Back, back, back... and off to unpack.

We are back from the festival and I am SO happy to be surrounded by tubs. Tubs of dirty clothes, camping supplies, art, food... Tubs that need sorting and unpacking, but signify the end of this week.

It has been a week of change and lessons to go with the flow.  In my mind I had a tight plan as to how the week leading up to festival, and the festival itself, were going to unfold. It involved both Alex and I creating art in every spare second to be as stocked as possible for the fair. It involved planning a smashing birthday party for Lili while camping. It involved my Mom flying down from NH to help with the kids at the festival. And finally, it involved creating the best booth space possible so my art looked great and we would have a very profitable weekend.

Well.

Several big events collided this week, and they turned my "plans" upside down.

1. First off, Seo has had a heck of a time cutting his first two teeth the past two weeks. And it resulted in fussy evenings that disrupted my art time, and sleepless nights.  I did not get the last minute quality art push of my plans. 
2. My Grandfather's funeral coincided with my Mom's trip down, so sadly, she couldn't come down to visit and help with kids.
3.  And lastly, 20 minutes after we had finished setting up our booth, a gigantic gust of wind came and torqued, toppled, and destroyed our vendor tent.

We knew the wind was going to be fierce on Friday, and yet as I watched our booth collapse with all my artwork inside I was in disbelief.  But we had a strong tent! I was thinking. But we had it screwed in and ratcheted down so tight! How could this be happening???
Maybe if we hadn't been so rigid we would have survived the wind. It is hard to know~ but it serves as a potent metaphor for the rest of the changes to my plans this week for me. Sometimes it is best to bend with the changes rather than try to fight them, you know?

I had a moment when I finally burst into tears. It was after dark fell and the kids were asleep. My artwork was in disarray and I sat behind where my booth was supposed to be. A line of white vendor tents, and then a gap of green grass.  Like a missing tooth. And as I looked at the blank space, all the sadness of my grandfather's death, and the bitter sweetness of Lili turning three, and all the hopes and fears associated with putting myself out there in the art world came crashing down. Alex gave me a hug. Later everyone bent over backwards to help us borrow a new tent and start the weekend over. And so we did.

It all turned out beautifully despite the setbacks. Most importantly, no one or things were hurt (aside from the tent) in the tent collapse. Lili was right behind the tent and it is a miracle she wasn't seriously hurt by the tent flying at her. (Also, seven other vendors lost tents and nobody else was hurt either.)  The Carmonas, Becca, and our friends helped with the kids a bunch. I survived throwing my first ever three-year-old party. Aside from the wind that first day, the weather was gorgeous for the festival.
We listened to amazing music right from our booth. We took morning family walks, watching the steam rise off the lake together. We had a successful time vending. My earrings were popular. We met new friends. Seo's second tooth burst through his gums. And Lili happily turned three.