Loose Leaf Notes

It pays to be nosy at Floydfest.  Being nosy is how I met eleven-year old Jasper from West Virginia.  He was pulling a wagon full of collected recyclables along the Global Village road.  He had collected the stuff from surrounding campsites and was delivering them to the compost/recycling station.  At the station he received festival raffle tickets for his efforts and won a Floydfest cap with the tickets he earned. He also created a small business for himself delivering ice to field campers and told me that he’d been going to Floyfest from the time he was in his mother’s womb.

This is my new Floydfest hat, purchased onsite after losing my favorite first hat. Soon after arriving on Friday I discovered that I had been walking around with my fanny pack unzipped and was dropping stuff out like Hansel and Gretel, including an envelope with my license, money and family Floydfest tickets in it.  About 15 minutes after the discovery and after retracing my steps with no luck, Joe and I hitched a golf cart ride to the VIP tent.  Joe told the driver I had lost my license. “It just got turned in to Lost and Found,” she said upon hearing my name. It was a huge relief and a testament to the friendliness of the festival.  But, I never did find my favorite hat that also fell from the fanny pack, the one I later posted to the Floyfest Facebook page hoping someone had seen it.   Look, Joe got a new hat too (as you can see in this shot taken by our friend Phil in front of his Fit to Be Tied tie dye clothing booth) and he didn’t even lose one.

I was wearing my second favorite hat on Saturday, when I happily yielded most of the day to family time. My energy was low during the heat of the day so I signed up for hammock duty in the lovely VIP hospitality lounge for grandsons in need of naps.  The lounge was also where we took the traditional family photo, the yearly Christmas card shot, I call it.  It was such a special treat to have my sons’ brother Skye (brother from another mother) and his girlfriend with us all day Saturday.

From the hammock I heard many of my favorite Donna the Buffalo songs but only had the energy to imagine myself dancing to them. So, I was happy when I came back to life after the sun got low and caught a few of their songs at the Workshop Porch.  I’m a big fan.  Have a listen HERE.

Once again, I missed the 12:00 Saturday Children’s Parade, but we had some of that circus atmosphere in the Global Village.  My son Josh’s rainbow convertible Space Shuttle miata was parked by the Imagine Teen Tent, where he was facilitating collage journaling mixed media workshops. The sports car turned out to be a great toy for grandsons Bryce and Liam.  I also caught Floydfest’s first rEVOLution Fashion Show, a fantastic Global Village presentation of onsite handcrafted artistry that was done in Hunger Games style. I’m working on a story about it right now.  That’s a Synergy organic cotton dress the model in the photo is wearing. Watch a video HERE.

I brake for orange.

Friends in high places.

On Sunday I had to panhandle for the best ever pancakes at Bruno’s Curb Cuisine (thanks Danny) after spending all my cash on a leather walk-it pocket (wrist wear for carrying money/cards) at ARTeries by Steena’s.  Steena is an upcycle designer whose work I was introduced to at the fashion show. Later, I learned that she has a studio in Asheville right next to my son’s Clayspace studio/galllery.   We had to encourage my friend Susanna, dressed in one of Steena’s outfits, to ham it up for the camera.  I’m pretty sure she bought it.

I high-fived Floyd’s own Ian Gammarino and found he was more in a high-ten mood.  He had just won the Grand Prize Outdoor Gear Giveaway raffle, a backpack stocked full of gear.  He had backpacked into the site and did some geo-caching, collecting raffle tickets for his adventures.  The Adventure options and Grand Prize Giveaway is a side of the festival that I was happy to learn more about.

Meet my friend Kate.  She watched the Ray LaMontagne performance up-close with me. HERE’S a clip of the band performing Can I Come Home for the Summer during the festival’s main stage closing act.

It’s a Floydfest tradition that I look forward to. The festival staff comes onstage after the closing performance and the founders, Kris and Erika, usually say a few words that put the five days in perspective.  “Thank you for letting us do what we love. Doing what you love is revolutionary,” Kris told the crowd, referring to this year’s festival theme rEVOLutionary.  He said he thought this year’s limited capacity high quality event had the best vibe yet, and added, “I can’t wait to see you next year.  Peace Out.”

__________My other Floydfest 2014 posts are Look Who’s Dancing Now: Franti and Ziggy at Floydfest and Let the Floydfestivities Begin.