"But hey, it's Springfest..." by Fun time with Chuck

But hey, it's Springfest...

Blog: Fun time with Chuck

April 26, 2010

A quite nice but overcast Saturday....

I woke up around noon to the sound of live music playing and the sound of crowds. You know the sound; yells and screams and chatter all balled into one resounding noise, a few blocks away from my house.....

I go to the porch, light my morning cigarette, let my dog out to take care of business. While I wait for her, I sit on my porch, inhale the air and the smoke, exhale out "another year, another Springfest"...

Past memories of walking down Broad holding Mom's hand, ordering one of those lemonades, enjoying a funnel cake and riding those crazy rides are now distant thoughts that are only evoked once or twice a year.

My lady wakes up a few minutes later, walks out the front door, might I add looking extremely sexy, wearing nothing but one of old my tee shirts (as a matter of fact, it was a shirt I wore when I played Tee-ball, maybe when I was five, it was huge on me then, never understood the reason why I kept it until now, she looked great in it.) She sits on my lap, taking the cigarette out of my hand, takes a puff and says "Oh my God is Springfest Today!? Let's go!"

I groan, but I know I have to go, it's Springfest after all, and I do live downtown, so what the hell.

Whistle for my dog, she runs inside, we eat a quick bite, get dressed and head out.

We walk a few blocks, and there is that smell again, it's quite intoxicating, but I know what I'm in for. We get on the side walk when I bump shoulders with a teenager walking with three of his boys. I've grown up in the past few years, instead of shouting obscenities at him, I say "excuse me buddy". Standing close to a half foot shorter than I, he sizes me up, and still decides to make an unwise comment, "Ya'll need to watch where you're goin' dawg". Fire brews in my eyes, I feel a slight tug on my shirt my girlfriend gives me that look. The fire extinguishes, I flip the fitted hat off the kid's head, laugh knowing he wouldn't be so stupid to start a fight with me and continue walking....

There's this huge slide that little kids are screaming going down, the thing looks like it's going to snap in two. I make a comment about it to my girl, a noisy old lady hears me and says something like "Well, if it was that dangerous it wouldn't be here." I smile at her, wink and say "Mind your business." She turns around grabs what appears to be her granddaughters hand and walks off. Guess she doesn't like to be told the deal.

We continue on, looking at various stands, there’s the place that sells the marionette puppets, the stand with airplanes made from coke cans, I still don't understand why they still come out every year, it can't be that much of a money maker. I buy my girlfriend some little necklace thing that I know she's going to never wear again after the day, but what the hell, it was only $10 bucks. Then we approach the only stand worth a damn, Hank Allred's pottery stand.

Simply put, Hank is the man. The most laid back guy ever. We've purchased pottery from him every year. 1. His work is amazing. 2. He doesn't pressure you into buying his stuff, he sparks up conversation with you and tells you about what got him into pottery. Save your money, support this guy. This stuff is actually worth something compared to that NC State birdhouse or cheap plastic jewelry you can get at the other vendors.

We're both walking, both getting hungry. Cold beer is actually the only thing on my mind, so before we, I mean I, shell out $20 bucks on a plate of BBQ for us, I decide to walk to the BP and pick up a six pack of Coors Light to enjoy when I get home...

Walking back towards the fest, my girl remembers that huge book sale they have every year she "HAS" to go. I oblige, I decide to take a seat on a bench while she's inside. I light up a smoke, a mother quickly gets her kid away from me. Hey I don't mind, I understand, but wipe that nasty look off your face, I'm not a pedophile, I'm better looking than your 120 pound husband, I just have a dangerous habit, I get it- I think to myself. When I have my sunglasses on, I feel like the kid in Big Daddy; invisible. So I observe. While waiting 30 plus minutes I saw some very interesting and humorous things. The first thing I saw was what appeared to be maybe a 13-14 year old couple arguing, the boy walked away and soon enough, another boy walks up, grabs her from behind, starts kissing her on the neck, they head the other way... HAHA! Second, I kid you not, I witnessed not one but two drug deals. I'm not stupid, I've done my fair share of illegal activity, I will never know FOR SURE what was handed off for $10 dollars, but I can assure you it wasn't Pokemon cards (Oh and for the record, I'm not a snitch, I don't believe in it, so no I did not call the cops.) Finally I saw an overweight trashy looking mother beat the pants off her kid who couldn't be older than three. I should have called the cops on that and I would snitch on that. I think beating your kid in public is way worse than selling a dime bag of some shwag. For real.

Finally she is done, with a stack of books in her hands, being the gentlemen I know I am, I take the books from her and we get some food, overpriced and undercooked for sure. My beer is warm. Two hours of my life are gone. We head home...

But hey, it's Springfest.....

OldSpook 3 years ago

Chuck, Thanks for sharing. I was at the farmers market and skirted the Springfest crowd in favor of returning home for a very large fresh salad (and those hydroponic tomatoes actually do taste pretty good) and some quiet time. Something rarely found in the Washington DC area. After reading your take on the event, it sounds as if I might have actually enjoyed a short walk through the affair. Sorry you ran across some unpleasant people, but I guess every area has a few people suffering from optical-rectitis. Cheers/Dave

dogboy 3 years ago

....up at the crack of noon.

teufelhunden 3 years ago

You're a good writer Chuck. You should be writing screenplays. I love people watching...

OldSpook 3 years ago

ChuckTaylor,

While your content may be flawed, these flaws are insignificant in comparison to the context of your writings. If I may, I agree with @teufelhunden and believe you should continue to write. You appear to have a fine, if interesting, grasp of the human condition. I look forward to your next article of observations. And for what it is worth, quality tends to improve with quantity. Cheers/OldSpook