A Perfect Sunday

When I used to work for the Evil Meanie Jerkpants Company, the only thing that didn’t suck about my job toward the end was the people. I loved the folks I worked with, and I still count a good number of them as my friends, even nine months after leaving. Twice while I worked there, my buddy B told me about this festival that she and her hubby went to near our house, a festival that included a banjo contest, farmer’s market, and craft fair. The Hubbs and I always thought, “Gee, we should go to that!” The Hubbs could enter the contest, we could get ourselves some fresh produce, and I could either participate in or bum around at the craft fair.

Last weekend, after camping with the gals, I came home to find a restless Hubbs and Princess. We needed to get out of the house, and had heard that there was a craft fair in a small park not far from our house. The wagon was loaded into the trunk, the family piled into the seats, and we were off.

Not five minutes after arriving at the craft fair, a familiar face popped up next to The Princess and started snuffling and licking her head. Jessie, my folks’ border collie mix, was elated to find us in the sea of people. We, too, were endlessly entertained with the idea that we’d run into one another at such an event…especially since it was about two minutes after The Hubbs looked at me and asked why my folks weren’t there. Too funny!

A nice little family outing quickly turned into a nice big family outing. The five of us (and Jessie, of course!) made our way through the fair, picking up small trinkets along the way. When it came time to boogie, Grumma explained that she, Grumpa, and Jessie were heading to another craft fair two towns away.

After a little discussion, The Hubbs and I decided that sounded like fun, so we tagged along. Twenty minutes later, we found ourselves in the middle of the square where Hambone and I had our summer band camp concerts when we were younger, standing mesmerized by the banjo playing in the gazebo. As we marveled, wondering why we hadn’t heard about this and entered The Hubbs, someone tapped my shoulder. It was B!

This little festival happened to be the same one that B and T had been going to for the last couple of years, and we stopped almost directly in front of them as they were watching the contest from the lawn. I introduced The Hubbs to B, and she introduced all of us to T (B had met The Princess a few times already), and we all talked for a while. It was wonderful to see her again, and I love the random randomness of the encounter.

Soon after our visit with B and T, my folks arrived at the square, and we were ready to hit the craft fair. I bought a beautiful hand-knit wrap from a woman who was donating every penny of her sales to Susan G Koman for the Cure. We saw quite a few adorable things along the way, and ended up on the farmer’s market side where they had antique John Deere tractors.

For a spontaneous we-need-to-get-out-of-the-house kind of outing, I’d say it turned out to be a rather productive day. We got some exercise, The Princess got her beloved wagon ride, we all spent some time with The Grumps, and I got to catch up with an old friend. Add in the entertainment of the craft fairs, and I don’t think it could have turned out any better than it did.