So here is a little story about my experience at the Ballston market, and what a tale it is too, full of pathos and tragedy, with a dollop of humor added in and, of course, a happy ending of sorts.
It was a lovely sunny day. No rain, I am happy to report. My booth was set up and looking pretty good.
Ballston was exciting because so many people seemed to be interested in my drawings and prints, and I actually sold a couple of them first thing in the morning. So I was feeling kind of optimistic, relaxing and enjoying the refreshing breeze…that is, until the breeze got stronger.
The horrible incident
To say Welbourne Square (where the market is held) is windy would be an understatement. Chicago would have been proud of the wind force. The refreshing breeze quickly turned into a bracing wind, and then a mighty gale force gust, which blew staight through my tent, knocking over a gridwall, smashing a few of my framed prints, and sending t-shirts flying into the flower beds.
Here’s the weird thing, I didn’t burst into tears.
I think I was in some sort of semi-catatonic state of shock. Other vendors helped me clear away the glass, and then I went about quietly rearranging my tent. It was heartbreaking, because the tent really did look good that morning, but it didn’t make sense to tempt fate by leaving other work susceptible to the wind.
So for about two hours that morning, my tent looked like the big, bad wolf had been huffing and puffing at it, while I hurried about getting it back to order, pinning shirts to a clothes line,moving things out of the wind, and generally not selling things.
The not-so-sad ending
You would think that this story would have a sad ending, right?
Well, I ultimately went on to sell a few more pieces, made a few friends with my sympatico fellow vendors, had a few uplifting visits from supportive friends, and found out that I’m made of tougher stuff than I had realized.
The worst had happened, and I had not fallen apart. I had coped, and emerged with a story to blog about.
The moral of this story is: buy plexiglass frames, instead of glass.
