Happy Solstice!
Jun. 21st, 2010 09:08 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaunthieToday is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. It's also the official first day of summer, although you wouldn't know that by the weather around here this year. It's much cooler than is usual, and with even more rain than usual. That put a bit of a damper on this year's solstice parade - but only just a bit.
For the second year running, I wound up working as setup and support crew for the cyclists that are the unofficial opening of the parade. On Friday evening, I helped tarp over, tape, and otherwise paint-proof the warehouse whose owner generously allowed the cyclists to use it as a prep space. I also helped set up lights - the warehouse is rather darker than is ideal for painting. I also helped set up "fire lanes" to help ensure that people could get in and out of the space, as it was totally impossible to move around last year. I didn't have much hope that the lanes would actually *work*, but at least we tried. All that took multiple hours, and as I was still recovering from being ill last week (and came there directly from a full day at work), I was pretty wiped out by the time we knocked off.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fisherbear and I grabbed a very late dinner at an adjacent restaurant, and then we went home - me to crash into bed, him to continue work on Frankenbike for a few more hours. I'd have helped, but I was completely zonked by that point.
Saturday morning, bright and early, fisherbear took off to rent a van in order to get Frankenbike down to the warehouse. That gave me a little more time to sleep, which I needed, and also time to round up some additional painting supplies before fisherbear returned to pick me up. We got to the warehouse around 8:15 a.m., and the place was already fairly packed with people prepping for the parade. I found a spot that wasn't already claimed, near enough to one of the tables that I could set down/grab additional painting supplies as needed, and waited for RocketMan to arrive. While waiting, I helped paint a few other people nearby - mainly backs, as it's very hard to get good coverage on your own back. And yes, it is a rather odd experience to be standing around in painting clothes while all around you, perfect strangers are in various states of undress and body paint, but it's also remarkably freeing in its own way. And yes, while the majority of participants are young and relatively shapely, you really do get all ages and body types. I've often wondered if volunteering at such an event might help those with body disorders feel better/more in touch with their own bodies...but that's probably another post.
RocketMan, brave guy, volunteered to drive Frankenbike for fisherbear. Given that this means pedaling the heavy, awkward brute all along the route (including fisherbear and all his photo gear as a dead weight on the back), this is no trivial task. In fact, it's a hell of a workout. But he was game, and even had a pair of bike shorts that worked really well as part of the costume/paint job. I got him painted up as well as I could, given the limitations of time and material (white is one of the hardest colors to apply to a person, and this year's costume called for a LOT of it. I wound up using a lot of acrylic, which is dense enough to be convincingly white, but unfortunately cracks given even a little bit of an excuse), and with his helmet and sunglasses, he was pretty convincing. I helped get the two of them launched at the start of the ride, and then went back to the warehouse to start shutting down and schlepping our lights (borrowed and the one set we own) back to the car. I got them broken down, went out to see the peleton loop back around and head towards the parade starting line, returned to the warehouse to do some cleaning up and collect our tarps, and that was all I had in me. I was exhausted - again! I didn't even walk down to watch the rest of the parade or visit any of the booths. I just got in the car and went home, with a brief detour to return the borrowed stage lights.
I'm sure that still being in recovery mode was part of it, but I really don't like how tired I was after the parade. I seem to remember being pretty tired last year, too. I'm going to have to figure out how to be smarter about future parade involvement, because I think by its very nature it will always be exhausting.
But it was fun. And I had a great Father's Day dinner with the family on Sunday. Love you Dad!
For the second year running, I wound up working as setup and support crew for the cyclists that are the unofficial opening of the parade. On Friday evening, I helped tarp over, tape, and otherwise paint-proof the warehouse whose owner generously allowed the cyclists to use it as a prep space. I also helped set up lights - the warehouse is rather darker than is ideal for painting. I also helped set up "fire lanes" to help ensure that people could get in and out of the space, as it was totally impossible to move around last year. I didn't have much hope that the lanes would actually *work*, but at least we tried. All that took multiple hours, and as I was still recovering from being ill last week (and came there directly from a full day at work), I was pretty wiped out by the time we knocked off.
fisherbear and I grabbed a very late dinner at an adjacent restaurant, and then we went home - me to crash into bed, him to continue work on Frankenbike for a few more hours. I'd have helped, but I was completely zonked by that point.Saturday morning, bright and early, fisherbear took off to rent a van in order to get Frankenbike down to the warehouse. That gave me a little more time to sleep, which I needed, and also time to round up some additional painting supplies before fisherbear returned to pick me up. We got to the warehouse around 8:15 a.m., and the place was already fairly packed with people prepping for the parade. I found a spot that wasn't already claimed, near enough to one of the tables that I could set down/grab additional painting supplies as needed, and waited for RocketMan to arrive. While waiting, I helped paint a few other people nearby - mainly backs, as it's very hard to get good coverage on your own back. And yes, it is a rather odd experience to be standing around in painting clothes while all around you, perfect strangers are in various states of undress and body paint, but it's also remarkably freeing in its own way. And yes, while the majority of participants are young and relatively shapely, you really do get all ages and body types. I've often wondered if volunteering at such an event might help those with body disorders feel better/more in touch with their own bodies...but that's probably another post.
RocketMan, brave guy, volunteered to drive Frankenbike for fisherbear. Given that this means pedaling the heavy, awkward brute all along the route (including fisherbear and all his photo gear as a dead weight on the back), this is no trivial task. In fact, it's a hell of a workout. But he was game, and even had a pair of bike shorts that worked really well as part of the costume/paint job. I got him painted up as well as I could, given the limitations of time and material (white is one of the hardest colors to apply to a person, and this year's costume called for a LOT of it. I wound up using a lot of acrylic, which is dense enough to be convincingly white, but unfortunately cracks given even a little bit of an excuse), and with his helmet and sunglasses, he was pretty convincing. I helped get the two of them launched at the start of the ride, and then went back to the warehouse to start shutting down and schlepping our lights (borrowed and the one set we own) back to the car. I got them broken down, went out to see the peleton loop back around and head towards the parade starting line, returned to the warehouse to do some cleaning up and collect our tarps, and that was all I had in me. I was exhausted - again! I didn't even walk down to watch the rest of the parade or visit any of the booths. I just got in the car and went home, with a brief detour to return the borrowed stage lights.
I'm sure that still being in recovery mode was part of it, but I really don't like how tired I was after the parade. I seem to remember being pretty tired last year, too. I'm going to have to figure out how to be smarter about future parade involvement, because I think by its very nature it will always be exhausting.
But it was fun. And I had a great Father's Day dinner with the family on Sunday. Love you Dad!
