Lake Powell & the Gala

Thursday night we had a Gala for our Choir. It is a fund raiser where they put on a dinner and sell tables to big businesses for advertisement purposes for anywhere from $40 per plate to $200. In other words, the business will buy a table for 10 for $400, all the way to $2000, depending on what they want in the way of advertising. Places like the Centerville Dairy Queen and KUTV, since Sterling works there bought tables. Dinner is served, music and entertainment is provided and then there are silent auctions and live auctions, plus an opportunity bin. It is like a grab bag, you buy a ticket for $15 and you don't know what you will get, anything from tickets to our next concert to different decor. I donated some mugs I painted, and I got a jewelery box with some homemade beaded jewelery inside. I won a stained glass panel with purple tulips and a beautiful Thanksgiving cornucopia candy arrangement for much less than they would go for in the silent auction.
I found a nice flowy pair of sparkley pants and a black shirt with a sash and some really cute shoes. My poor fingernails have been really bad lately, so I glued on some press-on nails. I felt rather elegant. When the night was over, we drug home 3 1/2 hours and dropped into bed.
The next day we loaded our boat with camping supplies and finally on Saturday we headed into the wintery snow storm, thinking we were just crazy. We drove for quite a while, and suddenly the snow stopped and the skies got bright blue and the temperature shot up. Night and day. It was amazing. Everyone who had been there the day before said they basically huddled in their tents and cars, the wind was blowing sand so bad. So I guess we timed it right. We had a great time seeing a small part of Lake Powell. There was no breeze when we awoke the next morning, so we motored up Moki Canyon with the rest of the boat builders. It was a beautiful day, we got a sunburn and had a great time. The next morning everyone was getting ready to go home, but Sailor asked a seasoned sailor to teach him a bit about his new sails. He rode along with us and got the boat to move under wind power. It was really fun to see it work like it was built to do. The sails are only poly tarp now but we plan to sew some real ones with some sail cloth soon. We had a great time, talking with all the nice people who also build boats. Their boats range in shape and size, and finish work. Sailor and the rest call themselves nerds. I don't know what the definition of nerd is, but these are crafts people with amazing talent. Some are nomadic-type hippies and others are family people. I loved meeting the women and children who came along. All were very nice people.
Sailor once quoted James Harriot who said, "An enthusiast is appealing but a fanatic is irresistible." The builders fell under both descriptions.
You will find these people anywhere you look, especially when you look among people with common interests. There are the same people in the choir too.
It just seemed really amazing to go from classical music, concert halls, tuxedos and beautiful formals to beach bums and boat builders. My press-on nails looked very much out of place and I laughed to see them still on my hands.
We had a wonderful time with these wonderful people and at the boat dock, just as we were getting ready to put the boat back on the trailer, Sailor was motoring gently into the dock, and I was on the bow, ready to jump off and tie it, so we could wait our turn to drive the truck and trailer into the water and load the boat. But I somehow misjudged and instead of landing lightly onto the dock, I must have pushed the boat away, and did a bad rendition of a gymnast trying to do the splits. I scraped my whole left side on the concrete pilings and got totally drenched. It was not a pretty landing, I am sure, and quite terrifying. Needless to say, there were many concerned faces gazing down at me as I surfaced and hands reaching out to help me up. I was terribly sore, my poor elbow all scratched up, my ribs and hip already developing nasty bruises. A paramedic happened to be in the crowd who kindly checked me over to make sure I was not broken anywhere. I was just badly pulverized and my ego was just as bruised. Not fun. As I stood there waiting for Sailor to go get the truck and trailer, I noticed I had lost several of those press-on nails. They really didn't fit in the setting anyway.
What two different life-styles we lead, yet we have a wonderful time together, Sailor and I. He supports my choir things by coming to every concert and tour, and takes pictures. Then when his boat group gets together, which is not nearly as often as the choir, we do boating things. I am glad we are so diverse, but we will have to learn to dock that boat better from now on. I am feeling like a bit of a chicken and notsomuch of a First Mate. . .