No. 6

Listening: Intermezzo
Reading: On Tyranny, Refusing Heaven (poems by Jack Gilbert)
Working on: so much! too much?
Things that made me cry: the couple in front of me in the checkout line at Costco
Weeks until Swiss Days Market: 18

Witness
I took my place in the checkout line
A couple stood before me
Stooped on the left, weathered on the right
The cart between them, an altar
His hands shook so badly
As he reached for the eggs at the bottom
The last thing
He tried, and tried again
But could not grasp them
She turned
Her slow hands reached down
Clasped around his
They lifted the heavy, holy thing
Together
She touched his cheek
More tender than a kiss
The cashier pronounced them “All set!'“
The card reader sang
I have never cried at a wedding
Until this one

This week
I spent some time planning out the booth for Swiss Days and found an entire craft fair subreddit (my dream) to read through while taxiing the kids around to all the things that I allegedly signed them up for. Having a 10’ x 15’ space was stressing me out, but now I have an idea of what I want to do and feel slightly better about it. My booth fee was $1800 for the show - so I’d love to keep the rest of the booth below $1000 (have to buy the canopy this year which will take a chunk). I already have a few tables and some clear acrylic displays from a former life doing a handful of smaller shows, but I think the biggest expense will be building some temp walls? We’ll see if that guess is totally naive or not. Who knows! It’s an adventure!

Next week
Flower shopping - Tuesday & Wednesday
Flatlays - 3 journal covers (2 calendar months?)
Journals - finishing the interior layout and the end page patterns for all three. These are going to take the longest to produce so I need to get files to the printer by the end of May. Delusional: can finish eleven files this week. Realistic: need at least two more weeks.
Other projects
Minted - 15 religious holiday cards submitted by 05/06. I have 8 started, 0 finished.
Zola - finally submitted to Q2 wedding! Started file prep last week but didn’t get very far.
Things I will want to do but shouldn’t do yet
Plant hanging baskets
Start making paper flowers
Design product packaging