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offcntr
Despite the sunny weather, the day started very slow. In particular, nobody was pulling up in front of our booths to park, or if they were, they'd rapidly pull out again. I was surreptitiously checking my breath, my underarms, my fly... Chere finally figured it out: The city had put No Parking (6/1/2026) signs on the meter posts, and people were seeing the large print, but not the small. A few finally did read the whole sign, and once other people saw them parking, it rapidly went back to normal.Surprisingly, the city also has fixed the meters. For the longest time, the coin boxes had been removed, coin slot stickered over, and the meters only took credit/debit card payments. Knowing Eugene, we expected the change to be permanent, and a local artists organization actually started mounting small art pieces over the empty holes. Surprise, surprise, the meters all have new coin boxes, and the display has been reprogrammed to accept credit, debit and coin payments. No idea what happened to the art works.
My first customer of the day breezed in, said she was all out of cards, picked out four, paid cash. She was wearing a peacock-feather patterned mask and a Seattle Krakens windbreaker, and it was only ten minutes after she'd left that it occurred to me to wonder, Was that
james? Why yes, yes it was, but between my face-blindness and her mask, I didn't realize it. I hope I was at least polite, if not personal.
Once again, we had people from all over. Sold some pots to a lady from Atlanta, talked to a couple from Brooklyn. Told a family from New Hampshire that I'd never quite been, only by, on a Greyhound to Orono, Maine. When they replied then I had been in Vermont, I admitted I was probably asleep, as it was a late night local from Boston on, stopping at every hollow log and Dunkin Donuts along the route, and at some point even I get filled up with doughnuts.
A couple of weeks back, I talked to a fellow and his two tween daughters about buying a set of four dinner pasta bowls. I only had one pattern they liked with me, three more at home. They weren't able to make time to pick them up at the studio, and were out of town last Saturday, so I was pleased they made good on their promise and came to collect them today. I also sold a hen bank to Tim Mazet, mother of glassblower Eli, who'd meant to pick it up last week and didn't, quite. And I sold a skunk pie plate to a young woman as a gift to her friend. They have matching skunk tattoos, which she showed me a pic of on her phone.
My neighbor Chere is a little dog-crazy. She owns two rescue chihuahuas, drives the bus for a dog rescue outfit one weekend a month that brings street dogs up from Mexico for adoption. So she squeals with delight every time dogs--which are theoretically verboten--go by. This time, she had more than usual reason--there were a couple of wolf-dogs out for walkies. A local outfit that specializes in socializing and placing rescue wolf/dog hybrids had a booth for the day, and brought down two of their subjects. Being big, energetic canines, they needed to get out of the booth periodically, so we saw both a classic German Shepherd-colored mix and this sooty black beastie come by.
All afternoon, I was puzzled by the bumper sticker on a car across the street that said, in large caps, REGULATE DICK. Finally got close enough, as they backed out, to read the fine print: Not Jane. I get it.
Asked a young woman how she was doing, and she replied, I'm doing fine, I have my baguette, brandishing the loaf in question. Is that for eating or defense, I asked. Both, she said, sliding back the sleeve to show the bitten end, There are people I've been tempted to beat senseless. I laughed, asked her name, and sold Rachel a couple of watercolor cards.
Had someone look at Yuri and ask, Is that a Bi Mart bear? Said I'd actually found him in a St. Vinnies, but the first two in our collection, Bigfoot and Benjamin, were both purchased new at Bi Mart. Her grandparents had worked their whole careers at the local chain, and she recognized him from them. I wish Bi Mart still did carry them; every now and then, I hanker to adopt another one, but they don't show up in thrift stores much anymore. The last one, we found on E Bay.
T-Shirt of the day, for all you grammarians out there: Peace, Love, and the Oxford Comma.
Another good sales day, about twenty bucks short of $800.
no subject
Date: 2026-06-01 03:52 am (UTC)I laughed at the
no subject
Date: 2026-06-01 03:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-06-01 04:25 am (UTC)cannot stand the suspense
Date: 2026-06-01 06:07 am (UTC)The hardest thing about my current Catalan class (largely accentuation, punctuation, orthography) is that they do NOT permit the Oxford comma, which kills me a little bit every time I have to not use it.
Re: cannot stand the suspense
Date: 2026-06-01 06:16 am (UTC)