Art in the Park

Our town has a new organization called Artworks. I joined a few months ago and suddenly I was in the "cool kids club" and knew when all the art shows were happening in our town. In fact, tonight, I'm even helping out at the monthly meeting, but I get ahead of myself...

I signed up for "Art in the Park." First, I had to organize some stuff to bring along to the event. I have a box of handspun sitting in my office. When I spin some yarn that I don't think I'll use right away, for whatever reason, I pop it in the box when I'm done making it. Every now and again I find a gallery who wants to sell my handspun, but lately? The box was very full. I gathered it all together and labelled it for sale. This took a long while.
I thought about all your comments. (to me, the comments are like a conversation. I get to hear from friends, get some outside stimulation, and think about new things...that's why I do this blog thing. The comments really count for me.) I quietly agreed with Alison when she mentioned her husband's habit of keeping sneakers 'til they look like "sock blockers." You know, with holes in them. I have a husband like that. He recently threw away a pair of shoes while on a field trip (collecting trip, biologists have these) in South Texas. I celebrated loudly upon hearing we'd lost a pair of stinky hole-y sneakers down there. And I labelled yarn with yardage, ounces, etc. for quite a while.

On Saturday around noon, we wandered down to the park, which is about 4 blocks from our house, to set up. It was a humid, warm day with a breeze. We set up, and I settled in. From about noon until 6:30, I was stationed in the park. My professor kept me company a while. A friend or two came by to talk. A lot of curious kids left with a bit of wool and a basic lesson on how spinning works. Many grown-ups stared and walked on as I smiled and invited them over. (you know, the "Why not just buy it at Walmart?" types, who can't imagine why I do this by hand...) A few asked interesting questions...and I sold about 4 or 5 skeins of yarn to enthusiastic knitters, crocheters, and their friends.

I tried not to think about the wage earning potential here. It is sadly far far below minimum wage! However, if I think about it differently, it was a leisurely afternoon outside, spinning in public, educating kids and even a few older folks, and enjoying springtime art. I did spin about 3 bobbins of yarn--thank goodness for the portable travel wheel. Without a spinning wheel, it would have been a long afternoon!

It turned out that sitting outside in the shade was probably the best thing. Our air conditioning isn't working again, so we're back to this. Sadly not as pleasant as the last time this happened, when the humidity was low, but despite the higher humidity, it's still somewhat cool, if dank and damp at night. Highs only in the mid- 80's, I hear.

Yesterday, I spent a lot of time working with my (hot) laptop. Sundays are very quiet in my neighborhood, and good for getting hard thinking done. During the week, we're back to road construction beeps, jack hammers, nearby old house renovation noises, and traffic.

Today may be a good day to recover from my weekend. I foresee some iced tea and cool breezes by a window. Maybe some knitting, too. Wish you could drop by for a sweet tea and a visit! Instead, say hey in the comments?