Last evening my husband was tending his business booth at the county fair. He asked me to tag along.
I haven't been to the fair in over 25 years. Being raised in the San Francisco bay area, I attended the Santa Clara County Fair every year. This county fair is a mosquito on a bear's back in comparison. It makes me a little sad.
My husband is a pretty pleasant fellow, so I thought I'd go: I could check out the quilts, the booths and the sheep. After I arrived I realized that it would have been a perfect opportunity to do some long exposure shots of the ferris wheels and other flashing lights in the dark of night. (dang!)
After walking around, nodding at strangers and seeing two or three friends, I returned to Frank's booth. Settled in on a chair at the back, I observed an incredible evening. It appears that every fifth person in Shasta County knows my husband!
Two or three people would wander past the booth, looking at the slide show of fantastic photos taken by local photographers. Almost every forth or fifth person would spot my husband from the booth across the aisle or maybe from a couple of booths away.
"Hey, Frank!"
"Frank! Good to see you!"
"Hey Frank! How the hell are you?"
"Frank, I've been meaning to come in and see you!"
"Frank, my dad and uncle used to haul moonshine back in the old days and I have a great picture of them. Do you do restorations?"
"Frank, loved your class!"
"Frank, I messed the settings up on my camera...."
"Frank, did you get in that (fill in the blank)
Nikon D5500; Nikon D3200; Olympus TG-4; that little waterproof camera, those binoculars, that lense I ordered, Canon Powershot, etc.
"Frank! How's the family?"
"Frank, I was out at your tree during that last lightening storm. Where were you!"
"Well, if it isn't Frankie! Are you still out there?" (didn't know if that was in regards to living in the country, working at the shop, flying hang gliders or just "out there"!
"We missed you at this year's Butterfly shoot, Frank!"
"Frank, I've got 4 memory cards with 1600 pictures. Can you make me a CD?"
This went on for four hours! Of course, there were people who walked up to him who said, "Hey, aren't you the guy on that commercial?" There were actually people who didn't know him but had a question about exposures, apertures, point and shoots, tripods, memory cards, even film.
He welcomed them with that great smile of his, introduced himself, then answered all their questions. Damn, that man knows a lot of stuff!
By the time the strangers left, they were on first name terms with the old guy.
"Thanks, Frank, I'll see you at the store!"
Next year at the fair, they will probably join the long line of "Hey, Frank"s!
While walking back to the car after the fair, holding hands, he stopped me and pointed to the two bright lights in the sky!
"That's Jupiter and Venus. They are getting closer and closer to each other every night. By the end of June they will appear so close to each other that you will be able to hold your wedding ring up and see both in the little circle!"
Is there anything this man doesn't know!!!!
I haven't been to the fair in over 25 years. Being raised in the San Francisco bay area, I attended the Santa Clara County Fair every year. This county fair is a mosquito on a bear's back in comparison. It makes me a little sad.
My husband is a pretty pleasant fellow, so I thought I'd go: I could check out the quilts, the booths and the sheep. After I arrived I realized that it would have been a perfect opportunity to do some long exposure shots of the ferris wheels and other flashing lights in the dark of night. (dang!)
After walking around, nodding at strangers and seeing two or three friends, I returned to Frank's booth. Settled in on a chair at the back, I observed an incredible evening. It appears that every fifth person in Shasta County knows my husband!
Two or three people would wander past the booth, looking at the slide show of fantastic photos taken by local photographers. Almost every forth or fifth person would spot my husband from the booth across the aisle or maybe from a couple of booths away.
"Hey, Frank!"
"Frank! Good to see you!"
"Hey Frank! How the hell are you?"
"Frank, I've been meaning to come in and see you!"
"Frank, my dad and uncle used to haul moonshine back in the old days and I have a great picture of them. Do you do restorations?"
"Frank, loved your class!"
"Frank, I messed the settings up on my camera...."
"Frank, did you get in that (fill in the blank)
Nikon D5500; Nikon D3200; Olympus TG-4; that little waterproof camera, those binoculars, that lense I ordered, Canon Powershot, etc.
"Frank! How's the family?"
"Frank, I was out at your tree during that last lightening storm. Where were you!"
"Well, if it isn't Frankie! Are you still out there?" (didn't know if that was in regards to living in the country, working at the shop, flying hang gliders or just "out there"!
"We missed you at this year's Butterfly shoot, Frank!"
"Frank, I've got 4 memory cards with 1600 pictures. Can you make me a CD?"
This went on for four hours! Of course, there were people who walked up to him who said, "Hey, aren't you the guy on that commercial?" There were actually people who didn't know him but had a question about exposures, apertures, point and shoots, tripods, memory cards, even film.
He welcomed them with that great smile of his, introduced himself, then answered all their questions. Damn, that man knows a lot of stuff!
By the time the strangers left, they were on first name terms with the old guy.
"Thanks, Frank, I'll see you at the store!"
Next year at the fair, they will probably join the long line of "Hey, Frank"s!
While walking back to the car after the fair, holding hands, he stopped me and pointed to the two bright lights in the sky!
"That's Jupiter and Venus. They are getting closer and closer to each other every night. By the end of June they will appear so close to each other that you will be able to hold your wedding ring up and see both in the little circle!"
Is there anything this man doesn't know!!!!
