Once more, with feeling

There's a magnolia tree in the plantings behind my Saturday Market booth. Over the years, I've watched it grow from a slender branchling (bigger than a sapling) to the overarching matriarch that shades my booth the entire season. I have the sense that, many years past, it used to bloom around the first or second week of Market; these past few years, I arrive to find the blossoms already dropped, and brown former florets littering my space. Global warming, I assume.

But it does sometimes make for a lovely opening weekend. They'd predicted a chance of rain on Saturday, but as the week progressed, the chance got smaller. By Friday night, it was only 20% in the morning; by Saturday, 3%. Sunny day, highs in the 70s, perfect market weather.

Sales started slow--a tumbler, followed by five $5 watercolor cards, then nothing for a long stretch of morning. It took until after noon to turn the page on my sale book, but after that things picked up, less than two hours until page three.

I saw a bunch of folks in Iowa Hawkeye hoodies and jackets, asked one of the men where in Iowa they were from. Cedar Rapids, he said, North Central part of the state. Told him I was somewhat familiar, from having gone to school in La Crosse, Wisconsin. My wife went to college in La Crosse! he said. I'm thinking UW-L or Western Wisconsin Tech, when he says Viterbo.

My alma mater. I tell him this, he calls her back, and we share memories. She graduated in Elementary Education in 1977, the same year I started my Art/Mathematics degree, so we just missed each other, but we had a few friends and a bunch of the nuns in common. Great fun making the connection, even more fun on Sunday when I see them all in a row at church Easter morning.

Had a nice talk with a potter from Pennsylvania. She's stopped in before, visiting her aunt and uncle in Eugene. Sadly, aunt had passed just a couple of days before she arrived, offered condolences. She greatly admired an elephant cookie jar and pasta bowl, but only brought one carry-on bag, so reluctantly left them behind. Then came back 15 minutes later to buy them, give me her address to have them shipped, and ordered four soup bowls to match.

Immediately after, I sold a octopus teapot to a college girl whose mom collects teapots, then a fox dessert plate to another for her dad. Near the end of the day, a third bought a butterfly mug for mom--Butterfly is her nickname. And then came back after talking to her brother--nickname Turtle--to get the appropriately patterned tumbler for him to give. Everybody is gonna win at Mother's/Father's day this year.

Had a large squared baking dish go out the door, on its way to Fairbanks, Alaska. Had another young woman recognize my work from Empty Bowls--her boyfriend bought her a squirrel bowl there last year. Told her I was firing bowls for this year's sale this coming week, had nearly a hundred going into the kiln. There's a lot of skill going into these, she commented, which led to a discussion about skill versus talent. So many people say, You're so talented, implying, of course, I'm not. But the thing is, while talent may be innate, skill can be acquired. I like that distinction, I'll have to remember it.

Sometime around 2:30, Abdul, the shish-kebab guy, stopped in the booth, sad-faced, miming wiping away tears. Oh no, I said, They broke it again? I've made two tip jars for him so far, average life-span a little over a year. Fortunately, I have a spare in bisque from the last time, so I tell him I can glaze it in time to fire this week, have it to him for next Saturday. He pays me in food, a good deal for both of us.

The day is winding down, when I realize I forgot to put the weights on the booth when I set up, and in fact forgot to put two of them back in after Holiday Market. Fortunately, it's a calm day as well as a sunny one, and nobody on Staff seems to have noticed. I close the day in spectacular fashion, $1142 in sales.

One last mole

After a week of frustration, I finally got through to the last (please, God) fraud account. It was an online financial services outfit in California doing everything from debit/credit to insurance to student loans, but with a very myopic focus. Their assumption seemed to be that customer service is for their customers; to get through the automated switchboard, you needed to provide your membership information. To use online chat, you had to log in. I went around in circles with them for over a week.

Finally decided to ignore their eight options and just say Operator. No luck, system doesn't understand. I try again. Nope. Third time, I'm inspired to say Live Agent, and miracle of miracles, they put me through. I still have to choose from one of their departments, but fortunately, "Secure" isn't busy on Easter Sunday, so I get to a human being after a not-too-terrible hold. I tell the agent my story, and he immediately connects me to their dedicated Fraud department, who take my information, freeze the account and write up a fraud ticket. Then ask me if there's anything else, and I point out how difficult they make it to report fraudulent activity if you don't have an account. They seem to take my story seriously, though I wonder whether there'll be any changes going forward.

Bowled over

This is how many Empty Bowls were in the kiln on Monday. Literally half the load, around 150 bowls.