Week three of Bristol is now just a memory.
Saturday
The day started out pretty uneventful, I got to the faire way to early again, so I sat at the gate to the parking lot with a bunch of the rest of the regulars. This was 1st feast day of the season. The henches showed up and I handed off the pile of meat I bought for the feast and resumed waiting. On their second trip I also sent in my bottles of water so I did not have to worry about the water shortage.
After I got in I headed to the FOF Garden, and started the gorge fest… After a light snack I headed off to wander. My wandering brought me to the Midsummer stage at about 10:40. There I discovered that Melodio was MIA and the guys were holding “Open Auditions.” That show has got to have been their funniest show I have seen in years.
After that Jen and I ran into Jessie Linder in the street I stayed and watched him for a while, while. While standing there a family went by and thier little 3 or 4 year old girl became enamored with the music. This seemed to surprise the parents. The mother was the 1st to notice, she quietly but firmly stopped her husband, “LOOK AT THIS!” When he did look you could see a wash of relief come over his face. By their reaction and the very thick glasses she was wearing I believe the girl might have been mildly developmently disabled but I’m not sure. They continued to watch, and even coaxed her to drop some money in Jessies tip basket. She seemed a little confused by it, but still was still very enamored by the music. At that point it hit me and I reached into my pouch and drew out one of the little glass stones, no shock, it matched her eyes. (I’ve never pulled out a stone fomr that pouch that didn’t match eitehr the childs eyes or dress) I nelt down and coaxed her over and gave it to her. Her eyes lit up and she ran to her mother and showed her. She then went around and showed the rest of her family, and then carefully put it into her pocket. She then kept one hand on the pocket the entire time she remained there listening to Jessie. I saw her again a little later and she was showing the stone to another person. It’s amazing how through the magic of faire a tiny piece of glass can become the most priceless of jewels.
After that I headed back to FOF for more feasting. Mmmmm FOF Feasts… Kudos to the chefs… mmmm….
After gorging myself I wandered around again for a while. I finally managed to catch the Fairy God Mothers playing thier game with a group of people. After that was over I headed back to FOF to join in on the parade again. It’s funny I never used to have much interest in the parade but it really is a lot of fun, plus it gives me the chance to look for people I know.
After parade I returned to FOF garden just in time to snack a bit more before the queen herself arrived. I stood to the side and watched as Uncle Ho and the henches fed the queen. It was quite comical when Uncle Ho turned the serving plate into a lazy susan for her magisty. 🙂
After the queen was done, and I sampled even more food. (Karl handed me an italian sausage when I went in the back to wash my bowl off.) I headed out to the serengetti for the afternoon Starbord Watch shows and the Revel.
The Revel was great! We were up to fourty two people at the peak. This time the sky was overcast so it actually happend on the 3 sheets stage. They managed to get me a little emotional when they picked Johnny Miner. I have not heard it sung in group sing-a-long fashion since the funeral. It sounded beautiful, but it was definitly a tear jerker. OVerall though the end of day what-cha-ma-call-it was absolutly fantastic.
John's Musings 