Doing Our Best

 Last week Toby was home on vacation. He had a list of things that needed doing around the farm, and he was getting things done. Pretty much. He was also doing things he wanted to do. We threw some pots, and he welded on some projects - those are things he likes doing.  It was really nice weather, so we got some fence built. Last spring when the dozer came to work on the pond dam, he took down the fence to dig a new spillway. Since then, the horses have been free to roam our 75 acres. For some reason, they like to stand up by the house. The north side of the house has become their shade/barn. They have worn down the grass and pooped all over the place. That doesn't bother me too much, but they drink the dogs water on the patio and leave large divots in the yard. Why they think they need to be up close and personal when they have the whole acreage to roam, is beyond me. My sister asked if we ever rode the horses. We don't. The kids are grown and not interested, nor do they seem to want to teach the grandkids. Truthfully, neither horse is kid-broke. I told my sister that the horses were ornamental - ornamental house horses - large pets.

This week I have spent most of my time at the CTAC getting ready for the Holiday Art Show. I put five pieces of art in the show, and I had others to choose from. That means I have been pretty productive. On Monday, we took art in for the show and hung things. For the judging, we put the photography upstairs at the gallery, but the photographers complained that they didn't want their art work upstairs where some people might not be able to get up the stairs to see the photos. They want to be downstairs where the show is prime. So, we compromised and put the photos upstairs apart from the fine art to make judging easier, but after the judging, we moved some of the photos downstairs and paintings upstairs - lots of work involved in that. 

We have three categories - fine art, 3D, and photography. Usually, we get about 20+ photos and about 100 pieces of fine art, yet the photographers get the same amount of prize money. In other words, the judge gives four places to each category with prize money. Out of 20 photos, four of them are going to win something. It is even worse for 3D, where we only get about six pieces of art. It doesn't seem quite fair that fine art brings in the most money, but the competition is tough and only 4 our of 100 will receive prize money. Just sayin. Maybe we ought to give prize money according to percentage of the money the category brings in - like a fishing tournament. Ha! 

Anyway, it looks to be a great show. I don't know if we will have a crowd at the reception with the covid thang. Some of the gallery helpers wanted to put the whole show downstairs. As the president, I said not this year - we needed to spread out the people as much as possible. Well, that was my excuse for using the upstairs. We normally do quite the food table, but with covid, we are putting things in little baggies so that no one touches the food. It is all so crazy, but it is what it is. We are trying our best to have a show and stay safe. The community is divided - people who want a mask mandate and those that don't. Tough times. My position is: come to the show or not. Wear your mask or not. Work at socially distancing and wear your mask when you need to. Live life as best you can.