On a Sunburned Field

I arrived at UCLA Intramural Field to find blazing sun and my Village Green cohorts already in full swing putting the tents together. It was another day of a circle of tents in the middle of a field, and even though I lathered up sunscreen in the morning, by the end of the day, it was worn off and I was sunburned! We spent the whole day outside since there was no real "backstage", just some tents set up in the field. I guess I write a lot about the weather on this blog because we are out in it all day, every show day. Most days, we get completey soaked with sweat during set up, then spend the rest of the day and night sticky and dirty. Yum.
Juli, Ania and Lindsay from the West LA/ Malibu chapter came out and rocked the booth - it was so busy, the four of us could barely keep up! They filled every Save Trestles petition I had and worked well past dark with enthusiasm, determined to beat all prior shows for number of people reached. I haven't counted the pledges yet, but I think they may have done it. Even though Jack was a bit under the weather, he came out to meet the volunteers and we snapped a quick photo. Zach Gill, Adam Topol, Fredo and Irwin (percussion) came out to play a little set in the Village Green, and Zach said it was perhaps the best one of the whole tour. The crowd was all singing along. Zach has quite a following at UCLA! This Village Green was one of the busiest and saw the most diverse crowd of the tour (in my assessment), a great send off!
At teardown, Elissa and I folded the last vinyl tent top with little fanfare, our last vinyl burrito being a good one... I guess I will miss it a bit. After years in an office, there is something satisfying about the physical work of putting up and taking down the village: hauling crates, pushing cases, moving tents, putting up banners and signs, and even the pain-in-the-butt teardrops!