SoCal Furmeet
27 June 2009
Please note that all content and imagery on this page is copyright © Paul J. Lorona, 2009, unless otherwise noted.
Permission to use must be obtained in writing prior to use.
All images taken by Paul with a Canon DS950IS Elph camera.
Styx is an awesome fur.
One day in the middle of May he got the notion in his head to invite a few of the local furs in SoCal over for some food and fun. Not one to sit on a good idea, he immediately put the plan into motion by getting on line at the Planet Furry Forums with his idea, and an event was born. Hopefully it will become an annual event where the lot of us gather to reaffirm friendships, share some ideas, and have a great time. That's how it started ...
It seems we can't have a gathering without the participation of The Old Raccoon, and who would want it any differently? Most everyone was on scene when I arrived (fashionably late as usual), and Mike's briefcase had already appeared. Here we see him clutching top secret, eyes only material from that briefcase, the official cover art for Amat Victoria Curam, Aslaug's eagerly anticipated first book whose global debut will happen at The Raccoon's Bookshelf any day now.
As the Casa De Styx is equipped with a very nice pool, part of the party soon wound up in the water.
Here we find Teric and his family enjoying the afternoon in the pool. The air was dry and warm with clear skies and temperatures pushing their way towards 90 degrees ... perfect pool weather. I was unaware that scaly types enjoyed the water, this was a pleasant surprise for me. As Mike observed, maybe he's part sea-serpent?
Here we find Mike's wife Chris reacting in a perhaps predictable and certainly humorous manner to her husband pointing his Canon Rebel digital camera at her. She was so busy telling him all about it that I think she missed me pointing my camera at her as well. Sorry Chris ...
Meanwhile my old warhorse buddy Kellan was trying to disentangle himself from his own camera gear. He was eventually able to record a video of the lot of us to be e-mailed to Aslaug, which can be found at his site. Pardon our (my) errant behavior, it was an alcohol-free event, believe it or not!
Later, as most of us indulged ourselves in some great chow, Kellan (having separated both of his cameras from his furson) gathered image evidence of our carryings-on. Wise Teric made sure he was on the same side of Kellan's camera as Kellan was.
Meanwhile Kellan's tigress and their daughter Dana kept an eye on him, thereby ensuring that safety and stability were the order of the day.
Here we enjoy Teric enjoying the afternoon as his wife Kimberly looks on. Benleopard is on the left, Chris in the foreground on the right.
I was unaware that Mrs. Teric had previously experienced less-than-optimal conditions at another furmeet in the past, and was pleasantly surprised to hear that she felt much more comfortable around our lot. We're really not so bad. In fact, I felt that the environment couldn't have been much more "family friendly," as Teric and Kimberly's boys seemed to take to everyone and everything immediately and there were no issues or concerns. (... other than someone I won't mention by name bonking his head on some part of the pool. Good thing scales are like armor, that's all I'm sayin' ...)
Our host and grillmaster Styx looks on. There was enough food and drink for at least three times the furs that actually showed up, everything was wonderful! I was only sorry I didn't have room to sample everything that was there, Styx' burgers filled me up. (Yeah ... I ate two of them ...)
Amalthea holds court during a bout of tabletop gaming. I was pleased that she was able to make it to the gathering, even though I was never able to separate myself from the Old Fart Contingent long enough to come and chat with she and her young companions as Teric did. My loss. Next time I'll work harder to make that happen. Here we see Teric and Nate discussing strategy while Benleopard and two of Teric's boys look on.
Towards the end of the afternoon we started trying to arrange ourselves for the Aslaug video. Here we find Benleopard and Amalthea and Teric practicing before Kellan fired up the video camera.
Here's bit more of us waiting for Kellan to prepare. Left to right - Benleopard, Amalthea, Teric, Mike (hiding behind his camera), Chris, and Styx.
I was not my usual photographer self at this first annual SoCal backyard furmeet. I do OK taking pictures in nature, I guess, but at parties I start forgetting to use the camera in favor of having a good time with my friends. So apologies for not taking more images.
I did have a wonderful time. Styx was an awesome host and an engaging conversationalist. Anyone who can hold his own with Mike expounding in one ear and me yapping in the other is doing just fine, thanks. <grins>
Thanks, everyone, for a wonderful time.