Yep, I was stopped in my tracks on the tracks, at the Atlanta New Earth Festival, sitting on a rail, all shiny from years of locomotion, purchases settled around me in the gravel when I overheard some people talking. My purchases were few but awkward. The green ivy sided crockpot was a dream come true 'cause the pot was removable. The seller said it was brand new. Nice. It's my favorite kind for easy washing and fridge transfer. Another purchase was a bound mess of steel stakes with heads of blue & white snow flakes. They'll be fun for the grandkids this winter, and they were a steal, too.
Like I said, purchases were few but awkward. I was supposed to meet hubby here. So I'm sitting on the city railroad tracks.
Anyway, I'm face to butt with a woman about my age who, I have to admit, was 4 feet away. She had a small pastel green and yellow umbrella stroller parked next to her, when out of the crowd a couple spied her, "Well, hello! Hi, how are you?"
"I haven't seen you in ages! Where's the mister?"
"Oh, he's over there getting a drink, he'll be right back. He'll be glad to see you ... and you!" she said to the newcomer's hubby.
The newcomer looked at the stroller, then at the lady with questioning eyes. The lady said, "This is Stefonn, I had him last night."
My ears perked up, my eyes got big, I started to laugh out loud but choked it back. The whole thing was incongruous. I so wanted to insert myself in this conversation. Here she was walking the tracks at a festival of hoardes of peoples with an infant in a stroller, she was just under my age (I'm over 60) and she "had him last night"!!!!!! Oh. My. Lands. Seriously, she didn't just say that!
For someone who'd just given birth she sure was up and about and lively!
I told myself, "Keep listening, Pam. There's gonna be more story here." Sure enough, she was babysitting for her daughter but the lady and hubby weren't happy about the name. Spell check on her phone kept changing Stefonn to Steven, LOL.
This little scene was in direct contrast to the scene we literally ran into about 20 minutes earlier. Like a weavers needle when walking a popular festival you have to weave yourself in and out of the crowd, right? Men pause in the middle while their wives shop the booth to the left. To be avoided are families with 2 or more strollers, one kid hot and crying, the other looking too big to be strapped in with squished fat belly, with dangling legs and feet dragging the ground. Threesomes mutually agree on one standing guard over a 2-wheeled shopping cart stuffed full. Police in golf carts make way. Someone drops a pink ice cream cone scoop and the guy strolling directly behind does the avoiding jump-back-step. Those I understand, some of those have been me, but the next one was a puzzler.
Four women. Standing stock still. In a circle facing each other. Obviously buyers you can tell by their bags of goodies. No one speaking. No one imbibing festival foods. No one looking around -- neither at the items for sale, nor at the peoples for a missing person, nor at each other. Neither did they offer to step back out of the way for the forward motion of other shoppers.
It was like a witches circle with out the ground markings. Weird. We had to circumvent.
Just beyond The Witches was a black banner overhead draped across a canopy. Running from one end to the other, it advertised, "Goat Soap". GOAT SOAP? I looked at hubby, "How on earth do you make goat soap? There's nothing soapy about a wirey-haired old goat!"
Smiling hubby said, "You have to give 'em a really good squeeze!"
With a chuckle and a grin I kept scanning. They had black tie soap, goat soap lotions and body cream, and something called lip smack. Well, I never. I never want to lip smack a goat, for any reason, even if it does get you a bargain on goat soap!
Then there was the Tube Top Trio. Short filled-out woman with her tall skinny man pushing a jogging stroller with an acquiescent little boy. You know the kind of stroller I'm talking about, I'm sure, charcoal black with 3 wheels. The front single wheel points in the direction the family's going. For now the man's stopped at the post of the display tent 'cause his woman suddenly quit walking, mesmerized by some clothing inside. He's face to face with a persimmon colored tube top on a mannequin bust. There's more in oranges and reds next to it on portable shelves and hangers. She said, "Just a minute."
He said, "Are you gonna buy a tube top."
Because she's thinking of other things she absentmindedly said, "Wha--at?"
He said, "Try one on."
She says, "No, I was looking at something else." Then when his words registered, "YOU CAN'T TRY TUBE TOPS ON HERE!"
Hubby and I just caught the tail end of this conversation as we were moving on, going with the flow.
The tall skinny man said, "It might be fun" and he lowers his voice in a chuckle, "for me."
If there'd been dual silver tracks running through this street, I'd be stopped on 'em, I was laughing so hard.
