HASA'R ...

Folk Fest Day 1 ... lolled about in bed 'til 9:30 ... fed the cats, put in a load of wash, did the dishes, talked to a half dozen people on the phone including Mary to figure out last minute details ... got dressed and walked over to Bonnie Doon for rain ponchos for the kids, get a couple of keys cut (including a garage key 'cuz I've only ever had the one and the door locks when you close it - it's amazing I've never locked it in there), and acquire some munchie-type food to take to the hill and a whole lot more grapes ('cuz I suddenly remembered how locust-like these three can be) and a hula hoop ... came home, put away groceries while returning another half-dozen or so phone calls, organized food, packed my backpack, had a shower, made lemonade for Mary and her friend to drink after we left, did the dishes again ... then Mary and the kids arrived, hugs and smooches all 'round, we got 'em hydrated and organized and their bags packed, Mary's friend came in one door and hugged and smooched all 'round again and headed out the other door, down the block and caught a bus to the top of the hill ... a friend was doing wristbanding, so there was more hugging and smooching and some introductions while we got banded ... we got programs and phoned Pete's folx 'cuz they'd phoned my cell sometime when I wasn't paying attention to tell us where they were set up on the hill, then phoned Barbara to see if she and Anailise and Chelsea and Bernie were there yet (they weren't), found a spot and got our blankets set up ...

Simple, eh?

Snacks happened ... Mona and another of Pete's dads came up the hill, hugs and kisses all 'round, then Barbara and Anailise and Chelsea and Bernie, more hugs and kisses (and showing off of Bernie's various owies ... he had a rough week), then Pete's sister and her boyfriend ... Cory, Ernie, Linda and I headed down the hill to find some dinner and ran into Rufus (an old friend from highschool who I see once a year or two at the Folk Fest) and his son, naturally, there were hugs and kisses and introductions, we had dinner (from three different booths) and found a place to wash the .14 kilo of residual chili garlic sauce off Ernie's hands, the kids had elephant ears on the way back up the hill and decided it was a good thing we'd brought wet washcloths in ziplock bags after all ... various other folx (including Sean Holowaty, a marvelous local dulcimer player ... if you ever get a chance to hear him, do) came and went with lots of hugs and kisses and introductions. All through, Linda played with Anailise and Bernie a ton and another little towheaded ragamuffin crawled all over Ernie and Cory, much to everyone's amusement. We packed up and headed out during Loreena McKennitt's last couple of songs and caught the bus home with Barbara, Anailise, Chelsea and Bernie. We got in shortly before midnight, locusted some grapes, the kids brushed their teeth and crashed. I took some Valerian/Lemongrass/Hops tincture, phoned Mary and am about to fall down, too.