I have posted on more than one occasion about the frustration of no commercial breakthrough despite having now published 15 novels, 3 non-fiction, and co-authored 4 non-fiction books. Fortunately, the satisfaction in creating those books and the enjoyment of the small, yet loyal fan base I have is greater than the frustration. I received a pleasant surprise a few days ago when Hubby came in from work and said a young lady he’d been guiding asked if he was the one who wrote books or if it was his wife. She then asked if I would select one of my books for her to buy and sign it. Since I’m hoping she becomes one of those loyal fans, I started her with Shades of Truth. I wrote a note explaining I chose that as it is the original scuba-themed mystery series and I later spun  the character of Chris Green to create that series. To add to my surprise, one of the individuals who works at the dive shop was in on part of the conversation and told Hubby to tell me his mother was asking when the next book would come out. At some point she started reading me and buys all my books on Kindle. These are those “high moments” and are familiar to any creative person.

It would be wonderful if we did live in a world where people could afford to buy as many books, pieces of art, as much music as they wanted or attend as many performances in whatever form as they wished. Better yet, if there were enough philanthropists or government resources to fund even more free performances, book, music, and art distribution. It doesn’t work that way of course and thus a great many people who would like to spend their lives in a creative way must instead have it more as a “hobby” or choose to have a lower standard of living while pursuing whichever Muse drives them. It is an old story that really hasn’t changed ever since humans took that first step to express themselves in some form of art.

Big day Saturday! This is a follow-up to the previous posting as it is a bit more about the Homestead Center for the Arts Art and Artisan Show we’re having. For anyone who has been in South Florida in July, you’ll understand why we’re holding the show inside with air conditioning. Even though it is a large facility, that still means space is more limited than if we have it at one of the outdoor venues. We have thirty four vendors lined up, plus one civic group and our two tables for HCA. Because we have a lot of artists in HCA, they and our woodturners basically had first priority for space. Then it was other HCA members involved in either a craft or in a couple of cases, a specific group we thought would appeal to the market we are going after. One of our members has a small publishing company and a bookstore up in Miami and that relates to the Lamplighters Writers group that has recently been re-energized. Then in opening up to non-HCA members, we were looking for a nice mix of options for our “unique shopping experience”.

We have done a couple of planned campaigns on social media and encouraged everyone we know to use their social media accounts and email lists. We are popping up all over Facebook and apparently have been on Instagram several times and we did do an old fashioned print ad in the local paper. How many attendees we’ll actually get is of course the big unknown at the moment. We are about as well organized as can be and set-up tomorrow afternoon for the tables and chairs should help make check-in of the vendors Saturday morning go more smoothly. We are all keeping our fingers crossed as summer thunderstorms are common. The good thing is even if it does rain, it usually passes fairly quickly and everyone around here is accustomed to the pattern. With the show from 12:00-5:00, there should be ample opportunity to work around rain if it does happen.

Hubby got called in to work today even though he was supposed to be off. On the other hand, he frequently teaches or guides on the holidays as those are popular times to go diving. We’re only having the one guest over this evening, so I adjusted the time back by an hour and I’ll have to do most of the prep work for dinner. I’m working some too, as the newspaper publishing deadline is the same whether this is a holiday weekend or not.

There have of course always been jobs that are 365/24/7; police, fire, hospitals, parts of the military. Even units are that not in a constant “alert” mode are required to have what are called “duty officers and NCOs”; a pair that is “on duty” nights, weekends, and holidays. Airports and other transportation areas often fall into the same category as do most hotels. Anyway, there was a time when stores and restaurants weren’t generally open all night or on the holidays. That’s changed significantly with a profusion of convenience stores, fast food and diner-type places open 24-hours and all the special holiday sales can mean people on duty, too. For some, the overtime pay makes it worthwhile and in some cases, work is their life so it doesn’t matter. For others, it’s a tiresome aspect and they try to muster enough energy and good feeling to get though the shift. If I do have to dash into a store for some forgotten item or am out to eat, I make it a point to thank them for being open. It’s a small thing that may not matter or perhaps it does.

If there is a level of stress, say being in a restaurant that is short-staffed, I try to not add to the stress by complaining; you can’t always get enough people who are willing to work. So here’s a salute to everyone who doesn’t particularly want to spend a holiday working, yet who takes it in stride and does whatever the job is while others are celebrating.

Okay, when I offered to take friend up for a medical appointment/procedure, I forgot there would be a major bureaucratic angle. Well, not forget as much as not think of. So, first sunny Florida is not so much today; although it may be clearing as I write this. At least I didn’t have to drive during rush hour and we’ll see what happens on the return. We get in and get parked and now we discover the restriction on no family or friends with the patient is still very much in place. Oh, and the usual nice waiting areas are no longer available. I did bring the notebook computer anticipating a long wait. What I did not expect was the wait would be outside where chairs – not what one would call comfortable – and a couple of tables are. No access to the cafeteria, but there are small bottles of water in a chiller. No outlet and I’m not sure how long the charge on the computer will last. I should be able to make it at least through this post. I did also charge up my little recharger for the phone in case I need to resort to that. Since the table I’m sitting at is wet and I don’t have many tissues in my bag, I could only wipe off a portion and can’t get my mouse out. This little notebook is a bit tricky with using the cursor. I’ll have to be careful not to inadvertently delete items as I type. Anyway, it’s working for now and that’s what matters. I found it interesting that even though we had our masks on, they handed us new ones. I suppose that does make sense from their perspective. After all, they don’t know where ours have been, how often they are washed, etc.

The next issue will be when I am supposed to go join my friend as she has never been to this place before and the other times I have been were in other parts of the very large building. At this point I am outside on the ground floor and she is upstairs somewhere on the second floor. Added to that, she may have more than one procedure and I don’t know if that will be in the same area. As I said in the title; a new experience. Close out; the rain held off for a while, we did reconnect and there will be a follow-up appointment at a later date.

On the other hand, despite rain all the way back. there was a late lunch – well, more like a Happy Hour that included wine.

A comment from a friend triggered another memory from many, many years ago. I’ve explained how I was what I call “an inadvertent pioneer” during my Army career and that I was part of the Army Ordnance Corps by basically an odd set of circumstances. In case you didn’t read that post, that was the maintenance side of the Ordnance Corps. My initial official category was as a “Tank, Ground Mobility Material Management Officer”. Anyway, after leaving Fort McCellan, AL where they put us through what was essentially a Basic Course, I went to Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD for two separate courses. The Ordnance Officers Basic Course was where all of us were together. That was three months; then those who were in Ammunition, Missile Maintenance, and Explosive Ordnance Disposal went off to other locations for the second part of training. That meant I was at Aberdeen for six months. The staff (called a cadre) obviously got to know us well in that amount of time.

Our post office boxes were in the same building as the company headquarters and so the cadre (who were all Captains and Majors) often crossed paths with us between training sessions. One of my girlfriends and I were standing outside the building talking on a day with quite a few clouds and it was just starting to sprinkle. We were almost through with our conversation and one of the cadre hurried past to get into the building. We saluted smartly and he turned as he was under the overhang and said in tone between amusement and exasperation, “You two do realize don’t you, they say second lieutenants don’t have enough sense to come in out of the rain.”

There really wasn’t much we could say in response, so merely saluted again and didn’t get too wet as we finished talking.