Lee's Blog: Hippies and Wine: Recipe for a Good Weekend

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September 03, 2003

Hippies and Wine: Recipe for a Good Weekend

WOW!

I just had the funnest time. (Yeah, that IS a word, thanks for askin'.) My plan for the weekend changed a bit when my car died, limiting my mobility, so I arranged to ride to Central Texas with my friend Teel. After meeting her folks, and having a not-very-positive job interview in Austin, we went to Kerrville.

I had NO IDEA what I was in for.

Twice a year, every hippie in a 1000 mile radius of Kerrville, Texas descends upon an RV park called Quiet Valley Ranch to camp, hang out, listen to music, and socialize. In the spring, they come for the Kerrville Folk Festival ("Big Folk", in Kerrville-speak), and in late summer, they come for the Kerrville Wine & Music Festival ("Little Folk").

I had NO IDEA there were so many hippies still around.

The first thing I got to do was help Teel's dad build a floor for Faye, the tarot-reader lady. Later that weekend, she thanked me with a reading that was LOTS of fun. More on that soon. Then, a party started right outside my tent half an hour after I attempted to go to bed. So, I got dressed again and found about a zillion hippies gathered around the picnic table. I spoke with Kendall at some length about pop culture. He and I divined the sum total meaning of Prince's lyrics: Basically, we decided, The Artist likes to have sex. A lot. I have to admire his singlemindedness of purpose, if nothing else. This seemed pretty profound at the time.

Basically, I spent the next couple days hangin' out in the river, drinking a bit o' wine, singing, and listening to a bunch of great music.

I also made gravel angels. Seemed like a good idea at the time.

I got to go swimming at Monkey Island, which had neither monkeys, nor islands. I did, however, meet Curtis and Giovanna. These people wound up being on the wine-sellin' crew with me. Curtis is an American expatriate chiropractor, living on the east coast of Italy with his lovely girlfriend Giovanna. Cool people. Now I've got a place to crash in Italy. Life is grand!

Third Crossing Swimmin' Hole

That afternoon, I went to my "duty station" to set up the wine booths. (Basically, as a volunteer for the festival, they gave me two meals a day, free soda, and free beer. This is what we call a "no-brainer".) I met Colby, a friend of Teel's, who was the crew leader. Let me tell you, this guy wore me out with how hard he worked HIMSELF. Next year, if I get to be on his crew again, I'm going to tie him to a chair and make him delegate more. I met Tonya, her husband Gooch, Chrystal, and the Italian folks (again). Tommy, Erin, and Carolyn had not arrived, but they'd help us the next nights. I also met Earl, our mascot. Earl was a big ol' black and yellow argiope garden spider who kept us relatively bug-free.

Earl's Cousin.

View from my booth

View OF my booth

I was working in the Alamosa Wine Cellars booth. I had two wines to sell, both made from the Sangiovese grape (which I'd never heard of before). At first, the Risato di Sangiovese didn't really impress me much, but I had many customers who really liked it. On a second taste, I liked it better and think it'd be good with pasta. Chrystal and Curtis didn't like it at all...which was fine, since they didn't have to sell it. Heh. I was right next to the Sister Creek booth, and the Becker Vineyards booth. Both had wines that I really liked, although Becker was selling a Chardonnay, which I typically don't care for at all. Anyhow, we stayed there all night selling wine, and listening to music, and, uh, sampling the products, and talking to people...very very pleasant.

Teel and Carolyn: Two Lovely Ladies...who are CERTAINLY Up To Something.

Kids Jugglin'

I Like Wine

Three Pretty Girls, and a Crazy Tommy. Teel, Tommy, Erin, and Chrystal

On Sunday, I got my reading from Faye. She told me that I was both very analytical and very intuitive (true), that I am sensitive to the needs of people around me (true), and that I could expect several turnarounds in my life in the immediate future (yay!). I apparently already am acquainted with the woman I will marry, and I can anticipate an improvement in my financial and professional fortunes. So, pretty much good news all around! Faye and I spoke a bit, and I told her that although I don't necessarily believe in the mechanisms of tarot and astrology, I believe in their value as affirmations of what a person might already know. She surprised me by agreeing. She also told me that she really liked her floor. Yay!

Chrystal and I found a good blues-y song, and started dancing. She's better than me.

Finally, later that night, I got out of my booth a bit and listened to the bands. Chrystal and I wandered over to the band shell and caught most of Willis Alan Ramsey's set. Good stuff. I also met Hans the leather guy, who was really cool.

Later that night, the staff party happened. John, the festival organizer, bought our crew a bottle of Dom Perignon, because apparently we did a really good job that weekend. (I'm convinced it was all Colby, because all I did was sit on my rear and sell a bit of wine.) It was really cool to sit around a picnic table, taking pulls off a champagne bottle, on a beautiful Texas night. Very pleasant.

Colby and the Dom

Just after we finished our booze, there was a wedding! Teel's friend Jen married her boy Aaron, who she'd met at the last Folk Festival. This old coot in a funny hat, who also happened to be a minister, married 'em right there on top of a picnic table. Much loudness ensued.

Bride n' Groom!

After the remaining kegs were floated, everybody filtered back to their respective campsites. Chrystal and I wandered around, looking for cool music, which we found in spades. At about 5am, I decided I wasn't going to be able to make it 'till sunrise (since I was helping Tommy drive back home), and crashed.

Cool Campsite!

At about 10:30, Tommy comes into my tent.

"LEE LEE LEE LEE LEE! Get up! Chrystal gave me the keys to her car!"

w000t!

My feet hit the floor immediately. I got dressed real fast. Chrystal has a brand new Mini, and told Tommy he could take it for a spin. Since Tommy a) can't drive a stick and b) is always looking out for me, he woke me up. So I had to drive. *sigh* It's tough to be me! So we took it for a quick run. Pedal placement on this car is just PERFECT, and the shifter is a dream. Handling was sharp, precise, and responsive. The car felt really handy. I think I gotta get me one of those.

Then, it was time to go. Tommy and I hopped into the car, and headed home. That night, we were celebrating my parents' 33rd anniversary (YAY MOM & DAD!). My sister had done most of the leg-work for me, since I was out of town. She'd made a cake, some twice-baked potatoes, and procured steaks. All I had to do was make Steak au Poivre happen. Yum.

Then I went to bed. Bed good. What a great weekend!

Lots more pics here.

Posted by Lee at September 3, 2003 02:18 AM

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