Daphne, You Have Never Been So Hot
Last weekend, which happened to be the first weekend of Fall, felt like a walrus wearing long johns and a parka underneath an electric blanket dialed up to its highest setting. It was whatever comes after “Hot as H-E- double hockey sticks”. I wouldn’t be surprised if Satan himself had risen from his lake of fire to check the temperature, just to make sure his domain was not being bested by this Deep South slice of heaven in Alabama.
The Daphne Jubilee Festival is situated along main street in front of City Hall. It’s a juried art show with less than 100 artisans and this was my second year exhibiting there. This was the first show I’d done since May and I had to get my bearings. I didn’t get finished setting up on Friday night so I returned early Saturday morning to pretty up my booth.
By the time we opened at 10:00, the sun was full of itself and making those of us who wore black question our choices. My skirt fabric did not breathe. It was long but was split to the knees on both sides. My sleeveless sweater (yes, I said sweater) was about four inches too short for me to be able to remove my dragon breath skirt and I wondered if I had enough duct tape on the roll in my tool box to fashion a wide hem. Then I thought about pulling my skirt up to my chest and taking off the sweater, but those splits put an amen to that bright idea. About the only thing I got right were my shoes, opting for sandals instead of cowboy boots.
Despite the heat and the Alabama Crimson Tide’s 11:00 a.m. kickoff, people were actually out enjoying the show! I made some good sales and had plans to spend most all of my profits at the shaved ice truck just to the left of City Hall.
The weather app on my phone announced a heat index of 108. The next day I would learn Saturday's temperature broke a record.
My Hollow Beach Pendants were selling really well. (I blow hollow beads, fill them with sand, seashells and water, seal them and place them on 27” long chains.) I tell customers, “You can’t always be on the beach, but now the beach can always be on you”. I think I was selling so many of them because folks realized they could break them open if they got overheated and pour the water on their heads for relief. Or drink it. Like a couple of teaspoons would save you from heatstroke, right?
My husband, aka Mr. MoonDog, was back at the hotel watching football in 70 degrees of air conditioned luxury. He managed to tear himself away at halftime to come and check on me. I needed a break. I needed to walk around. I needed to jump in the fountain behind the shaved ice truck because I was certain the shaved ice man inside the shaved ice truck was not going to let me lay down in his shaved ice bin.
After a few minutes of strolling atop the burning asphalt the devil left in his wake, I returned to my 10 x 10 sauna booth. Mr. MoonDog was using all the charm he could muster to convince a customer she simply could not live without a Hollow Beach Pendant. Feeling hydrated enough to be on the safe side, she walked away without one, but he was more than happy to turn and congratulate me. Apparently while I was away searching for some ice to bathe in, the director came to booth #76 with a check and an Award of Distinction Ribbon. I was elated until he told me I had to go back down to the information booth to have my picture taken.
Things are about to get interesting. Do not stop reading now. You are about to enter the Twilight Zone.
An hour or so later, after the soles of my shoes had cooled down, I took off again in search of the lady with the big camera. I was told by the ladies at the info booth that I could find her inside the City Hall building and given instructions on which door would be unlocked. City Hall. Inside. Air Conditioning! AND BATHROOMS!!! Oh great balls of fire hallelujah, I was going to tinkle in a real bathroom in the air conditioned City Hall! That’s reason enough right there to win an award! Maybe I could even freshen up a bit before I get in front of her lens. My face was blood red save for the mascara that had melted off my eyelashes and gathered along my cheekbones.
Because I forgot to bring my ribbon, she said she’d come back down to my booth and photograph me there. I felt bad that she had to make the walk to my booth in the heat. I apologized for a good ten minutes, just so I could soak up that crisp cool air while doing so.
Later at my booth, she told me she had “liked” my Facebook page a while back and had even entered one of my “Like it, Share it, Win it” contests in early August. The drawing was for a Hollow Beach. I told her I’d picked two winners and only one of them had responded. One winner was from Iowa and the other from Alabama. Just for fun, I pulled my page up on my phone, scrolled down to the “Winners” post and read the other winner’s name aloud. She screeched. Then I screeched. What are the odds? I had a record number of followers from all over the US enter that particular contest and the winner that missed seeing the post was standing in my booth. She picked the Hollow Beach she wanted and promptly broke it and drank its contents. Not really, I'm just kidding about that part. Again I ask, what are the odds?
If that weren’t enough, I closed the show that evening with my biggest sale of the day to a nice couple who had visited me earlier that afternoon. Sometimes when people tell you they’ll “be back”, they really do mean it.
Sunday was interesting too but I’ll write about that another day. I’ve got another show this weekend and need to find the perfect outfit to wear. Just in case the devil comes down to Gainesville…