The morning was rainy and my feet called for ice and elevation. I had trouble getting myself together, losing my phone, my keys and my mind and was late getting over to park. Most of the neighbors (some who I had not seen since in two years) were out parking. I stopped to chat, as I’m wont to do, and told them the serendipitous parking tale from last night. As we chatted Sara came out and added to the story. When Ben returned the previous night, before he could retell what I shared, she told him about this magical, spiritual encounter she had with the last woman she parked. She had only one spot left and a car full of kids pulled up. There is some discernment that occurs when you have people parking in your private back yard, with regard to safety, timeliness and noise level when they finally leave. She wasn’t sure how late the kids would stay, and when they wanted to pay via Venmo and not cash, she declined. The next car to come by was Kathleen. Angels, just sayin’. Sara couldn’t put her finger on it, but this person parking was just special somehow. Then Ben told her the story. I repeated Kathleen’s comment on how she just felt mom embodied Sara and the neighbors could all see it. Not a dry eye in the bunch on Simpson Street for a moment. I composed myself and thinking I could almost be late for my shift, walked as fast as my feet would allow, praying I wouldn’t be delayed by the metal detectors.

I got to my post in the nick of time. The volunteers this year are in short supply but the staff and crew I work with everyday are awesome. Fortunately the dearth of volunteers coincides with a dearth of visitors.

It was a quiet, rainy afternoon in the Forest. My post today was helping to make mini banner necklaces. It can be a sticky job, but with limited visitors, I passed the time organizing letters and washing glue sticks.

One very bright spot in a gloomy day was a visit from a former family. They came up specifically to see me, which warmed my heart and they had a great time playing in the Forest!

After my shift ended at 6:00 pm, I was planning to just head home and catch up on the blog. Instead, my dear friend Helen appeared!

It’s been far too long since we’ve seen each other! We stood in the Forest catching up for about a half an hour before we realized we could ~walk~ and ~talk~. We both have the gift of gab and you could get whiplash keeping up with our conversation! Helen had one more punch on her history walking tour, so we headed to the grandstand, non stop taking. She punched her card and had to collect her prize before 8:00. It was already 7:30, we’d stood there chatting for another hour! The prize collection site was no longer inside the grandstand this year, unbeknownst to Helen, so we had to get up to the Bailey House before they closed, or I would be personally responsible for claiming her prize at a later date!

I grabbed a gyro for my dinner along the way and I apologized for automatically taking her up the path less trodden with a view of only dumpsters and bathrooms. I also conveyed my sincere apologies for talking so much and hoped I wasn’t keeping her from seeing more of the fair. Thankfully, she was just as happy to be talking, walking, catching up and reminiscing as I was.

We made it to the Bailey House with minutes to spare. They had to unlock the house to get the prizes back out, but kindly obliged.

I told Helen about the egg rolls, and she was intrigued, so we stopped and bought some to take home. They offered to wrap them up in foil for us. The smell was delicious and Helen’s egg roll didn’t make it a block before she dug in. We got a block outside the gate and stood talking for almost another hour! We decided that a lunch date to continue the conversation was a must and parted ways. I hope she saw enough of the fair on her one day outing ~before~ she found me!

I took only three pictures today. A record.