Allentown Fair- Day 1

Day one of the Fair was extremely uneventful. The first day the hours are short (pnly 4-10) and admission is free. This means that you get a very diverse crowd, most of which are just coming over to take a look and not to buy. I made a few sales, and B did better then she expected to, making ½ her sales in one shot right at the end of the night. I can only say I bow to her wisdom of only taking part in the show if we got a space in the Agri-plex. I actually had to put on my sweat shirt to keep warm, we are close to snacks and bathrooms, and after taking a little walk outside, the humidity last night was just killer. But I can't complain, our little remnants of Katrina are pale in comparison to the horrors taking place in Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and many other states. As I listen and watch the news my stomach just turns, my heart goes out, and I am compelled to pray.

I am one of the guilty ones, I am going on with my life as if this tragedy hasn't happened just a few thousand miles away. But it amazes me the fact that it isn't even a major topic of conversation. I think we talked more about the Tsunami than Katrina in our social circle. I just can't help but think about how many people that not only lost everything, but lost the ability to fend for themselves too. I would like to think that if something like that happened here that C and I would go someplace else, look for jobs, and start over from scratch. But we are two people who have done that before, moved someplace with close to nothing and built up a life. But I'd loose my business, I'd have to start over, and we are lucky C is in a business where he has desirable skills and can pretty easily find a job anywhere. We are also lucky enough to have a nest egg that could sustain us through a tragedy for at least a little while. But I was reading yesterday an article in Forbes Small Business about a family of shrimpers in Mississippi on the coast. All I could think of is that they have most likely lost their home, their business, their boats, and they were already living, scraping by week to week, and many in the family lack job skills that could bring them to another geographic part of the country to start over even if they wanted to. There must be millions of people like that who have lived though this tragedy.

I'll admit, I didn't give a donation when it came to the Tsunami victims, but I sure am donating to help the victims of Katrina. Not only will I be donating to the Red Cross, but I will donate to CERF, the Craft Emergency Relief Fund in hope to help another crafter pick up the pieces after this tragedy.