I ended up at the all-famous Folk Fest for about 12 hours this weekend. I hadn't been to Folk Fest in eight years, as summer is a time when I am constantly broke anyway and if I'm spending money on anything (other than booze) it's the Fringe Fest, not the Folk one. But I have a friend who has this bewildering talent for winning to tickets for things, and I am all for the cheap and the free, which is how I ended up barefoot in a park wearing a dress made out of scarves at 10am on a Sunday morning.
A lot of strange and crazy things happen at Folk Fest, so I find the best course of action is to decide early on what persona you'll be taking on for the day, and then commit to it fully. For instance, this year we had a Xena Warrior Princess, several monks, 5 People Dressed as an Elephant, Steampunk Timetravelling Genius Maiden, and thousands of people Pretending it's 1969. Eight years ago I was Girl Covered In Mud Without A Change Of Clothes Who Is Slowly Sunburning in a Strange Hand-Shaped Pattern Because She Couldn't Be Bothered to Apply Sunscreen Properly.
This year I decided I would be something slightly cooler--or at least slightly cleaner, but as I was housesitting I had rather limited wardrobe options and elected to go as Girl With a Dress That Can Be Worn 10 Different Ways, and then change every time I went to the bathroom. By noon it was hotter in the park than my body was prepared for, and I became Girl Who Can't Be Bothered To Do Anything Except Search for Shade and Water Sources, which is when a good friend directed me towards one of the outdoor showers.
I have this strange relationship with water. I can't ever just dip my toe into it, or splash a bit on my face, and consider myself refreshed. An large amount of water has an irresistable, hypnotizing effect on me, whether it be a fountain or a pond or the suburban man-made lake filled with garbage in front of my cousin's house. I'll start by deciding to just wade into it, or put my hand under the spray, because I'm not dressed for swimming and I have somewhere to be later and I'm wearing nice clothes, and then suddenly I'll be in neck-deep, splashing around trying to find my shoes.
Apparently outdoor showers are no different. I started by sticking my head under the spray and then I figured I may as well step in a little closer, and then I was committing to being Soaking Wet Girl in a See-Through Dress because, surprise surprise, my floating scarf-like wrap dress makes a better window than a wall when it's wet (who would've thought?).
Of course, I still had Topless Woman, Breastfeeding Woman, Naked Baby and 50 Girls In Bikinis to contend with so I was in good company.
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