Thank you everyone who came to see me last weekend during the Driftless Art Festival in Soldiers Grove. Thank you to those of you who were not able to make it but wished you had … I felt loved and supported beyond belief.  I apologize to those who I was not able to speak to personally … as nurturing as it all was, I was simply overwhelmed at times and needed to take breaks.

Playing with my shameless irreverence, I joke that everyone aught to try cancer on for size, just to see how loved they are.

Shameless!

The Festival was also a big success financially for me. Thank you for that too. It helped in a big way toward filling the gap in income this year from cancelled art fairs. I made as much as I would have from a big city, top tier art fair. Jerry and Liz Quebe (the originators and directors of the Festival) have put together a very nice, high quality festival over the years, and I’m glad I was able to do it before retiring. They made the generous commented that when they were cleaning up the next day after the show, they knew exactly where my booth was because the grass was worn down to dirt in that spot. They took this picture of my booth on Saturday.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!

Tuesday I had the discovery deposition part of my lawsuit in LaCrosse. I spent 7 hours in a room with 14 attorneys, and another 8 by conference phone. It was a grueling marathon, but I held up better than I expected. To be fair, all the lawyers showed me a lot of respect, and were patient and polite with me. I never felt like I was in a room with adversaries. At one point, in fact, when I asked my questioner if a certain line of questioning was relevant, he was sincerely concerned that he had offended me. After the proceedings he came up to me to make sure I was okay.

It was only while I was driving home that it all hit me. I had spent 7 hours in an environment I no longer care to be part of. For 7 hours my head was absorbed in mental processes that I no longer want to do. I felt like I was back in grade school taking a test I was not prepared for and for which I didn’t know the answers, so I simply filled in the spaces as best as I could, knowing it was all BS.

I can’t remember the name brand of the brake pads I put on my VW bug back in 1972. I can’t remember the name on the boiler in the factory I worked at in 1973.  I can’t even remember the brand of the shingles I used on a roofing job I did back in the 80’s.

But mostly I felt outside myself … alone and disoriented. I felt like a failure … I could have prepared better.

But it’s over now until the findings deposition scheduled for next week or the week after. But that is when my own lawyer has the show, so things should go smoother.

As for now, I am exhausted and a little off kilter. But I should be back in shape in a day or so, so you aren’t rid of me yet.

rick