Falcon Ridge (Part 2- Thurs./Fri.)

Thursday-
I woke up surprisingly early (I think it was like 7:30ish). I took my time getting up, not wanting to get up, especially after I looked at my phone and realized how early I'd woken. And yes, it was still raining. I wandered over to the volunteer feed trough for some grub, made new friends (including a 3 yr old who is hilarious), and figured that I'd try and figure out when my crew's meeting was. When I arrived at the Merch tent, I ended up working for the next few hours setting up tables, etc. I'd left my phone in my tent, and didn't feel like going back, so part of the reason why I was there was to make sure I wasn't late. One o'clock came around, and we got set up, but because one of the important people wasn't there, we only signed up for the Thursday even. shift and left. I wandered around, watched the vendors set up, met up with some friends, ate some, met my neighbors, danced some, and then headed back for my shift. I really liked most of the crew. There were some annoying people, but overall there were some really cool people that I hope come back to work the crew next year too.

After shutting down, I headed back to the dance tent. The band that evening was The Horse Flies. Overall, I thought they would've been a really great square dance band, but middle of the evening apparently they changed the plan and made it contras. I was rather disappointed that Beth Molaro (who I really like her squares) didn't call a single one the entire set. This continued the general feeling that the festival wasn't as organized as it was last year. The program said squares, and really, for those of us who couldn't spend the entire evening in the dance tent to hear the change of program, it was quite aggravating. It probably didn't help that we had some rather intoxicated beginners dancing thru the night, and the lack of phrasing in the music (which isn't a problem with squares, but a rather increasing annoyance for contras) meant that I had to think quite a bit more than I was expecting to. I, surprising myself, made it through the entire set, with some good dancers and with people that weren't, but still a decent way to start off the festival...Then back to the tent for some well earned sleep...

Friday-
Because Jody didn't get to site until late-ish Thursday, we all had a 9 am meeting to se the tent up, as well as sign up for the rest of the shifts. I had set an alarm before I went to sleep, but, again, I woke up waaay early. For someone who's not a morning person, and prob didn't get to sleep before 3, I can't say that I woke up on the right side of the...sleeping bag? But at least it wasn't raining, and the sky looked like it was going to be a gorgeous day. I got up, ate some decent food at the feed trough, and went to the meeting. Setting up went well, and happened quickly. Much more quickly than the scheduling... This was probably the most frustrating and irritating part of the whole weekend. There were so many things that just didn't make sense to me, but then again, this year changed the pattern of how they were doing the schedule, and some people find it hard to adjust. GRAR!!! and I just wanted a nap. by the time we'd gotten the schedule done it was past 11, which was opening time. I went on a trip to get our Exit Only signs attached to stakes and stuck in the ground. Its nice to know that the efforts you expend are useful- Thurs night I had gotten annoyed with the number of people coming in the Exits. The number was almost null once I got the signs in. Yay productiveness! I really enjoy the people that I worked with... I got off and headed to the Kids Tent to watch the Storycrafters. To my surprise, Sargon joined me. From there, I went to dance (I don't even remember who was playing),nap some, chill with my neighbors, have a beer, decide that should make my way back to the dance tent, and ran into more friends who were on their way to watch Patty Larkin on Mainstage. I wasn't really feeling like dancing, so I went to join them. From there it was dinner time, and then time for me to wander back to the Merch tent for my 2nd shift of the day.
One of the things that I really like about working in the Merch tent is that you get to actually meet the performers. That being said, I'm a dancer, not one that follows the folk music when I'm not at the festivals, so they're not superstars to me. I've also grown up around performers, and they're always people. It was also fun to see how excited the Emerging Artists were just to have made it that far. So I closed up shop, and headed to the dance tent for the night. Katherine Whetherburn I think was calling. She's fine, not great, but perfectly danceable. The band was better than the night before, which was good. I was also surprised at how many DC dancers were there; it was nice to see some familiar faces in the crowd. Again, another late night, but satisfied with the day.

The rest of the weekend when I feel like typing more...