Mother Nature Hates Me

I had been planning to write a blog entry about our art fair travels so far this year.  It was going to be called “Fobodyssey”. In fact, it may still be called that, although first I have to look up “Odyssey” and make sure it’s spelled like that.

But first, this just in from Columbus, OH, where we’re participating in the Columbus Arts Festival. A freak microburst hit us without warning last night around 7pm, destroying several tents and a lot of artwork. It had been sprinkling on and off most of the day, so when it started again, nobody thought anything of it. And then…WHAM.  Can I get bigger type here?  OK, WHAM will have to do. Had we received any notice this was coming, we could have put up the two side walls of the tent (we were on a corner) and moved all our bins and stuff inside. Everything (and everyone) was soaked, I was pushing against the display unit on the windy side with all my strength to keep it from blowing over (and those suckers are heavy), and at one point I grabbed my best piece–“Tin Schwinn”, who I had just sold via email to a collector in Pennsylvania–just as the wind blew over the column he was on. Ankle deep water ran through our booth, and all my calendars and gift bags were ruined, but miraculously, no damage to the Fobots, even though a few tried to dive into the river for a swim.

This is all my fault.  Earlier in the day, I had been remarking to another artist that the bad weather curse that had been following us seemed to have been lifted this year. I had been concerned last year that when artists and show organizers realized that tragedy struck whenever and wherever Phil and I set up a tent, they’d come after us with torches and pitchforks.

So, artists and show directors, please don’t come after us with torches and pitchforks. I seriously hurt my back last night dragging stuff into the tent during the storm.  I can’t run fast at all.

Pictures to follow.  Maybe.

Epilogue: Too busy today setting up again after the storm to take any pictures. Always makes me feel like a vulture, anyway. But follow  this link to some horrifying photos on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150195324660286.306508.54473165285 32 artists had damages significant enough that they had to leave the show–many lost their tent and everything in it.  If you’d like to help, here’s another link: https://columbusartsfestival.org/get-involved/artist-relief-fund.php

We actually had a really good day today.  I’d fell guilty about it if my back didn’t hurt so much.