Wow! Today started off pleasant. I took a few Midori, Miles, Victor, and Nick to the Fairgrounds fairly early, under party cloudy skies, to work out on their various equipment. It was very humid after yesterday's rains and even standing still anyone would sweat. As they worked out I started work on the Bamboo illusion's new themed set and platform.
Afterwards we went back to the hotel and picked up the rest of the clan and headed south to Corbin and to the birthplace of KFC. It has become a tradition. The drive was nice and we all commented how it was the first year with no rain. But after a historic tour and a nice meal as we climbed into the van a drop hit my arm. It was followed by crashes of thunder and then the downpour. We were about 20 miles from the fairground but the storm was coming from that direction. As we drove it got worse and worse until it was approaching too crazy to drive. It was about then that I got a call from one of the fiar people, Tony Brown. He asked where we were and had we seen our set? I told him we were on our way there. He instructed us a faster way there and we bee-lined it to the fair.
It wasn't terrible. It was the first time we took such a bad hit. Most of the banner line was down and a river now ran through the our stage area. The standing water around the atage and rv was upto 6" deep. Then the bad bad news the RV awning supports were broken. snapped in some places, bent in others. The awning itself seems OK. so does the roller part. But the support bars were history.
In spite of all that the kids put their backs into it and got the whole thing taken apart and rebuilt before showtime. I ran to the hardware store and picked up metal spikes and stakes and new rope. Several of our wooden stakes had broken off int he ground and one metal spike was bent from the wind. I think if the same storm hit now, after all the reinforcement we did, it would be harder for it to do the damage it did. It was even able to knock over the tight rope rig since it was tarped and the wind caught the tarp. We were lucky no banners were lost. Just lots of wet equipment.
We performed with a squishy ground around us and many of our shoes are now socked through. The humidity and wetness made Miles' whip action less accurate but he didn't hit me so I am not complaining. Victor fell off the tightrope on his final trick and bounced his chi on the wire then fell on his butt. Luckily he was uninjured and only ended up with a bit of soreness in his arm and muddy pants.
The red lines in the picture shows where the banner line was, where the awning is now and the tightwire laying on it's side.
Loose tooth is also included in the picture. Olivia gives Nick a hug.
Cynthia strikes a pose.
The Kids clean up the mess.
The clouds you see are the culprit leaving the scene of the crime. That pipe was flowing full force, like a hose at the peak of the storm.
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