Larry and I just spent three days hanging onto the mainland at a governmental conference on development trends in SE Alaska. They hit us up to donate oysters for the opening night's reception. Larry had to sit and shuck them for four hours. He still got to talk to real people, even a senator or two. They really draw the folks in with free food.
I was free to sample the bar offerings and the magnificent seafood buffet. I even tried dried halibut - kinda tasted like chewing on fishy sticks, but I will try anything once. There was something in an egg roll skin that was really good. I passed on most of the seaweed sushi, it's just not my thing. Ditto on the fish eggs and greens salad but I did enjoy many mushroom caps stuffed with everything.
I won another door prize too. This time it was a fused glass whale tail. There is something to be said about low numbers and raffle chances!
Yes, everything was just about perfect except for the weather. It was nice until we got there and helped our friend Kat set up all three tables of her jewelry. There was to be a crafts fair outside the high school where the conference was hosted. I brought just the animal hats this time and they were an early hit. I sold three right off. Good thing because it soon turned ugly. The wind picked up and the rains started to pound. Most conference attendees stayed inside so one by one the venders packed up.
Lar was off running errands in town so I was captive to Kat and she was the last die hard. The log carver had moved his truck close to load, the other oyster farmer was loading her boxes and the volunteer in charge was worrying around. We were just packing up the jewelry when the worst of the weather hit.
Picture the sidewalk to the high school as an aisle to two huge row tents. These tents were bought with a grant to host events in each community on the island to encourage events on the island I guess!
I have gone to a few of the crafts fairs and it was soon apparent that most of the vanders are the same at each place and we had better buy from each other because they don't draw many attendees. Add in transportation $ and food $ and it was rarely a money making show. We just go for the chance of talking to strangers.
Back to the tents. These are Alaskan tents. That is heavy canvas in ten foot sections about 100 foot in all. This is held up by a frame of 1 1/2 inch steel pipe weighed down by five gallon buckets filled with water because the ground is usually solid rock.
Well, these tents were no match for the wind. The one across from us was taking the brunt of the wind lifting up and scooting across the aisle with each gust. I was packing as fast as my clever little fingers could go. Have we mentioned that Kat is disabled? She has a bad hip and uses crutches and a wheeled chair/lift seat thingy so she isn't moving as fast.
With the biggest gust yet the tent across from us and all of the tables and chairs and posts and people comes flying into our tent and proceeds to pull it up with it. At first I grab hold of the canvas thinking to stop its progress I guess. (It is happening so fast I'm not sure what or if I was thinking.) What was soon evident was that I was not going to be able to stop two hundred feet of canvas wrapped around steel pipes, tables, chairs, and some people dragging five gallon buckets. I let go and slid out of the tangling mess somewhere halfway across the parking lot. Kat had remained standing in our space. Our tables had risen up and over her hitting her on the shoulder and hand. She was bloody but basically sound. The tangle rolled on stopping when it wrapped around two trucks in the lot. It slowly shed the log carver, the oyster farmer and the poor volunteer scans clip board was uncovered last. I was wet, getting cold, and ready to leave. A few high school students came out. Kat's jewelry trays had flown with the tables scattering and breaking. We got Kat in her chair, picked up what we could find, and got out of Dodge.
It had bent the steel like pretzels and did a number on the two trucks. We shook it off and like the rough and tough persona of the rural Alaskan, went on to the reception and the bar.
For a drink I can tell you quite a story or I have some wet, bent earrings at a discount...
No comments:
Post a Comment