sand on the hangings so they looked like stone. A painted sarcophagus stood against one wall.

Pat (who is six feet tall and very beautiful) was wearing an Egyptian robe, and diadem, and an exquisite beaded necklace with scarabs and lapis and (I think) jet and coral. She had made it. I’m not very talented when it comes to the visual arts or that kind of craft work so I was in complete awe at her talent. Scott wore a tunic with a leopard skin, and a headdress. He’s is even taller than his wife and very handsome and distinguished. I felt like I should have been burning incense and making an offering to them.

There were many other outstanding costumes, Chris Krohn and Pati Nagle must be mentioned, with headdresses made by Judith Rauchfus (I think I blew the spelling on her last name.) Anyway, Judith is a wonderful artist and dancer and she makes masks for the Cirque de Soliel. There was a fellow dressed as Moses, and at one point he was talking to a pharoh complete with shaved head. Kathy Kubica wore a beautiful Egyptian robe, and her eyes outlined in kohl. She’s another one of these unbelievably talented people. She had made a cake that was an Egyptian tomb with a mummy climbing out of the sarcophagus. Walter Jon was dressed in his navel uniform — he was there to free Egypt from the French at the Battle of the Nile.

I toyed with joining him aboard a tall ship with my captain’s uniform, but instead I wore high boots, riding pants, a leather coat and went for the Laura Croft look. There were a lot of archeologist costumes complete with pith helmets and jodpurs. Joan Saberhagen was there as Amanda Peabody and her pockets were filled with brushes and trowels. At one point the suggestion was made that we have a competition between the Egyptian gods and the archeologists since we were about evenly split. If only we’d had a volleyball net. There was even a real archeologist present — John Miller.

This is a lovely old property with a lot of acreage and there is the traditional firepit out near a spreading cottonwood tree. Sawn tree stumps circle the fire inviting people to sit down and comtemplate the leap and crackles of the flames. Many of us stood there watching the full moon rise through the branches of the distant cottonwoods. At times it looked like the moon was being cradled by the trees and rocked softly as the breeze swayed the branches.

As usual there was a lavish spread of food with everyone contributing to the feast. A stand out was Vic Milan’s chili pumpkin soup which was served from a hollowed out pumpkin. Vic came as Dr. Hawass who is the head of antiquities at the Cairo Musuem.

It was another typical New Mexico party with a room filled with writers and the readers who love their books. Just a quick list — Walter Jon Williams, Steve Stirling, Bob Vardeman, Vic Milan, Pati Nagle, Ian Tregillis, John Miller…. (I’m sure I’ve forgotten some people. My apologies if they should drop by my blog.)

It was one of those nights when I hated to leave. I wanted to stay and stay and drink in the beauty, the costumes, the conversations and the sense of just being enfolded in a circle of people that I value like family. Actually more than family because I got to pick them.

Melinda

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 28th, 2007 at 10:17 am and is filed under life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.