random thoughts – Day 2,279 (Saturday) – slow motion

The day’s performance was at a small-town festival under a sunny, cloudless sky. There was a light breeze and it was slightly drier and less oppressive than Friday. but overall the word of the day was still “HOT.” There were hiccups, which usually happens.

There was no amplification system set up for our music when we arrived. Luckily, we arrive at least an hour before our stage time, and there was time to sort out the situation with the event organizer. Speakers appeared and were set up on the church steps behind our designated performance area on the hot pavement.

Baby donkeys!

We had a couple minutes to ooh and aah over the baby donkeys, baby goats, and larger goats with an alpaca. There were also bunnies in the pens with the young goats. So cute! The smell of the animals hung in the air. 

We learned the band scheduled to play before us hadn’t arrived yet and we were asked to take the stage earlier (this happens). That worked for us, as we were eager to get out of the heat as soon as possible. As we checked our placement on the pavement, the band finally arrived and parked in front of where we were planning to dance. Maybe they missed the seven of us standing in a cluster with our costumes sparkling in the blazing sun.

The organizer got the band vehicle moved to another location to unload their gear. There were a couple tents at the edge of the common right in front of us for a built-in audience. One of those was staffed by people in colonial period clothing including a woman in a dress, apron and white cap and a guy in colonial dress with a tricorn hat.

For two of our four dances, I was in the front row and during one of those dances, the guy in the colonial ensemble had a mishap that unfolded behind the guy taking video for the event as we were dancing. Somehow, the guy and the lawn chair he was sitting in tipped over sideways in prolonged, comical, slow motion. I saw it happen and it seemed like forever before anyone in his group came to his aid as he lay on his side on the ground, still in the chair. While dancing, I wondered if I shouldn’t leap to action to help him up because nobody else seemed to be moving. His crew finally mobilized and came to his aid. 

Later, our music cut out during the last dance. We learned the tablet it was playing from overheated. Yikes. After the dancing, I dropped off some stuff at the car, took off the spangles and returned to civilian life to visit the vendor tents. 

Back at home, despite the curtains and shades blocking the sun, the house temperature had crept back up to 83 degrees, almost the same as outside. I sat on the couch under the ceiling fan set on high speed. As I thought about the poor guy falling over in freakishly slow motion, I started laughing and couldn’t stop.

Bunny and trimmed tree.

Several hours later, I ventured outside to explore trimming the rhododendron and the tree out front with long, dangling branches. It was cooler outside than inside so the windows were opened and then the trimming began in an unhurried manner. The cargo area of the car was loaded with a giant flowerpot and a cardboard box filled with new trimmings, plus a trash can with yard waste that had been collected weeks ago. It was all brought to the neighborhood yard waste drop area. 

The next stop was WalMart to buy some ice cream. The store brand pints are quite good and cost a mere $1.87. One serving provides 25% of the daily recommendation of calcium, so as a reward for the yard work and to cover the calcium bases for the day, I ate the whole three serving container. A bunny meandered and dined in the front yard under the just trimmed tree.