QUARTZSITE 2002

January 22, 2002
Tuesday

Today was a day of replenishing hooks and packing up the beads to take to Pow Wow. The wind was ferocious,. with dust devils barreling through the booth, throwing papers all over the place, knocking over the displays, creating havok. It was wild.

As soon as I began packing up, people started pouring in to buy my stuff. It was pretty funny actually.

I made my way around the show, basically saying goodbye to everyone. It is sad, I really like everyone and have made some great friends. After the Pow Wow show, I will be there for a day or two and firm up some relationships.

My tents are still there, and I will be sleeping at my trailer, but I am done with Desert Gardens. After Pow Wow, I will be working out the details and heading down to Tucson. I will get into a show somewhere down there.

~~~

I bought more Bakliva from Lynn today. She came by with Zoey, her bird on her shoulder. Here she is with Don. (he was buying some too) I got enough pieces for Alan, Guy, Jamie, Vi, myself and Eden.

isn't she cute?

~~~

My neighbors from Texas, Jim and Gloria were having a little silly time with a customer named John. I caught them on film. :) They will just love this.

Jim and John		Jim and Gloria

~~~

Tonight, after we got to the Pow Wow show, Alan remembered that the guy who sets up next to him told him last year that he wouldnt be there this year. Nobody had taken that spot yet, so in the morning I will be going into the office to see if it is still open. It would be great if that was the case. I would have more room and we would still be nearby to help each other out in times of need. It is difficult doing a show alone, you can't even leave your booth to go to the bathroom.

We went out to dinner then for ice cream. Again, nice conversation. I really love talking to him.

January 23, 2002
Wednesday

I got to bed so late last night, after sitting at Subway, on the computer. Then, I wanted to get to Pow Wow early, thinking these people are really old who run it, and they MUST get in there early. I wanted that spot next to Alan so we could help each other out.

So sleep was minimal.

I got there at 6:45. Nobody was in the office, so I just waited. I read my email that I downloaded last night.

This place (Pow Wow) is so funny. Well, I imagine it wouldn't be funny if you were sleeping here, but at 7am some old man gets on the loud speaker, runs a recording of a rooster crowing and says "Good Morning Quartzsite! Time to Rise and Shine!"

I am glad I am sleeping over at Desert Gardens.

I found out the spot I wanted was taken, so I bought another space. It actually worked out really well, considering the wind was blowing people down the aisles, merchandise flying everywhere, canapies, hats, everything blowing around, and I was tucked inbetween two RVs and up against a building, so I had a little cove. I was relatively protected from the wind.

But, even with that, I am totally filthy with dust, my hands are cracked and they look like they belong to an 80 year old woman. Not just cracked though, dirt imbedded in them. There is so much dirt around here, I am going to come home like Pig Pen off of Charlie Brown, a cloud of dust poofing everywhere I am. Honestly though, I am kinda worried, how am I going to deal with this out of Quartzsite? I scrub them, and nothing helps. It is rather embarrassing. I imagine I could bleach them, oh yea, that would feel good. Ugh.

Not just that, you wash your hair, and when the wind is blowing like it did today, with all the desert dust, your hair is just caked with a fine coating of dust...hair, clothes, face...everything. Can you tell I am frustrated with the dust? Mostly just today though.

Ugh again.

~~~ 

I closed a bit early, everyone around me had closed, and I was sitting there, tucked in the cove, feeling all alone and cold.

I also realized when I began closing down that I had not brought anything to cover it all with. Thank goodness J-Me was there, she had extra covers in her van. She is the bomb...saving the day. :)

Alan was still open, and sitting all nice and warm in his van, so I visited with him. We ended up going to Parker to dinner. Actually, I needed to go to the bank, and asked if he wanted to come with. He didn't have anything better to do so he joined me.

It is nice to steal him away for an hour or two, he is so peaceful and mellow, it is relaxing to be in his company.

~~~

I didn't see Don the entire day though. Tomorrow morning I am going to have to head down to his booth for morning coffee and a hug.

~~~

I may have written about this, because I have been laughing about it every time I see it, and I am too lazy to go back through my entries. But, these people, and there are alot of them, pull suitcases around. These are regular suitcases, with the wide plastic wheels. Often, there is deep gravel, and they drag it down the aisles, causing a 2 inch deep scrape down the road, with a loud screeeeeegh. I just laugh, they work so dang hard to drag these things, especially when it is loaded with stuff, and I wonder how pulling it can possibly be advantageous over carrying the dang thing.

January 24-27, 2002
Thursday thru Sunday

Pow Wow was great. I made money, had fun, got a tan, made friends, and just had a great time.

I have been so tired after the show, and visiting with friends to the point of near unconsciousness, that writing in my journal has not been something that I have had the energy to do.

On top of the fact that I had a bunch written in here one day when my computer locked up, had to restart only to find out that I had not saved what I wrote. That always bums me out.

Thursday morning I woke up to find out that my neighbors totally saved my booth from the awful wind the day before. Apparently, the sides were blowing out because the tarps that I use for the sides are longer and I just roll them up. Walter, my nice neighbor (you can see him in the photo behind Lynn and Don in the photo from the day before. That is Walter and June) roped them all down and put my stuff back in that had blown out.

I looked inside and it is a disaster zone, dirt everywhere. Don has given me a great idea though, to use my blow dryer to blow it all off of my stuff before the final wiping down.

In the morning, I went over to Prospectors and got some tarps, some more clamps and bungies for the new spot, Wednesday night I had to borrow stuff from neighbors to cover everything. I had completely forgotten to get more before the show. I also bought espresso drinks for Alan and I. He told me of a great stand there, and he is blocked in again, I'll just keep him in coffee for the duration of this show. I get a good coffee that way too.

At Pow Wow, people I had met over at Desert Gardens would stop and say, "Hey, aren't you the one at the other show?" It was cool, we would strike up a conversation and I got to know so many people better that way.

I met a man who I would love to get to know better. He seems like an interesting person. I had talked to him at my booth at the Gardens, and then seen him at Subway late Tuesday night, then Friday he and I talked for a bit. His name is John, but somehow his name doesn't fit him. I think because of that, I promptly forgot his name, nearly as soon as he left, and it stressed me for some reason that I didn't know his name. Alan knew him, and didn't know his real name either. He did suggest he respected his business sense. They are often both after the same deals.

On Saturday, I attempted to call him to my booth, and I know that can be done, but I am not sure how. I did try really hard though. Today (Sunday), though I passed him, and I said "Hey!" We both reached out for one another, grasping hands, and just as I was saying that I forgot his name, before I could say it, he told me that he had forgot my name too. It didn't seem strange to me that he knew what I was going to say, somehow I knew he knew. We told each other our names, chatted for a minute and went our separate ways.

He affects me. I wonder if I will ever see him again? It is strange out here that way, you just never know.

Oh, and yes, he has long hair. You know, it's not a requirement, but dang, I sure love looking at men with long hair.

Many men asked me out to dinner over the weekend, it was funny. I am so busy, I had a legit excuse, but if John would have asked me, I would have dropped just about anything to go. I want to know him, his thoughts, his ideas on life, his experiences. I KNOW he is interesting, there is not one doubt in my mind that he is.

He knows I am here at Desert Gardens, I wonder if I could call him back here.

~~~

On Thursday, Don showed up just as I was wrapping the booth up. It was sooooo good to see him, my heart just leaps when I heard his voice, I have really grown to love him. He has such a soothing voice, I truly love hearing him talk. He told me he only had a few minutes, but I am such a bad influence, I convinced him out to dinner with me, where we had a couple margaritas, sat and laughed and laughed. We flirted, talked, flirted, laughed, and just had a great time.

Don and I have agreed that we are just friends, but we both play it up. It is really alot of fun with him, our time together is precious.

It was his birthday, and I didn't even have a birthday present for him. Bummer.

Happy Birthday Don!!!

~~~

I gained some great customers this trip. People who you just know are going to be loyal, people who I made connections with, many who got hugs as they left.

Today, a daughter of one of those such people and I connected. She gave me her email address. Not only does she live in my little desert hometown, but her email had a 621 number in it. She mentioned it was her birthday. I said really, that is mine too. Once we started comparing, we were both born on the same day, same year! Mere hours apart. It was incredible.

~~~

On Friday after I took shots of the beautiful sunset....here, see?

I called my girls tonight. I miss them so much. I got great cell service out in the middle of the dang desert. I then head back to camp and visited Don. We sat there talking and eating his birthday cake when his family (who has been here since I think Monday or Tuesday) got back from being out. They are staying behind his booth. His Mom, Sister and niece. While Don helped them with the RV, his niece and I chatted, we had a great time. It was fun, then she had to go to bed and Don and I stayed up until all hours of the night, talking once again. I really, really, really miss him when I am out at Pow Wow. I have a hard time convincing him of this, but it is true.

Tonight there was another sunset, not nearly as nice as Friday's, but here are some shots.

~~~

Alan has shared with all of us a truly beautiful person.

Rebecca is an extraordinary artist. She does body castings, we have discussed trading a website for a personal casting. I have wanted to do this for years, it is something that doesn't shock me, but amazes me a little when life places these opportunities in your path.

This woman, beautiful in physical, yes...but in spirit, she is lovely as well. I enjoy being near her, Alan had told me I would love her, and he was right. It is hard not to though, she has such an inviting and warm embrace, this embrace is in energy, surrounding you the moment her eyes meet up with yours. Then she smiles, and it uplifts your soul.

I do believe her and Alan are beautiful together, I just smile when I see the two of them near each other. Alone, they have wonderful energy, together, it is compounded, complimenting one another. It is truly a blessing to know them in this life.

~~~

Saturday night I was invited to the Wild RV for a barbecue. Sorting beads, laughing, just having a wonderful time. It is always so much fun around the bunch. Guy and I laugh and laugh...our sick senses of humor are one and the same. J-Me and I are the same in other ways, in spirit. Vi and I got to know each other better this trip, and that was very nice. There were some new people to meet that night too, always fun. The man behind them was selling wind chimes, beautiful, I did get one. I think this is the only thing I really treated myself to.

It has 3 different kinds of bells, for the tinkling in the wind, there is glass, quartz, amethyst, rose quartz, tiger eye, aragonite, some purple agate (dyed, but pretty) and marbles all wrapped in copper wire.

And it bounces...and the bells tinkle when it does. :) I love it when it does that. silly me.

~~~

The people selling next to me at Pow Wow, Steve and Roseanne, they are from Alaska. It was funny, they had been by the booth at the Gardens. They asked me if my trailer was for sale. I told them no, but asked what they were selling for, really not knowing, since my wonderful aunt and uncle gave this to me. They didn't know, but thought somewhere between 1000 and 2000.

When I set up in my spot, there they were, with a trailer almost identical to mine, they had somehow found one. What a great couple they were, she an artist, him a miner, and fun. We did alot of laughing too.

Yesterday, I was looking in the mirror, where I got tanned, and the dryness of this climate, I am seeing lines in my face. But what I saw were lines near my temples, the top part of my cheeks. When I smile, those lines appear. Laugh lines. So, if I have to have lines, isn't that the best kind to have? From laughing and smiling?

(Guy said the were just lines from squinting...I don't believe him for a second!)

I truly have had such a wonderful time.

~~~

It is Monday morning, or actually afternoon now. I am going to head over to my celtic friend's booth to see if they are still there. I traded for a hair wrap, now I have the time to cash in on it. Fun fun fun.

• BEAD HOME •
• QUARTZSITE 2001 •