Have festival tent will travel

I volunteered for two festivals this weekend, generic Syosset craft fair on Saturday and the Polish Festival on Sunday.

The weekend started off badly. On my way into the festival I got a call from the foundation office asking if I had the tent and bins for the fair. Well no I didn't, and neither did the other volunteer who was already there staring at an empty space. So I had to turn around and shove a tent, table and two large totes into my very small car. Sort of a big oops fixed. We set up late but that turned out not to matter, no one came by. It seems the only people who go to small craft fairs are people's grandmothers and they are less than interested in saving sea mammals. We still tried but it really was a lost cause.

There was one saving grace, the live music. I was a bit oblivious to it at first, but slowly the music began to creep into my consciousness. Were they playing "Beat It"? Is it me or does that lead singer sound off. Yes that's right it was a band of little kids. It was a music school right down the road and they were performing at the fair. Interesting choices, Green Day, Weezer, Coldplay, Kiss (proving once and for all anyone can play a Kiss song). They were so sweet up there rocking out.  They had quite a fan gathering going on.

But its all fun and games till someone loses an eye or gives children Devo hats.

I'm pretty sure I don't need to say anything more here.


Sunday was the Polish Festival in Riverhead.  This is always a great festival, always a good time.  We set up the tent and it turned out we got a pretty good spot, 2 tents down from the Mr Softee truck.  Two hours in we'd gotten into a teamwork flow of catching people in the crowd and drawing them in. Then the rains came so fast that we barely got the flyers off the table in time.  It turned out to be fun, people came to hang in our tent.  Problem was our tent had no sides and the roof is slightly unstable.   We had to keep dumping out the water gathering on the roof of the tent.  By the time the rain ended I was soaked through to my shoes.  The good news is I didn't spend the rest of the day whining how it was hot out.

When my shift was over I wandered around the fair to see if there was anything new and exciting this year.  I got a few things and enjoyed a few polkas.  

We raised about $2 on Saturday and we had nearly $50 when I left the table on Sunday.  I think this proves once and for all drunk Poles > people who go to craft fairs.

Bright light! Bright light!

On Mondays I volunteer at the Riverhead Foundation. I'll either help out in the office or at the resource center over in the aquarium. Today was resource center day and I usually have a great time. I get to hang with the animals and the kids are all so excited to see all the stuff. They're usually quite sweet and genuinely interested in the turtles and the seals.

Blizzard and Kyra show off for the kids in their tanks.  One little girl saw the turtle rescue picture collage and picked Blizzard's picture right out.  She was all of 6 and adopted him about a month ago.  Her mother said she'd memorized every pixel of his pictures.  She ran right over to his tank and spent about 10 minutes telling him every thought in her head.

The whole area is usually full of tiny child squeals and giggles.  The kids are cute and fluffy and you are so very happy to have their sweet faces around.

Sure, they're cute.  Of course you can keep them.  But heed these three warnings: Don't ever get them wet.  Keep them away from bright light.  And the most important thing, the one thing you must never forget: no matter how much they cry, no matter how much they beg . . . never, never feed them after midnight.

Bus after bus full of kids from camps showed up.  Evil, nasty, spawn of satan, Gremlin children.   They showed up 20 at a time, all in matching T-shirts of their camp.   I would say they were raised by wolves but wolf pups have better manners and are probably less destructive.  

First off none of them walked.  They ran everywhere and it didn't matter if you were in their path.  Then they touched everything.  Everything there is designed to be touched by the kids.  But the whale vertebrae wasn't designed to be picked up and dropped.  The Green Turtle shell wasn't designed to be worn by 10 year olds.  The fishing net wasn't meant to be tied around their heads (although this one would have solved many problems had I let them all choke each other).

They banged on the glass of the animal tanks.  Thankfully the tanks have really thick glass but I'm pretty sure neither turtle really appreciated all sudden movements.   I had to clean the glass every half hour because you couldn't see Amelia the seal in the big tank.  One of the little angels jammed up the kiosk.   I was constantly picking up the fact sheets and cards.  All the adoption forms were taken and most of the pens.  I had to call maintenance about 6 times to replace and fix things and I was only there 4 hours.

There are a few different coin donation drops.  They are these fun centrifugal force banks that take in a pretty decent amount of donations.  I caught John Dillinger with his arm in the hole trying to get at the change.  Really?  You're going to steal from sick animals in public?  I'm sure when he grows up he will be quite the upstanding citizen.

All through this I heard a little sound in the back of my head.  My mother's laughter.  So wrong, so very very wrong. 

Next Monday I'll be in the office.  I may hide there till summer is over and the Future Teenage Delinquents of New York are back in school.

Starting Over

Once upon a time I had a blog and it felt weird.  I mean who the heck was interested in what I was doing.  I wasn't doing all that much really and the things I was doing didn't feel like me.  Neither did the blog.

Now I'm starting over with a new mindset.  Much has changed since my last blog attempt and I am more comfortable with the concept and the idea of it all.  Now I am more okay with me and the things I am doing.  So the blog should be more genuine and hopefully more interesting.

Most people reading this probably know that I am the least outgoing of my family.  I am far shyer and less prone to sharing in a group situation.   I am doing things that fascinate and inspire me and a blog is a far easier place for me to share.
 I think my life is interesting, its just not flashy. 

"We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner! I can't think what anybody sees in them.

The Hobbit: "An Unexpected Party"