The Only Thing You Can't Control (AKA What Happens When It Rains on the Rain Date?)

I am a bit of a control freak when it comes to my events. Everything has to be just right - the table cloth has to match the tent, the display bags can't be wrinkled, the informational material in the sample bags all has to face the same way, George (my show van) has to be washed and packed just so and Bonnie and Harvey, my DDE's (Demo Dogs Excellent!), have to be freshly bathed and groomed. My friend, Mary, would tell you I have OCD tendencies  -  I say it is just doing a good job.

After all this care and concern, it is hard for me to accept bad weather  -  and this past weekend, it was hard for my back muscles to accept as well. Nor'easters! Boy! They really take the wind out of your sales (and , yes, mis-spelling intended!).

I was so excited about this particular show. It was the first time I was ever doing an event right in my home town! Rather than crossing bridges or states, I only had to cross town. It should have been a breeze ... instead it was 75 MPH gusts and accompaning sheets of rain water that left it difficult to see even across the street.

I had packed George on Thursday for Friday set-up. Because I wanted to impress my fellow townies, I was doing a new display with hay bales and spiffy signs borrowed from tradeshows past and even doing a drawing for By Nature Biscuits and Organic Cans in a really neat organic tote bag. I was ready  -  even down to the grooming appointment for the DDE's scheduled for late the next day so I could drop them off after set up.I went to bed feeling satisfied. I didn't even set the alarm  -  afterall, I only had to drive across town. Turns out, I wouldn't have needed it anyway.

There have only been a few times that I have ever been awakened by a storm. As luck would have it, Friday would be one of them. Never before had I seen such lightening ... and heard so many tornado warnings (gotta love the Emergency Broadcast System!). It was Mama Nature's fireworks at their best ... or worst, as it would turn out. The rain didn't stop all day and the wind took down two trees which will now easily supply more than enough firewood this winter for myself and several of my best friends.

Probably needless to say, set-up was postponed until Saturday, and with the event to open at 9:00, would make for a very early morning - so much for getting more sleep because I was working in my hometown! (Just an aside here - I hate doing shows where set-up and opening are on the same day. There is just something about spending 3 hours pounding in stakes and carrying boxes and getting all hot and red-faced that just doesn't work well with dealing with the public.) At least I got Bonnie and Harvey to the groomers though a clean rain-soaked dog only smells slightly better than a dirty one. I did set the alarm Friday night ...

Saturday morning came - actually it was more like "Sat - only three hours into the - day" came. You would be amazed how cold it is at 3am even in September! I had to wake the Poodles up - they were none too happy  -  and get the kennel in order before I left. I was out the door at 6:00  -  and at 6:30, it started raining ...again.

The township commitee was all a flurry. Should we or shouldn't we? They had already posted Sunday as the rain date. It was raining steadily now. It took them two hours to decide  -  and me only one to set up the Tree House (my tent - it has a great leaf motif like the By Nature Nature bags!) and unload the bales of hay, the nifty tradeshow signs and all the By Nature Food and Biscuits. I was just starting to put the one pound Organics in the sample bags when the tax collector (picked, no doubt, because he is used to delivering bad news and people yelling at him) told me to pack it up. "Pack it UP?" I say, probably a little more loudly then I ought. "I got up at 3 AM to do this!"

Yep, I had to pack it up. They evidently didn't want to be responcible in case anything got stolen ... or washed away in a flood. I took me over a hour to get everything back into George - and it certainly wasn't done just so - hay gets everywhere. I got home just as the power went out. It would stay out until well into the night.

I went to sleep Saturday night early - I don't know what time it was because, modern gal that I am, everything runs on electricity here. My last thought before I drifted off to sleep was "Geeze! How will I know when it is time to get up?"

Do you know what happens when the the power goes out and you don't realize that you have left lights, TV, and a electric coffee pot that you use to make iced tea with on? Yep, the power comes back on  -  unexpectedly and when you are sleeping  -  and you hit the ceiling before you hit the floor. Talk about a jump start! That happened a little after 2 AM. I decided to do the kennel - after my hands stopped shaking.

At about this point, you can re-read about five paragrahs up and change all the "Saturdays" to "Sundays" because, once more, I get to the venue and it is raining - actually it was raining harder than it had the previous day. Once again the township commitee was a flurry. I stayed in George and listened to a stess reduction CD.

As you probably have already guessed, the event was cancelled - rain date next year same location. So what IS it you do when it rains on the rain date?  You go home, hug your dogs, grab a blanket and a hot chocolate and an Advil or two and watch Hitchcock movies  -  and hope that the rain keeps up so that you can't unload George until tomorrow ...