Caturday

[offcntr]

As I pull into Market this morning, I see a young woman with parakeet green hair by the Info Booth, backpack on the ground and a very pretty white and pale orange-point kitty on a leash. A few minutes later, as I'm about to cross the street to pick up my envelope, a young man on a scooter zooms by, an adolescent grey kitty perched on his head, holding on to his hat.

It must be Caturday.

It's a fairly typical day for this time of year; still grey and chilly in the morning, slow sales till the sun finally comes out around 11:30. Lots of out-of-towners. I give away business cards, remind folks that I have a website and I ship. A family from Indiana spend a lot of time in the booth, Mom practically memorizing her favorites. They all come back again in a couple of hours, wind up buying a big pitcher and a small casserole, and paying me to pack and ship them home. My best guess is twenty bucks for postage; that'll probably be close enough.

I have a nice chat with a couple in the morning. He's wearing a Wisconsin-themed t-shirt, so I ask where they're from. Turns out it's Waukesha, the next suburb over from Denise's hometown of Brookfield. They're visiting with parents and family, because the folks went to school at the U of O and still have friends here. I give them a card, tell them about our gallery show next winter. It's nice to talk with people from back home.

Early in the afternoon, another group stops in, parents and adult children. I notice the daughter is wearing what might possibly be a cutout of the Great Lakes as a pendant (although backwards, with Lake Superior pointing east). So of course I have to ask, yes it is the lakes, Mom notices it's reversed and fixes it. Turns out they're from Wisconsin, too, Appleton this time, so I ask if they've heard of Kitz & Pfeil. They have, and I tell them it's Denise's cousin's hardware chain. We chat a little more, and as they're leaving, I say, It seems to be Wisconsin day today. I talked with a couple from Brookfield earlier.

Yup. This is the other half of the family. I also see a guy in a Packers hoodie later, but don't get a chance to ask if he's related as well.

Farmer's Market continues through the construction. They've torn up the crosswalk, so you either have to go by way of the Courthouse Square, or dodge traffic to cross in the middle of the street. I pick up lettuce, cukes, salad mix and asparagus. Two pints of sugar snap peas and three of strawberries, as we ran out before Friday. Oak Street is torn up too, still down to one lane, though they closed the right lane this week rather than the left. There's an ominous pile of steel plates in the parking space next to Danny's booth on Oak. Not sure if there's a hole underneath yet, or if they're just stockpiled for future use.

Despite a slow start, it's a pretty good day, $585 with a late sale while packing out. Sold a cat stew mug, cat painted mug, and three different cat watercolor cards.

Caturday, indeed.