QUARTZSITE 2002

The weekend

January 4, 2002
Friday

I had help tying down my canopy last night. I did pound in the stakes, but I don't know knots. The last thing I wanted to happen was to put all the work in pounding in those stakes, tie the rope to them and watch the canopy blow away with the ropes a flappin in the air, came loose from the stakes because my stinkin knots didn't hold.

Ed and his friend, Don came over to do it for me. I asked for them to just show me the first one, what kind of knot to tie, but they insisted on doing it for me. Well, Ok.

Don and I got along great. Before I knew it we were deep in conversation about rocks and mining, and kids and life and all kinds of stuff. He has such a gentle soul, it is always such a wonderful thing to meet gentle souls.

I've got new neighbors. They pulled in late last night. When I was getting ready to leave, I went out to introduce myself. There was a huge mud puddle by the water pipe and the pipe was lilting at a 45 degree angle. The guy was saying "We'll have this fixed in the morning". They had to turn off my water since he had backed into it. I smiled, well, at least I have an excuse for leaving those dishes in the sink.

So, last night we all went over to the Wild RV, I was so tired from not getting much sleep the night before, I was practically falling asleep on everyone. I stayed for a while, but left when I realized I would not make it the mile home without falling asleep if I didn't leave at that moment.

I came home to a freezing cold trailer. I turned on the heat (first lit the pilot since it had gone out, Must have been from leaving the little shutter open, I guess you are supposed to shut it) and went to sleep.

This morning it was really freezing cold. I knew I couldn't be out of propane! I just got the new tank! Well, I determined I left the dial to pilot when I lit it and failed to turn it to on. So I did that, and crawled back in bed.

This was after at 7:30 there was a bulldozer digging near my window. Obviously fixing the water situation. Cool, but not so cool. I didn't want to wake up that early. But, I had to go out and get my paperwork done before I opened today. They were all closed for the holiday (the state offices) and I forgot to do it yesterday morning.

When I made it back to camp, I rolled up the sides, and was in the back of the trailer getting something when I heard the neighbor lady yelling to stop, and running back to the water pipe. Apparently they had hooked up the water, then for some reason the man decided to move the RV. He was taking off with the water hose hooked up.

I was really laughing by this time, even having to move to the other side of the trailer so she didn't see me. I was thinking what a drag it would be to have to go to the manager to tell him that a mere 2 hours after the water was fixed, they had to fix it again, only this time, instead of the pipe bent back at a 45 degree angle, it was now torn out of the dang ground.

The wind had picked up today, to the point I was very very glad I had tied my canopy down. Things were flying down the aisle, people chasing after stuff, even I had to. Earrings were being blown off the boards, and I had to cover one of the tables with the lighter stuff on it. It was a mess. I heard the wind was 40mph. At least the gusts were.

Here are some photos of how bad the wind was. Oh, this is exciting huh? Silly me, oh well.

you can see the bend of the flag pole	my necklaces held in the wind, but I was surprised they did.

~~~

I went over to the Wild camp again tonight. It was great, I was awake, and could actually hold a conversation. I even got to help make a necklace. Alan was needing help putting together a necklace he wanted to make, he bought some beads and had a visualization for a beautiful creation. It WAS pretty when done. He has a good eye. It helps that he is a great artist...you know, with the good eye part.

~~~

I was way wind blown today, but I had my cool hat to keep my hair from flying all over the place. See? Cool hat!

I know, they are almost the same shot, but I am tired, and can't decide which one to put up. The result of too much wind.

~~~*~~~

January 5, 2002
Saturday

At Subway last night, I was sitting there checking my email and I heard a customer sitting at another table say to someone else "Dude, are you ok?" I looked up and a man was sitting there with a huge gash in his forehead, blood caked in his hair, and his eye was totally swollen black, blood in his mouth, and scraped up.

The guy mumbled that he had just been hit by a car, that he just wanted to sit down for a moment and that he would be ok after he went home and got some rest.

We both jumped into action, I told the other guy to call 911, and we kept him there and still until the police showed up and then the paramedic.

You know, the strange part about it all was that it didn't seem like he was just injured, the blood didn't look all that fresh. I didn't hang out to check it out, but I do wonder if it was a car that hit him, or something else, like perhaps another guy in a bar. Well, he WAS pretty battered, but was he just wandering around, dazed after the car smacked him?

~~~

Today was not all that I expected. I really should know better than to have expectations, but everyone keeps telling me Desert Gardens (where I am selling) will pick up the middle of the month. I made some sales, but I got alot of work done too. I priced and readied more beads. More beads. More beads. Now I just need someone to buy them all!

~~~

Don, the man I made friends with and I chatted on and off all day today. He is a gentle soul, it is soothing to talk to him. I walked over this morning while having my morning coffee, and we talked alot about this and that. It is nice to have so many people here who I can relax with and feel comfortable.

He and I have talked about closing down one day and going hiking up through the mountains. He knows of some great places around here, I wanna go! I will bring my digital and get some shots.

~~~

Hey! I am losing weight. Yay. I was counting on this, so much so that I went to my storage shed and dug out the box of my small jeans to bring with me...and I actually am in one of them already. :) I have several stages of sizes of jeans. It is rather comical.

~~~

This whistling man came by today with a camera, wanting to take my photo. Oh, I knew the score, it has happened at shows before, they take your shot, then come back with one of those little telescope type keychain things you hold up to your eye, looking at a bright light, and there is a slide in there of you smiling, in front of your booth.

I got the two he came back with later in the day. I decided I would send them to my kiddos at home, one for each. And, I wondered if by holding it up to the light, then my camera lens, if I could get a photo of his photo. You know? It worked! It is a little blurrier than the original, but what the heck, and you can see the sides of the inside of the thing, I kinda liked the effect.

Fun stuff, huh? The lighter box in the middle is the photo, you can see it all reflected on the sides of the box from there. It is kinda cool that my camera could take it. Out here, you can just dress however you want. Somedays I look the gypsy, somedays I have jeans and a tank top on, somedays it's different, comfortable, loose clothing. Hey, I have a camper, with a closet, I brought ALOT of clothes! I don't have to live out of a suitcase, that is the coolest thing.

~~~

I think the best thing about Quartzsite is the people. Even that guy who sold me the keychains and I sat and talked for a good 1/2 hour, about his life, and mine, what he and his wife do for a living, where they live, how much we both love the desert, the mountains, how it is special out here.

I am sitting here in the camper, listening to Cowboy Junkies, incense burning, cool air coming in from the slightly open window behind me, sunset dying down over the mountains, a bit weather beaten from the day, and relaxed and peaceful.

I am waiting for Don to get here. We are going to go out to dinner, this time I wanted to go to Taco Mia, where they make the best fish tacos I have had. Then we are going to the Wild RV and catch in on the fireworks they promised to let off tonight. Last night it was too windy. The night before, it was too late after dinner, the night before, something else happened. SO, we are hoping it does happen tonight.

I think I will wander over and see if he is ready or not.

~~~

I did just that, and now it is much later. He was almost ready, I came back here and read for a little bit, then we head over to dinner. Mmmmm the fish tacos at Taco Mia are the best. And, a Corona beer. Cool.

After, we went to the Wild RV, visited while they finished dinner and then we DID go out about 10 miles out of town and did fireworks. It was fun, but cold. And, I really am so much the practical one, it is tough for me to not think of the fact people were standing too close, and it was too close to the cars, and oh my, what if we start a fire? Well, nothing bad happened, but I have to think about all of those things. Towards the end, I sat in the car with J-Me, she was not feeling well, wanted out of the cold, and we sat in there and chatted.

~~~*~~~

January 6, 2002
Sunday

Don knocked on my door at 7:30 (I asked him to wake me so we could go have coffee), I was sound asleep. What happened to my ritual of waking up at 7 every morning? Somehow the desert air is making me lazy. I KNOW the desert air is making me dehydrated, I really, really need to get some lotion. I am resorting to my leave-on conditioner that I use on my hair. Hey, it works, it is just expensive.

We had some coffee, and he ran off to get on with the day while I finished getting my email. I decided Subway's breakfast sandwiches suck, so I went over to Micky D's for an egg sandwich. I really hate McDonalds's food, but their breakfast is ok.

I was in the drive thru line when I realized there were alot of cars, so I parked and went inside, and realized just how many people were inside. It was at that point that I told myself to just relax and ride it out, it was still early, and I didn't need to open up this early in the morning.

When I got back, I walked to Don's spot and gabbed while I ate my food, we really enjoy talking to each other so much that it is a constant blabbering of words when we are in each other's company. Fun actually.

Today I made more sales. It was a beautiful day, sun was out, people were nice as usual, I was pleased.

Really, there was nothing much happening today.

I did go to the wild RV tonight, and had fun with all them wild people. Tequila Sunrises, beer, great conversation, lots of laughs. Nothing new, but always fun.

After that, Alan and I had another simply wonderful conversation. I so enjoy our talks, they are always uplifting and usually quite enlightening.

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