Rain Rain go away, come back... in a week or two, ok??
We had one heck of a storm come through about 6pm. On the front side it was just a few gusts of wind and then a hard rain, but after it passed over was when the fun started. The winds picked up and it all went crazy.
I closed down my tent and held on. Again, the tent next to mine leaned in and started pushing. I could watch the stake start to pull from the wet ground. I pushed back with all my weight and all my might. My feet slipping on the wet ground. I have a secondary stake on each corner and rope as well, but if I can avoid relying on that I will. Plus the tents are set up in a line, so we will topple like dominoes if one leans into the other too much.
What pisses me off is that I was there first, set up first, and this idiot crowded me, only give us 6 inches between tents. He started the day cramming his tent sides between us, and I watched my tables rock back and forth as he knocked into them. I can barely get my tent side unzipped because of the space issue, or zipped fast- such as in the rain. So as soon as the wind hit, his tent had nowhere to go but into mine.
But the rain did end and left carnage in its path. A row of 5 tents there with the Sustainable Roadshow blew over in unison, leaving a mangles mess of parts, like a child's pick up stick toy. Others sustained damage or their tent tops were swamped with water and collapsed inside, drenching the tent contents.
Many vendors just closed up and went home. They will be back today to fix the mess and try again. Some will just leave and give up.
I stayed open along with a few others near me and I ended up with some solid sales of the day. Not where I had hoped for before the rain, but much better than I expected after it.
Might rain again today, but not much chance. And after yesterday, some sprinkles won't chase away anybody.
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