Slightly Off Center

I try to have some clever hidden schema behind my display on a given Saturday, a theme that discerning visitors might be able to suss out. This week, I got nothing but rhymes: hog or frog or a pair of wild dogs. I'm really looking forward to having some new pots come out of my next firing.

Market was on the quiet side this weekend. You never know what will happen Country Fair weekend. Sometimes the place is a ghost town; other times, all the squares who'd never darken our door for fear of the "hippies" will come out en masse the one weekend they know all them types will be out dancing naked in the woods in Veneta.

This year, we were pretty full, vendor-wise. All the newer members took advantage of the opportunity to get a booth vacated by the folks out selling at the fair. And sales were actually okay, from a given perspective. I mean, pre-pandemic, a $375 day would have been on the high end of the spectrum. It's only the fact that it's half of last week's total that makes it feel like a slow day.

Talked to a few people who'd come down for the fair, including a couple from Portland who recognized my work from when I still did Ceramic Showcase. And I saw one fellow in short shorts and a gold-scale mask that I'm fairly sure was an escapee from the woods. Otherwise, it was folks from North Carolina, Ohio, Minnesota. and a nice young women who had been admiring my work all through college, and finally came to buy herself a hummingbird mug before leaving Eugene to move to Pittsburgh.

Multicolored eye-shadow seems to be in vogue, usually two-tone, like orange and green, or red and yellow, though I saw one girl with a full rainbow. Generally combined with a snappy, chisel-shape mascara job. Another kind of body art, less permanent (and painful) than a tattoo.

Had a mother and daughter dash in, point out an elephant bank, dash out again. They were on a scavenger hunt, and finding an elephant was on the list. Now all they had left was Frog's Joke Books, three people wearing similar hats, and something I missed as they dashed down the street. If they'd stayed a moment to chat, I coulda told them they weren't likely to find Frog, as I'm reasonably sure he was out in Veneta.

Confusing t-shirt of the day: The Pavement is Lava. Possibly related to Parkour?

Was visited briefly by a Guide Dog in Training, being socialized to work in crowds. Very pretty black lab, and a Very Good Boy.