offcntr | We pause now (Reply)

For cetacean identification!

...yup. Those are whales, all right.

Back to Market after our week away, and it's the first really nice Saturday I've seen. No trace of rain, early clouds broken open to sun, and I'm in shirt sleeves by takedown. Only real down side was the new bark mulch the city laid out in the plantings right behind the booth. In the past, we've asked them to put it out in advance of Market, to let the volatiles bake out, but I guess they've forgotten. So all of us were variously coughing, headachey, or sniffling, depending on our particular reaction.

We also were visited by street preachers this weekend, one on each block, with big offensive signs--the one seemed to equate Islam with evil--and, in the case of one of them, a megaphone. There's not much we can do about them, it's a public space, even if we pay to rent it for the day. We could apparently get the loudspeaker shut down, it's against city ordinance. So, since they were on the north edge and I the south, it was just an annoying rumble in the background until they finally gave up around lunch time.

Besides, I had a much better visitor. Just a little before 10, a tiny little toddler galumphed down the street. She went into Cheri's booth, next door, first, thankfully wasn't tall enough to see the brightly colored mugs on the tables. Then she came exploring with me, and saw my bear. Toddled right up and gave Pyotr a bear hug, while I held on--this isn't my first rodeo--then let go again. Mom and Dad were coaxing, Tyler, don't you want to go to the park? We need to go, but Tyler spotted the second bear, so Bella had to get a hug as well before she finally agreed to leave. She's very good at letting go, I told her folks. That's surprising, she isn't usually, they replied.

Afternoon brought another visit, an enormous Earth Day flash mob. They poured down Oak Street, streamed past my booth on east Park, and eventually rallied in our food court. (I kinda wish they'd come earlier, to drown out the evangelists.)

I get a lot of locals in who've found my work elsewhere first: Tsunami Books, Great Harvest Bakery, Empty Bowls. It's always fun to see them realize just how broad my oeuvre is. It's not just mugs or bowls, there's lots more choices. Sometimes they'll buy something more, sometimes they'll just tell me what they got (and love) elsewhere. Either way, it's gratifying.

And then there was the young woman who recognized, not the pottery, but the watercolor cards. Denise and I collaborate on these, her handmade paper matched with prints from my sketchbooks. Turns out she has one framed on her wall, and it inspired her, in part, to get a tattoo. Here it is, still under the wrap: a brand new pigeon. We talked about pigeons for a bit, and I looked up Rosemary Mosco's new book to recommend (It's A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching, and it looks delightful).

Despite the weather, and the Earth Day crowds, sales were down from last time. Can't complain, though. An average day now would have been spectacular, pre-pandemic.