Morning at the May Fair

I worked late enough today that I was able to get to the May Fair with no rushing. The May Fair is Collingswood's huge Memorial Day Weekend extravaganza on Haddon Avenue. I parked the bike in the usual spot behind the Seniors' Center and headed up a block, where music was just starting to play.

There are three major sections of the May Fair. The largest features the craft booths. For once, I found a few things I could afford. I bought a lovely mahogany-stained wooden sign with "Jersey Girl" painted on it in curly-cue lettering surrounded by flowers for my porch. There were at least three or four booths selling 18-inch-sized doll clothes, a lot more than last year. I bought my modern doll Jessa a pair of jean shorts.

The Farm Market is absorbed into the May Fair for the weekend. It's usually found on the block of Lees Road just off of Haddon Avenue. It was elbow-to-elbow when I finally made my way down there. I bought strawberries, grapefruit, kiwi, 6-grain bread (it's too hot to bake this weekend), carrots, and the first New Jersey zucchini of the season. I also saw the first local snap peas.

There were other sections to explore, too. I admired the fabulous, rainbow-colored, chrome-covered vehicles at the Classic Car Show. In addition to the usual array of movie cars (hi, Herbie!) and gorgeous fifties models, there were several motorcycles at a Harley Davidson booth, a couple of 30s roadsters, and a huge retired Army jeep.

The children's section was on the other end of Haddon Avenue. This is where the "midway" is. I ducked around long lines for the miniature tilt-a-whirl, Ferris wheel, merry-go-round, up-and-down helicopters, and (water-less) boats. There were three very busy bounce houses. One had a Sesame Street theme, one was supposed to be SpongeBob SquarePants' pineapple house, and one was a generic spooky castle. There was a small "fire truck" tram running in Bank of America's parking lot, and the church across the street from them held a yard sale.

Speaking of yard sales, I did hit two of them on my way back from the May Fair. Had no luck with the one on Collings Avenue, a block from the May Fair. Did better with one on Park Avenue, across from Knight Park. I found a cute little Amigo Bear (the Spanish-language Care Bear) and bought two cups of pink lemonade from an adorable five-year-old entrepreneur.

Rode right home after I left Park Avenue. It was a beautiful late-spring day, sunny, cloudless, breezy...and hot and getting hotter. I spent the rest of the early afternoon at my place, watching cartoons and having a taco for lunch.

Work was just as busy as yesterday, if not busier. I assumed everyone would be at the Shore by now. Complaints about traffic on the Black Horse Pike confirmed that at least some people were headed in that direction. Traffic aside, there were tons of people all day. Most of them were in a good mood, and there were no major problems.

I wasn't in a good mood. I was hot and tired. I didn't sleep well last night. Not to mention, I inadvertently picked up hours next Saturday when someone asked me if I wanted to work that night and I said yes without realizing what I said. I also found out why I've suddenly been called in so often. We just got a new front-end manager doing our schedules. She's still trying to figure out who asked off when, including many last-minute requests for graduations and vacations.

And she's not going to be happy to hear that I need to change my day-off request. When I got home, there was a message on the land-line phone from Mom. She said my brother Keefe's high school graduation is June 16th at 4:30. I could have sworn she said the 17th! I already asked for that day off. Now I'll have to try to get them to change it again.