It
is with great pleasure that I am once again inviting you to The
Snowflake Ball, which has become a Steamlands winter tradition. We are now celebrating our SIXTH event! The Snowflake Ball has deep
sentimental meaning for me as one of the first formal Victorian dances
in our collective history and a time and place to be with - and make -
very good friends.
The first Duchess Loch Avie, Shenlei Flasheart, started this tradition
in January 2007, and I am honored to have been able to continue to hold
this beautiful ball each year, first in my role as Duchess Loch Avie, then as the Lady of Skye in Winterfell. Although I have had a change in my Second Life - less time in world, a move to a smaller and more modern parcel of land - I am proud to continue to hold those title and to play those roles when I am in my beloved Steamlands. And this is one of the three traditions that I hold near and dear to my heart. I'll not stop holding this ball until the gods of the electronic world see fit to remove me entirely.
My
wish is that you will enjoy yourselves entirely on this very special
night in the snow. We do not wish that the formal nature of the ball
would intimidate you as we utilize the dance cards for our 11 dance
sets, but rather provide you with an option to enhance your pleasure of
the event. If you have not already received a notecard, which includes
your dance card for the night, there will be a table with cards
available for your use on the night of the ball. This year our celebration will be held in the Forrest of the Cliffs of Skye (i.e. way up high over my lovely Magna Carta land); however, we will continue to observe the etiquette of the Steamlands (rather than that
of strict Victorian or even more modern tradition). Therefore, anyone may request a dance
of anyone else (i.e. women may initiate an invitation to dance; women
may dance with women and men with men; all avatars are welcome
including tinies, furries, mechanical beings of all types, time lords,
and more).
We will begin to gather at 7pm SLT and we may visit with our friends and neighbors and
perhaps begin filling the dance card - if all your dances are not spoken
for prior to the ball, of course. The first dance set will begin at 7:15pm.
I look forward to seeing you all there.
Snowflake by William Baer
Timing’s everything. The vapor rises
high in the sky, tossing to and fro,
then freezes, suddenly, and crystallizes
into a perfect flake of miraculous snow.
For countless miles, drifting east above
the world, whirling about in a swirling free-
for-all, appearing aimless, just like love,
but sensing, seeking out, its destiny.
Falling to where the two young skaters stand,
hand in hand, then flips and dips and whips
itself about to ever-so-gently land,
a miracle, across her unkissed lips:
as he blocks the wind raging from the south,
leaning forward to kiss her lovely mouth.
The First Snowflake Ball
Caledon Loch Avie
January 2007
Second Annual Snowflake Ball
Caledon Loch Avie
January 2008
Third Annual Snowflake Ball
Port Caledon
January 2009
The Fourth Annual Snowflake Ball
Isle of Skye, Winterfell Anodyne
January 2010
The Fifth Annual Snowflake Ball
Isle of Skye, Winterfell Anodyne
January 2011
