six II ate-teen
What a weekend here. Just the usual swinging from borderline greatness to near-misses and isolated frustrations.
However all very manageable and with luck and certainly AFTER the Grace of God, I am both pleased and impressed that all Is well and it ALL PASSED with flying colors.
Friday night, I went to a concert.
OH! WHO DID YOU SEE ?
Jake Shimabukuro (say ‘Jake’ … shimma-boo-koo – row).
I bought one of his cd’s on the infamous 2012 trip to HI. Get this … he actually played LIVE in McK.
HOW WAS IT ?
Hey look. This is it. I can’t be doing this ALL day.
He was great. I left convinced Mr Shimabukuro can coax just about any sound out of that little ukulele. Between numbers he smiled a lot and was very engaging & entertaining with the crowd.
Polite & pleasant comes to mind.
I carried the cd in hopes of obtaining an autograph but like the Bill Murray fiasco at the Colonial in FW, when the time came it didn’t develop as planned. I am ALREADY over it.
Saturday early, National S*x day, started early however not how one would NORMALLY imagine.
I got up early and did the longest training ride according to the program to date. Sixty-4 or 5 K which the regimen called for 40 M. Again my time was less than I estimated so I finished early and was able to finishing packing & loading for the 2nd Saturday Art Walk in historic downtown McKinney with the ‘free time.’
I was running late so I texted Robin who is the owner of SOHO, the business I was to set up & work in front of this day.
When I arrived and double parked as she advised, she was there, hadn’t seen the text, just arrived herself after attending the concurrent McK House & Garden tour also on National S*x day. Go figure.
Got Silver unloaded and we begin to slowly set up shop as the sun peaked and people and the crowd started to meander some axing questions, taking second looks and some walking by with noses very high in the air. All of which was fine.
Patrons Walt & Maggie stopped to visit. I had a hummingbird nearly carved & ready to paint and Maggie looked at it long and hard. Walt told me they were FINALLY getting hummers to come into their feeder and as very active & knowledgeable birders this was good news.
Anyway, FF-ing, Walt pulled me aside and said Maggie wants three, THREE (3) hummingbirds in a sculpture and when I starting the inquiring design question set he said to let her tell me about what she wants. No rush but this makes the show ‘successful’ already as I am not even fully set-up yet.
I finished getting all the pieces set up, arranged & rearranged and can relax as people begin to trickle by.
Some engage, some only smile, toss compliments and linger. Some take business cards but only after I ask and they accept and the same with the additional literature. A few, three (3) actually, over the course of the day take the literature for lessons. Two guys seemed genuinely interested in learning to carve and one girl, young lady actually who was with her Father, was very interested in painting lessons. The age is difficult in this case as I am guessing 14-15 ? IDK.
Nancy & Mike who drove in for the home tour and stopped by. Mike is a golfing buddy and has all the paperwork stamped and in place for ‘certified’ character. Nancy wanders off leaving Mike & I to sit on a very convenient bench like a couple of old guys in the shade close to my table. He keeps an eye on things while I slip away for a couple of coca-cola’s.
Returning, kneeling artfully behind the draped table, some Makers accidentally spills into each coke and we are on our way. Some where a siren is going off …
And a butterfly is crashing soundlessly into a tree, in the forest, also far away.
Nancy returns and drags Mike to a pub on the corner where they watch the Belmont. Nancy likes horses and I tell her my Kentucky Derby history and stories.
I really don’t expect to see them again today but they return to say good bye and as they are leaving I notice Mike has gone beyond my stage & level of happiness and Nancy is dragging him off. Poor Mike.
The day advances, a small band sets up and the dynamic changes.
Crowd traffic picks up and the sun begins to gradually slide towards the horizon and down Virginia Avenue and before one can say another Makers & coke por favor darkness approaches.
The band is a family operation. Two brothers one on drums the other playing the bass while the sister plays a keyboard of some sort and shares vocals with the drumming brother.
The bass player puts on some sunglasses that help him much and a little guy, MAYBE 2 or 3, perhaps less, walks up, looks up and just stares standing there near the ‘giant’ playing the ‘huge’ red bass guitar. The parents of course are nearby enjoying fully the moment and the little guy can NOT MOVE and looks nearly straight up at his new ‘hero’.
The band informs the crowd 'thanks for coming out' and Robin who is out standing nearby also enjoying the music and cool down and together, like two drunks, we shout out ‘encore’. And they played one more song.
We do this 2 or 3 more times then the crowd joins in and it becomes the proverbial ‘good time’ with everyone laughing and the little guy jumping or hopping whatever such little creatures do in such circumstances to express delight.
They finally shut down due to exhaustion as the dusk approaches. Robin comes back and we talk briefly about tear down, shutting down & wrapping up. She is a great person to work with and a pleasant personality all around.
Well, she locks up the shop and leaves and I load up finishing well after 10:00 PM.
On the way home I stop at K-Roget for a small container of Graeter’s black cherry & chocolate chip because I am burnt, hot, tired and crispy and an ice cream cone is all I really, really want after a shower & before collapsing into bed.
SUNDAY
In the course of the day, a lady soliciting for Pecan Grove historical cemetery association approaches me the artist and hands me a flier for their ‘2nd Sunday’ art show.
‘That’s like tomorrow’ I brilliantly reply.
Indeed.
Yes, I WAS interested and take a flier. I look at it briefly off & on during the day and share it with a few others telling one lady that wants to walk off with it that it is my only copy & I need it.
Later, another lady & I start talking about it, I show it to her and this time she gets away with it. I figured it was OK and assumed the show was at the building at the cemetery.
Late afternoon, I take the hybrid bike and set out for the cemetery and yes, it is the height of the day and the heat is intense.
Long story short, I get there and cannot find the show. I have me phone, search quickly and cannot find any trace of such a thing. It is probably 'facebooked only' and I do NOT utter any expletive or curse social networks or media at all for it MY CHOICE & decision NOT to participate in such garbage in ANY form so I'm OK with it.
However, I am on in the neighborhood so I ride over to Tupps.
I go into the tap room, am looking over the selection and the bar keep informs me he has a private party coming in at 5:00 and would be closing in ten minutes.
‘Not that I am trying to hurry you’ he adds.
It’s 4:51 by my time piece.
‘It sure sounds like you are.’
I get the cold IPA in an irritating plastic cup whose sides bend & collapse and I am shocked does not break.
There is a ball game on a telly so I sit for a minute to regroup. I search again and finally give up on 2nd Sunday and head out begin the ride home.
It is still plenty hot, traffic is unforgiving and there are a few killer hills under the circumstances and following moments when I feel like the dumbest bunny on the planet OR at least this day in McK.
After pushing myself and fighting the urge to stop, quit, lay in the shade and die, I arrive home.
There truly is no place like home. I immediately begin to replace lost fluids and get into the cement pond for the pure refreshment and I realize once again that life is grande.
Sorry for extreme length.
I STILL left a lot of good material out but the plumber is coming this morning and I now need to start rebuilding some inventory for the next big show, make plans and plot courses.
Robin connected me with a photographer to take high-qual pictures of my work for the juried show in the Woodlands in September and I will also use some for MAST website and show in November.
At 9:00 pm, I went out to watch a hockey game. S1, aka & fka Br12, is playing in a ‘travelling’ league and last night played a late game in McK. When I arrived they were down 0-2 and ended up winning 5-2. I guess now he is bulldog#12 which I can shorten to Bd12.
But I like the sound of Br v Bd.
Br 18 out.
The plumber is at the door.
