Arts Festival

We went to an Arts Festival this afternoon and had such an enjoyable time.  No pictures as no one wanted to carry the camera.  I love our camera but if you carry for the whole day your neck hurts.  We should maybe get a little point and shoot one for days like today. 

Our house is located in an area where there is a lot of down to earth farmers.  Farmers who are on century farms working hard to make their living off their land.   They grow gardens and hang their clothes on clothes lines, not because it is green, but because that is just the way it is done.

Not that far from our house there is a private university and college.  That area of the community is full of artsy people.  The kind that put a tomato in a pot and all of the sudden they are an organic farmer.  They don't knit or crochet, they are fiber artists.  They don't take pictures, they take photographs and then want to slap a frame around it and sell it for $55.00.  There are also lots of potters, painters, people who do stained glass, make jewelry and all the other things you see at an Arts Festival.

It is easy to pick these people out of a crowd because they all wear the same thing.  First, they start with clothes the colors of seeds.  Shades of browns, blacks, grays and once in a while they will throw in something dark green or brick red.  Flannel shirts are okay as long as they look like they are almost ready for the ragbag.  I am not sure who wore the shirt when it was new, but that would be a no-no for an art person.  A long scarf is a must.  A Rastafarian hat or a stocking hat, preferably felted, if you are a serious art person.  Men can wear hats that are a throw back from the 1950's or what you imagine you may find on the head of a man in Ireland.  Dreadlocks are a definite plus.  Women also need to have long ear rings and either long, flowing, messy hair or short cropped hair.  A messenger bag or some other long bag is a nice touch.  I know they all think they are dressing very individual but it looks like a uniform to an outsider.  

The community puts on a really nice arts festival every fall.  Often it gets rained out but this year the weather was picture perfect.  We feasted on some melt in your mouth almond croissants.  Dancer wanted cheese curds but at $5.00 for about five tiny little curds I promised her a better treat later if she would pass on them.  Smart girl, she got a peanut butter shake on the way home.  We perused the art vendors and I decided that my kids are spectacular artists and I would rather have their work hanging on my wall any day over the things that were being sold there.  We watched a juggler who was so entertaining we would have paid to see his show but he was performing for free on the street.  When we got home I looked him up and he is a graduate of the Ringling Bros. clown college and  he teaches performing arts at a university.  We watched a group of local cloggers and Dancer was sad that she isn't  dancing.  We looked them up because they were looking for more members and they practice on Wednesdays when we have another obligation.  Maybe next year.  There was a woman in the group that had to be in her 70's and she could really move!  There was also horse drawn trolley rides and good music.  We also reaped the benefits of living a smaller community in that we saw lots of friends to visit with.

We didn't buy any craft goods, nor did most of the "locals".  The dynamic there reminds me of the quizzical looks the townfolks give the more affluent vacationers on shows like "Green Acres" or "What about Bob?"  Thanks for dropping some cash in our town, now go home.