How to Properly Avert Disaster

I have done 2 shows the later part of this summer. I am saying it out loud. I am not really a fan of them anymore. The work is harder than I'd prefer... sometimes a disaster, there's the finding of the babysitter, and people don't spend the way they used to. (Waa, waa, waa! Call the Waaaaaaambulance. I know.) It's not often I come home from a show and say, "WOW! I cleaned up and the work and effort was TOTALLY worth it!" Actually, I've never said that. Ever.

Garrison was the biggie. It was a 2 day show at the end of August and a TON of work. I went down the night before and well... that was where the potential for disaster kicked in. Bringing Kiddo along, we got the tent set up without a problem. Then the insanity hit us... THUUUUUNDER AND LIIIIIGHTNING was everywhere. Kiddo sat happily in the middle of the tent listening to the music on my iPhone... oblivious (Oh to be 9 years old again.).



Averting disaster was easy as pie (WHAT the heck does that even mean?). There I was, soaking wet, frantically hammering my tent stakes into the ground and zipping up side walls as fast as humanly possible... all in this horrible storm. I was also yelling at Kiddo to stay put and watch out for the lightning... and saying yes, that is a good song. The heavy rocks and Hubs' weights proved to be highly valuable once I realized that tents were flying through the air. It was super. Kiddo replayed the acoustic version of Grenade 8,000 times during all of this, dreaming out loud of plans to learn the guitar and put on a concert (apparently featuring this song). He's a chatty kid. It's awesome and noisy.

Luckily we had Hub's truck with an extra t-shirt inside, so I was able to throw that over my damp tank top. Good thing too! I took Kiddo to the diner for dinner (as a thanks for "helping"), and they had the air conditioner cranked to sub-zero.

The weather for the show turned out beautiful though. I just wish more people were spending. Oh well. That's shows for you.

The next show was the Cornell St. Studios/Craft Riot collaboration... both run by 2 very swell ladies. The weather was beautiful the day before, but I didn't set up then. I was outside again (by choice) and set up under the threat of violent storms and tornadoes. Whoa. Apparently I'm an adrenaline fan sometimes. 

This was the outside set up. Isn't it pretty? Too bad only 3 of us chose the outside. People made a bee line for the door. Apparently adrenaline doesn't run in all people. Super kind Renee asked if we want to move indoors so we wouldn't feel all left out. A quick glance down the street at the quickly moving in storms clouds (remember Fishkill?) was all the push I needed. Indoors we went! And just in time!

The rain hit quick and hard and golly! (Do people still say golly?) My lovely crafters helped me and the others haul our stuff inside. A lovely woman of 72 (I forgot your name. I'm sorry!) even carried stuff upstairs like the trooper she is. I walked behind her with my Santa sack of monsters, worried she might fall. Beautiful people! I set this table up in 10 minutes (Woot! Woot!) before returning back outside to pack up my tent and remaining table. Sweet.

It all turned out to be one giant fun adventure. I overheated a bit getting everything inside, and was a disgusting sweaty mess. The joy of meeting some wonderful people made up for my new found stinkiness, and everything worked out... disaster was avoided again.

I think my favorite part was when the power suddenly went out, leaving the band unable to play. The drummer took it upon himself to just play a random drum solo until it went back on... and that was awesome. Renee's dad was also awesome. He somehow named me the unofficial "keeper of his purchases". I found a nice little gift bag to keep his treasures safe.

While Cornell wasn't a mega profitable show, it was really a lot of fun. I also got to meet some wonderful people that I can only hope to chat with again. (Fingers crossed!)