Genius and Idiocy Meet in Downtown Bend

On the one hand - On the one hand, Bend showed some endearing and enjoyable character tonight in the form of a very enjoyable, five person street band singing the most infectious and toe tapping melodies you have ever heard (including a song about how fat Howard Taft was). They even had a washboard!! How often do you see that?

When I got to the farmer's market, most of it had already been packed up and I was on overwhelm because of some weird smells in the air. I think the more humid air holds in smells better, because the lavender from the lavender stand almost made me want to pass out, and before I've been perfectly fine with it.

I calmed down eventually tho. And saw a crepe stand. And had fun, not , agonizing for about half an hour whether I should get a crepe or not. I wanted one more tha anything, I've always loved crepes more than anything, and their menu - the best I'd ever seen. But I wanted to be calm and stable when I got home, and if I ate something I reacted to, then I'd be a mess when I got home and it was time to stop doing that. I was afraid the wheat in the batter might upset my stomach, and the sweet fillings would almost definitely bother my teeth. So I read the menu over and over and had to be contented with imaging how they would taste. I had a nice convo with the guy behidn the booth. He was from Conneticut, went to school in Boston, and had lived in Bethel, Maine before.

Then I saw them. A few guys with a guitar playing some wonderful sounding foot tapping music. They made me smile. I was sorry when they left after only one song. I briefly considered following them.

I left the crepe stand to go walk in Drake Park for a bit. When I came back, there was no sign of Crepe Guy or Guitar People. I wandered into downtown the long way, and to my surprise and delight, when I got there, what did I see, but both the crepe stand and street band - the band playing the same song as before. It felt like Groundhog Day.

Five guys in their 20s, goofy and wonderful, one with a washboard of all things. Two guitars, a harmonica and a washboard. What a wonderful sound that made! At first, in the park, I was afraid to approach them; they looked like the kind of people you needed to stay away from. I soon found out I was wrong though. They were very nice and sweet. They started asking people who walked by if they wanted to hear a song, and that gave me the courage to go over to them and request anything from the 60s. They didn't know any, but played a song for me anyway that I liked it. It was kind of lik folk music.... I don't know to describe it. Great harmonies and melodies. They soon started playing different songs instead of the same one. I gave them a dollar. They thanked me twice for watching! Said they had only been playing for two weeks but looked so natural like they had been doing it all their lives. They played one song with a chorus line of "All I want for Christmas is Mother Mary's abortion" - but they said it in such a laughing, fast, fun way - you'd have to be there. It made me laugh out loud. And they sang another song about how fat Howard Taft was, lol. Such energy, such infectious energy. That is one good thing about Bend. They were so new they didn't even have a name yet.

On the other, I'm absolutely pissed off because someone set a firecracker to go off in the trash can I was standing right next to, causing much, much physical discomfort and emotional distress that I still have not recovered from. It was in the middle of the band's set. It hurt their ears too, I was slightly closer though.
It ruined the night, set off a long train of obsessive worry about if my ears would recover - they still bother me - and brought me back to scared and near meltdown mode. And it made me disconbulated enough to have an argument with M tonight and that is what I am trying to avoid, I am trying to be more emotionally stable.
I am disillusioned, depressed, and pissed that someone would ruin the first time I actually started to enjoy myself, and bring me back to scared and overwhelmed x 20. What idiots.

But I suppose I should try to focus on the good ,right? That band had no control over what some idiot did, and they were something else.

But of all the street corners and all the trash cans in Bend, the fact that someone had to set off a firecracker in the trash can right next to me, freaks the hell out of me. For the love of God. Can't people grow up?

I swear, though, of all things I think about and worry about and try to prepare for when I go out in public, someone setting firecrackers off in a trash can two feet from me is NOT one I had ever considered, and I am pretty what's the word. ...... feeling a bit shattered from it ?

There's a lot of things you can prepare for and avoid but firecrackers in a trash can is not one of them, is not something you can know about ahead of time or leave before the damage has been done.

Idiots. What an interesting brand of idiots they have here. I'm sorry, Bend, I don't mean to judge you by the act of one individual, or anyone else who lives here, but that is a particular brand of mischief and tomfoolery that leaves me more than a little bit rattled, and that kind of thing just shouldn't happen. How often DOES it happen, anyway? It's not like I have any reference point.

So.....There you have it. Another day, another crisis, and I'm getting pretty damn tired of them.

I'll try to focus on the good but it's damn hard.

Kate