I volunteered from 11-4 today for the Bike Coalition, valet parking people's bikes at the fair. After 4 I wandered around a bit, thinking I was glad I'd finally gotten to the fair this year. Next year I want to go for the whole weekend. There were so many nice crafts there; [un]fortunately I was limited by what I could fit in my purple bike bag. I parked 4 miles from the fair and rode the Brompton in, and boy did I feel the almost constant uphill climb on the way back to my car in the evening, with 16-inch wheels and a bag full of goodies plus a few pounds of grass-fed beef for stew. Yay.
Today, in addition to some Christmas gifts for family, I bought myself the first gift I've bought in a long time. I didn't need it. It was expensive, a beautiful turned wood bowl, polished, shaped out of cherry with little black smudges marring the grain. "Some people think those are flaws" said the man who made the bowls, smiling. I told him I liked them because they were different. I almost bought a bigger bowl, so it could serve several guests salad for a dinner--because something that beautiful should be used for company. And then I realized that I wanted to use that beautiful thing every day, for me.
Next year I want to come for more of the fair, so I can see more of the demos and go to talks. But this year my favorite thing was sitting outside the Rabbit Barn, across from the woman who was sitting at a beautiful wooden spinning wheel. The wheel was so well-balanced and silent that you wouldn't even know it was moving, except that you could see her foot gently pumping the treadle. Once I got over enjoying how easy she made it look, I noticed the large, fluffy, impossibly darling Angora rabbit in her lap. Wait a second...every once in a while she would stop, pull some more fur out of the rabbit until she had a handful, and then continue spinning. Wow. I said "wow" a lot today.