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Crepuscular
Jun. 20th, 2021 06:59 pmIt's Saturday Market's first ever Twilight Market! Well, since 1977. And 1976, and 1975. Apparently, this is a thing we've tried before, though at this point, it's hard to find anyone who's experienced it and survived to tell the tale. So we try again.
Obviously, if we're gonna be night owls, I need to get them out for display. Here's a nice selection.
I admit, I'm a little iffy on the whole notion. On the whole, I'd rather be going home at 4, particularly as it's been a rough day. Denise came down in mid-morning to cover the booth, so I could go to Kathy Lee's funeral. I'm really glad I did, even if she would totally have understood missing it for Saturday Market, but when I saw one of her little ceramic crosses on the program, along with the Isaiah quote about the potter and the clay, I kinda lost it.
Another good thing about masks: nobody can see your nose running.
But I toughed it out, sent Denise back home after lunch and prepared for Act 2. Because I had a secret weapon: a $20 shop light.
That was only the last piece of the puzzle. I already had a deep-cycle battery and inverter from the year Clayfolk relocated to the disused Toys'R'Us, and a 10-foot extension cord is so common as to be ubiquitous at our house. I didn't know whether I'd really need it for the sale, but I knew I'd desperately want it at take-down. And I was so right.
I actually turned it on around 8 pm. Sunset wasn't actually until 8:48, the sky was still bright, but the light was... murky. Particularly inside my booth, where all the pots face inward. Throwing the switch made the whole arrangement more visible from the sidewalk. I don't know for sure that it brought me sales, but it certainly didn't hurt.
As for the rest, it was okay? The DJ they hired was pretty good at his job, and the volume levels let me still talk to customers in my booth. Not the music I listen to, though I recognized a lot of it from my college and high school days. (Disco? Really?) The hot meal I promised myself was a little disappointing, as only three of the food booths stayed open (and the fourth, Ritta's Burritos, was closed all day, only opening for the evening). I had a Teriyaki sandwich, an apple leftover from lunch, some sugar snap peas from my Farmer's Market bag. Chocolate chip cookies.
I'd decided it was worth it if I broke $300 for the evening; actual sales were under $250, and the first $50 of that were at 4:05, so more a late daytime sale than a legitimate evening.
Still had some nice interactions, though. A little South Asian girl with mom and grandma, looking for a mug (Father's day, I think), paid with her money. She looked at several painted mugs, then gran pointed out the hummingbird tall mug and she was sold. Carefully counted out bills from a red-and-gold gift envelope (grandma pitched in a five, so she didn't have to break the second twenty) and proudly carried off her choice. As they walk away, I assume mom asked if she was okay with her choice, because she loudly proclaimed, "I'm happy with what I have."
Also had a nice experience with a fairly geeky family--dad was wearing a vintage Star Wars tee-shirt, and younger daughter had a really nicely creepy Gentlemen shirt. She'd bought herself a sloth mug and was leaving when I called out, "Nice Buffy shirt!" "You recognize it?" "Oh yeah, I even know who the actor was? Did you know Doug Jones also plays Saru on Star Trek: Discovery?" Not her fandom, as it turns out, hard-core slayer girl, but she did say she'd met him at a convention, and was delighted I knew her subculture.
I missed a couple folks I'd wanted to see, because funeral. The young couple who're building their plate collection, one at a time, bought a koala plate from Denise, and the young woman who'd fallen for a peacock dessert plate at Tsunami Books, then came back to find I'd taken it home and restocked mugs, tracked us down to buy it. (You see, Scott? I told you these would sell if you gave them a little time.) I did meet folks in town for the Olympic Trials, as many during the day as the evening.
But all in all, it was a quiet evening after a fairly busy day. Took my usual hour and 25 minutes to pack up.
I was really grateful for the lights by the time I finished.
Obviously, if we're gonna be night owls, I need to get them out for display. Here's a nice selection.
I admit, I'm a little iffy on the whole notion. On the whole, I'd rather be going home at 4, particularly as it's been a rough day. Denise came down in mid-morning to cover the booth, so I could go to Kathy Lee's funeral. I'm really glad I did, even if she would totally have understood missing it for Saturday Market, but when I saw one of her little ceramic crosses on the program, along with the Isaiah quote about the potter and the clay, I kinda lost it.
Another good thing about masks: nobody can see your nose running.
But I toughed it out, sent Denise back home after lunch and prepared for Act 2. Because I had a secret weapon: a $20 shop light.
That was only the last piece of the puzzle. I already had a deep-cycle battery and inverter from the year Clayfolk relocated to the disused Toys'R'Us, and a 10-foot extension cord is so common as to be ubiquitous at our house. I didn't know whether I'd really need it for the sale, but I knew I'd desperately want it at take-down. And I was so right.
I actually turned it on around 8 pm. Sunset wasn't actually until 8:48, the sky was still bright, but the light was... murky. Particularly inside my booth, where all the pots face inward. Throwing the switch made the whole arrangement more visible from the sidewalk. I don't know for sure that it brought me sales, but it certainly didn't hurt.
As for the rest, it was okay? The DJ they hired was pretty good at his job, and the volume levels let me still talk to customers in my booth. Not the music I listen to, though I recognized a lot of it from my college and high school days. (Disco? Really?) The hot meal I promised myself was a little disappointing, as only three of the food booths stayed open (and the fourth, Ritta's Burritos, was closed all day, only opening for the evening). I had a Teriyaki sandwich, an apple leftover from lunch, some sugar snap peas from my Farmer's Market bag. Chocolate chip cookies.
I'd decided it was worth it if I broke $300 for the evening; actual sales were under $250, and the first $50 of that were at 4:05, so more a late daytime sale than a legitimate evening.
Still had some nice interactions, though. A little South Asian girl with mom and grandma, looking for a mug (Father's day, I think), paid with her money. She looked at several painted mugs, then gran pointed out the hummingbird tall mug and she was sold. Carefully counted out bills from a red-and-gold gift envelope (grandma pitched in a five, so she didn't have to break the second twenty) and proudly carried off her choice. As they walk away, I assume mom asked if she was okay with her choice, because she loudly proclaimed, "I'm happy with what I have."
Also had a nice experience with a fairly geeky family--dad was wearing a vintage Star Wars tee-shirt, and younger daughter had a really nicely creepy Gentlemen shirt. She'd bought herself a sloth mug and was leaving when I called out, "Nice Buffy shirt!" "You recognize it?" "Oh yeah, I even know who the actor was? Did you know Doug Jones also plays Saru on Star Trek: Discovery?" Not her fandom, as it turns out, hard-core slayer girl, but she did say she'd met him at a convention, and was delighted I knew her subculture.
I missed a couple folks I'd wanted to see, because funeral. The young couple who're building their plate collection, one at a time, bought a koala plate from Denise, and the young woman who'd fallen for a peacock dessert plate at Tsunami Books, then came back to find I'd taken it home and restocked mugs, tracked us down to buy it. (You see, Scott? I told you these would sell if you gave them a little time.) I did meet folks in town for the Olympic Trials, as many during the day as the evening.
But all in all, it was a quiet evening after a fairly busy day. Took my usual hour and 25 minutes to pack up.
I was really grateful for the lights by the time I finished.
