Junk Zappers...Bzzzzy...Gotcha!

We got home last night from taking the first trailer down to the Mother Ship and y'all will be pleased as punch to know...no flats!  Can I get a yee to the haw?

Have I mentioned Cat Daddy won't be at the show for its entire run this time?  I know ladies...y'all are crestfallen at this news, but try for just a minute to put aside y'alls disappointment and let's concentrate on ME...whatcha say?

I talk a lot about all the crazy antics we have...and we do have some doozies.

I talk a lot about all the Zappers I get to laugh and hang with...and I do 'til my sides hurt.

I'm a Zapper, C.D.'s a Zapper...wouldn't you like to be a Zapper too?

I talk about all the fun y'all are missing when you don't come...and you don't have any idea 'til you get yourself on down here.

What I don't talk about is how tough this show can be on the body and mind.

Doing a show this big and for this length of time requires a ton of merchandise...in volume and in weight!

We have a penchant for the pieces that are...ahem... a little big and the thought of trying to place those bad boys that are taller than me can be a little daunting!

Thankfully, my manly man and the Zapp Hall crew were able to put all the king's horses and all the king's men in place yesterday.

When I go back on Wednesday, I'll be flying solo until the weekend, but I won't be totin' furniture...just tubs of great stuff.

I say only like it's no big deal to empty all those tubs and find a place for everything that isn't all willy-nilly.  Done right, it is a big deal...huge!  I never like to cover my furniture with too many accessories.  You know the old saw "can't see the forest for the trees"?  That can happen with too many smalls piled on.  As in everything in life...it's a process of editing and edifying.

It's also a bit of challenge to get the tent customer-ready while visiting with friends just stopping by.  Now...do not even begin to think I don't want you stopping in for a sit-down...goodness no.  Law...I love seeing and talking with everyone who makes it by for a howdy-do.  Just don't be surprised if I hand you a plastic tub and expect you to start unwrapping!  Aw y'all...I'm just ribbin' ya.  I never expect a guest to work...unless they are just dying to!  Kiddin'...kiddin'...I promise up and down!

The other thing that makes this show so doggone hard is the weather.  (I know I'm gonna get me some amens from the choir on this subject!)

Here in Texas it can be hot as whodathoughtit one minute...cold as a well digger's bucket the next.  Out on the pastures, the wind can come howlin' in or it can play hide and seek until you're reduced to using a church fan for a little re-spite.  Dry...wet...all in a blink of an eye.

Snow...tornadoes...dust storms...drought...we've seen...and felt it all.  Just like I have to pack my entire closet to head down, the tent has to be set up to accommodate any and all weather changes.

Wind can take down mirrors...and tents...in a split second.  Dry ground can become slick, muddy messes around...and in some case under...the tent just as fast. You ain't lived 'til you've been a lifeboat for a swarm of fire ants paddlin' by!

Dealers have to be prepared to yank merchandise back under the tent in a moment's notice...and sometimes not even that.

It's work, but work with rewards...and not just monetary.  It's a satisfaction that comes from doing a job and doing it the best I know how.  It's the pride (yes...I said pride) that comes from having folks admire your style, merchandising, and product.  It's the bone tired weariness that covers you from head to toe at the end of the day from giving it 100% for 100% of the time we're there.

Doing it without Cat Daddy will be hard, but I've done it before and I'll do it this time.  It just won't be as much fun without having him there to cuss confer with...or fetch my pimento cheese sandwich.  Fact is...I enjoy watching him push that ol' Dolly Mama back and forth...especially when it's carryin' something headed to a new home!

If y'all don't mind...let me say something else about the weather.  Last fall, as you all know, we experienced one of the worst drought in years.  Last spring, the fields were scorched from the sun and the bluebonnets scarce due to a lack of rain.  By the time fall came around, there was dust instead of grass and the wildfires were running rampant.  Brown and grey were the only colors for as far as the eye could see.  I won't lie to you...it was a scary time to be down there with only one road in and out.  It was also heartbreaking.

I love Texas with every breath in my body and beat of my heart.  To have to stand and helplessly watch her take such a beating was heart wrenching, but just as the seed of the bluebonnet is extremely hard and tough...so is Texas and her folks.

Thanks to God sending two times the normal rainfall this winter, a bumper crop of bluebonnets dotted the roadsides, pastures and yards, greeting us with their happy faces on our way down to Warrenton.  The green prairie grasses waving in the breeze, yellow broom dancing with the Indian paint brush, flowing creeks and streams...all were welcoming us home.  Renewing me...whispering that in all things...even despair...God is there...giving us hope...always hope.

Just as God placed a rainbow in the sky to remind us of His Covenant, so He spread a rainbow on the ground of my beloved Texas to remind us to never give up hope.  I have never felt so awed by the simple beauty of wildflowers and all the promises they hold.

Hope...one of the most beautiful words in any language.

I hope y'all get to come and see for yourselves the majesty that is Texas in the springtime.

I hope you bring a camera to capture that majesty.

I hope I get to see your faces in my tent and that you leave with a smile on that face.

I hope y'all know...with help from God...we've rolled out the blue carpet just for you.

~I've been sent to spread the message...God blessed Texas.~Little Texas