I've found my clan

We are home from the show. It was successful in a number of ways; the money was good which is always nice. But better than that, I had a wonderful time, probably the most fun I have ever had at a show. The weather even turned out ok which was pretty amazing considering it rained a ton yet somehow managed to stop during the exact hours of the show each day. That was truly miraculous.

I was next to my friend Rhonda and a booth away from my friend Marcia. Rhonda's friend Miky (who is also my new friend) was behind her. I cannot begin to convey how much fun it is to do a show when surrounded by people you like. We had an absolutely blast.

Miky is a potter extraordinaire who also goes to culinary school. She lives in Des Moines and traveled to the show with a cooler full of fabulous food she had prepared. On Saturday she had a rice cooker behind her booth! That was the day she brought us a wonderfully healthy lunch selection; sesame spinach, braised tofu, thinly sliced beef, seaweed wrappers, kimchee(did I mention she is Korean?) and rice. All artfully arranged on a plate along with a napkin and chopsticks. Oh my gosh, what a wonderful treat!!

I also had a chance to see Rick and Sally Martin again, having met them at Laumeier earlier this year. Also friends of Rhonda's, these folks know how to have a good time. Rick is just too much fun; what a total cut up he is, doing his Ricky Martin moves, cracking jokes, making up nicknames for everyone, and leaving funny gifts which is a story for another time. His wife Sally is smart and beautiful in addition to being funny. They furnished me with Margaritas each evening and Ricky hooked Rhonda and me up with personal fans clipped to our chairs (powered by a battery source he also furnished). This after he determined it was too hot on our side of the tent.

On Saturday night John and I were invited to join a group of about 20 artists for dinner at a Japanese restaurant, one of those places where you sit around a grill and a chef cooks/performs your meal in front of you. We were at 2 tables with the chefs in the center, trying their best to out-do one another. Ours set the entire grill ablaze which was pretty spectacular. Also made an onion into a flaming volcano which was very cool and it was obvious from the hooting and hollering that we are all a bunch of pyros at heart.

It was when I was sitting at that table, laughing so hard my face hurt, that I looked around at my old and new friends, my fellow gypsy artists, and it struck me. For once in my life, after years and years of not really fitting in and always feeling like the odd girl out, I was finally at home.