Scepter, Orb, Bat and Ball 5/7/2023

By: Jennifer Richardson Holt

Today I think I will spare you from the saga that is my personal life. I hope all of you didn’t too terribly mind the past few weeks full of angst and drama. I think of you, my readers, as friends, hence I just begin to ramble off to all of you whatever is on my mind at the time. I am going to attempt to keep today a bit more lighthearted.  This will still be tales from the goings on in my life, but I shan’t be scouring my soul for weighty wisdom. Today will be much lighter and happier thoughts. I plan to discuss two celebratory times that just so happen to fall very close to one another.  I hope you will enjoy what I have to say about them, but I can, at the very least, guarantee that no one else, likely on this vast planet, will be juxtaposing these two special events.  So, I guess, despite how it turns out, for that reason alone, this one is going to be special. The definition you give that term, well, that is up for debate.

May the 6^th, which will be the day before this publishes, the new King of the United Kingdom will be coronated. I am an unabashed anglophile as those of you who are regular readers are aware, so this event is the culmination of all that I glory in about the royal family. You have a ceremony filled with pomp and tradition which is the type of thing that I absolutely adore. Then of course you also have history. The crown that is used for the actual coronation is the crown of St. Edward which is based on one from the 13^th century. And that my friends, from an American where we don’t get that length of history unless we look at the native peoples, anything that goes THAT far back is thrilling beyond explanation for a history nut such as myself.  That crown alone, which is only used for coronation, intrigues me more than I care to say not to mention the jewels and other regalia used in the ceremony that have been used for much of over a thousand years. Now, imagine if you will, what it means to a person who adores this type of historical sentiment once we have migrated into the time frame that requires four digits in the past. I think glee might be an appropriate description.

And since I wholeheartedly adhere to the stereotypes that girls (i.e., females of all ages) love sparkly things, well, it’s a coronation so…crowns.  The joy of crowns I cannot appropriately explain. If I could get away with regular tiara usage, I’d totally do it. Would it be a bit much? Yes, I daresay it would, hence I’m not doing it, but I assure you that it does sadden me that we don’t have all that much opportunity for crowns and the like in America. In watching the coronation, if you can’t at least muster a bit of awe for a diamond (or more than one if you’re talking about those in the crowns and the scepters) the size of a baby’s fist then I just cannot wrap my head around your line of thinking.  How does one not see a diamond well over 500 carats and just disregard it as commonplace?  I do not see how this would be a normal response.  As I write, I just learned that Charles (who already probably isn’t winning any competitions to be the people’s favorite monarch) has asked people not to wear the ceremonial robes that the aristocracy has been wearing for ages. I am appalled by this. This is an ANCIENT ceremony. Things that have been tradition for millennia are things with which no fiddling need be involved. I digress, however. I’ve said entirely too much to say that my excitement to watch this historic event is probably disproportionate considering I am not a citizen of the realm.

So, we’re celebrating the crowning of a king, but then, there is, coming in a few short weeks, the matter of having the closing ceremonies of my daughter’s t-ball season. Now no, I don’t suppose most people would compare a bunch of children standing on a field to go and get participation trophies to someone becoming the recognized leader of a kingdom but, this is the type of content you come here for.  It is random and it is unique to me.  My daughter will crowd out onto a baseball field with other t-ball teams and a few youth baseball teams. They will all wait in little team clusters, in what I can only hope are not too miserably hot temperatures, for their names to be called so they can go get their wee trophies.  Once they have agonizingly stood listening to sponsors and donors be mentioned ad nauseum in the sun, or if the Lord is merciful, not so much sun, they will be dismissed to free food and play in bouncy houses.

I don’t suppose they really are comparable. One, with centuries old tradition celebrates a new ruler coming to the throne.  The other allows a bunch of kids who have played a game to have a good time as their season ends.  No, perhaps I am remiss for even putting the two celebrations in the same blog. I chuckle as I type this pondering the fact that there will, guaranteed, be no appropriate picture that I can add to this blog to pair these two festivities.  The two aren’t comparable but then again, maybe they are.  Both will be filed into the memory banks as things the participants will always remember.  Both will leave with mementos of the occasion, some will be of wood and a cheap composite metal, and others will be with gigantic jewels and ancient symbols.  Yes, I know that calling them different is an understatement. But I can say that I will remember them both.  I will recall the regalia worn by the participants in both ceremonies. While one may occur far more frequently than the other, depending on what level of participant you ask, they could fall on similar levels of significance. I have a part of my heart out there on that field as the t-ball season ends. I will be watching a coronation as a casual observer. It’s interesting that the game and children weigh more heavily on me than the crowns and thrones.  I suppose it all depends on how much love we have vested in things. And while I may adore crowns and royalty, my heart will be standing on a field, likely playing in the dirt waiting for a free hamburger.  Who would have thought?