If you're unfamiliar with set-up and take-down of a trade show, you'd be surprised at how quickly a vast and vacant
space can be completely transformed in a few days, a few moments. Set-up invariably takes a long time to get right,
shows allow for 2 to 4 days for vendors to arrive and set-up the booth space using material either freighted or hand
carried into the venue. Take down is more instantaneous and usually can be accomplished within a few hours if you
have little that is fragile.
On Wednesday the show closed early at 3:00pm and many of the other vendors in my aisle had already begun the rapid
process of dismantling shelving and packing up product. In my many years working with the Capital City Public Market,
I realize that it is both disrespectful to the event (not to mention all that you've paid to be there at the event) and a too
hasty preparation for departure can leave you missing a last minute sale. I kept my booth intact until exactly three
o'clock. Packing the booth took only a few hours, leaving enough time to return to the hotel and rest before heading out
for a quick meal and another wander around the city.
My plans for Thursday included retrieving the car from storage and loading the booth elements back into the Subaru. As
noted, I can pack, so I took charge of filling the car in an organized and evenly weight distributed manner. After a few
hours of this, we were ready to head back to the hotel and prepare ourselves for the final New York experience...a
formal date with old friends and a night at Lincoln Center.
Growing up in Wisconsin, I had my brother and two neighbor kids as playmates (also a brother-sister team). We spent
every day together from infancy to our early teenage years and we lived in a magical little place that allowed for some
amazing activity. They had a wonderful sloping backyard filled with fresh raspberries and carrots to be discovered in the
dirt. My father was always sheetrocking something or another and so we had an endless supply of "chalk" from the
drywall core to sketch worlds on our blacktop driveway. Between our two houses was a cul-de-sac which boasted a full
acre of greenspace and wonderful trees to climb. In our "court" we played baseball, soccer and kickball. We hunted for
treasures, led each other blindfold through the houses that skirted the perimeter of this space. It was magical and we
four possessed the active imaginations to fill our world with everything from possible alien landings to fortresses made
of tree branches and draped with blankets.
And I have kept in touch with these friends.
So, with my trip to NYC coming to a close and Laura, along with her husband Scott, just starting their long weekend in
the city, we decided to work to overlap for one day that we could spend together. It was decided that we would walk
through Central Park and then change for dinner and the ballet - this was Laura's choice and I recognized it as one of
those "adult" things we always wanted to do when we were growing and dreaming together.
Walking through Central Park, the only thing I had always wanted to see was Strawberry Fields - a tribute/park space
created by Yoko Ono for John Lennon. I clarify this because neither Laura nor Scott was familiar with it. After a quick
tour of this part of the park, we found "The Lake" and what had to be the most scenic section where a long row of
benches sits overlooking the lake with expensive "park view" apartments peeks over treetops. We sat together, laughing
at the mundane, my exhaustion causing me to ramble nonsensically, causing everyone to giggle. After a while it was time
to return to their hotel and dress for the evening. We had brought our clothes to change into and once everyone was
looking their best, we headed off to see the American Ballet perform at Lincoln Center.
I go for the costumes and scenery and it was all magical.
Late that night I lay in bed dreading the realization of the long drive back to Boise. I also hoped that overnight someone
would invent a teletransporter.
In the morning I would be disappointed.