A Windy Day for a May Fair

I was glad to see the sun when I got up this morning, even though it was still very windy and cool. They've been predicting rain today all week. I guess we got it all yesterday. I warmed things up considerably with today's American Top 40. We marched into Memorial Day Weekend 1974 with "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" by Bo Davidson & The Heywoods, "Dancing Machine" by the Jackson 5, "Band On the Run" by Paul McCartney & Wings, "I Won't Last a Day Without You" by the Carpenters, "The Show Must Go On" by Three Dog Night, "The Entertainer" by Marvin Hamlisch from the soundtrack of The Sting, "Sundown" by Gordon Lightfoot, "Oh Very Young" by Cat Stevens, "Midnight at the Oasis  by Maria Muldaur, and "My Girl Bill" by Jim Stafford.

Comedy numbers spoofing current events or pop culture were all the rage in the 70s...and they didn't get any goofier than that week's number one song. Ray Stevens' "The Streak" poked a little fun at the weird fad of people running naked through events (it even happened at the Oscars).

I thought I saw a sign on for a yard sale on Kendall on my way home yesterday. Nope, there was nothing there. I just ended up going right over to the Collingswood May Fair. This is the big craft show/car show they do every Saturday before Memorial Day. It's so big, the Farm Market is even folded into it for the weekend. And it's always packed. Even when I arrived at quarter after 10, they were busy.

I walked around for a little while. The Car Show is always huge. There were some nifty models this year, including a whole fleet of classic GTOs and a few current vehicles at the start of the car area. Hit up the Farm Market, too. I wanted to stock up, since I won't be able to get there next week. I bought spinach, strawberries, asparagus, a small zucchini, organic green leaf lettuce, and golden beets.

By 11:30, the crowds were getting heavier and harder to slog through, and the wind wasn't improving, either. I decided to forgo walking around the "midway" area where the kids' rides are, since I don't have kids anyway, and just head back. On my way, I bought my modern American Girl doll Jessa a cute outfit from one of the two doll clothes booths I saw. Jessa is named for, and largely based after, my stepsister Jessa, who was raised in southern Florida. I saw the niftiest outfit that was perfect for a Florida girl - a white cotton hoodie with a flamingo embroidered on it, a pink and blue denim skirt, and a pair of flamingo-print sneakers. It was $20, not bad for a cute get-up that includes shoes. (And the lady said she and I weren't the only ones who liked that outfit - I bought her last one.)

Didn't have nearly as much luck with the two yard sales I hit in Audubon after leaving the fair. The proprietors of the first sale were nice enough to let me fill a bag with yarn for a dollar. The second sale had absolutely nothing of interest. I could have sworn a third sale was listed on Craigslist, but I couldn't find it. After that, I just rode home.

Spent the rest of the afternoon baking Zucchini-Spice Cookies, having leftovers for lunch, and watching Popeye wartime shorts. Popeye jumped into the fray in "The Mighty Navy" a month before the US even entered the war. While some of his Naval exploits, such as "Kickin' the Conga Around" (Popeye and Bluto show off their conga skills to exotic maiden Olive) and "Blunder Below" (Popeye is banished to the boiler room, but still manages to vanquish a submarine) are still fun to watch today, others are harder sells for modern audiences. "Scrap the Japs," "You're a Sap, Mr. Jap," and "Seein' Red, White, and Blue" have such offensive Japanese stereotypes, they've been banned from television for decades. (And it's a shame with "Red, White, and Blue." It starts so well with Popeye trying to get Bluto signed for the Navy that the two of them suddenly discovering a nest of Japanese spies almost seems tacked on.)

Work was surprisingly on-and-off steady for the entire afternoon. Several employees mentioned that they thought it was going to be much busier. I guess, despite the crowds at the May Fair, most people did go down to a rejuvenated Shore for the holiday. I was in and out with no problems.