Still Musing About Maryland

After years of applying to Maryland Sheep and Wool and receiving those rejection letters I still can't believe I got in. I paid for next year before leaving the festival. I had to pay for my booth for this year AND next year, seriously cutting into my profits, but that's okay. I remember walking up and down the aisles in years past thinking, "They got in and I didn't? I can do what they are doing!" I thought they must "know somebody" or live in the right geographic area, or some such nonsense. Who knows what made them pick my name from the waiting list? I don't need to know...all I need to know is if they thought my booth was good enough to come back next year. Everyone has to apply again for the following year. Traffic in my booth was steady all weekend - not a crowd, but a steady trickle. Fine with me. My next door neighbor, The Fibre Company, had a mob in the booth all weekend. Real nice folks from Maine, they have their own mill. At first I thought they processed their own yarn, but they told me they import it from all over the world. Hmmmm. I'm not crazy about that idea. Their carbon footprint is enormous, and I like to know where my wool comes from. But their customers were crazy about the yarn, waiting in line with big armfulls. I told Jan we need to invest in spinning equipment. She is thinking more about a house to live if hers finally sells in NJ, and I am thinking more about a tractor to make hay to feed my sheep next winter. Hay almost killed me this past winter, but I held on to my sheep. Don't know how I did it, but I am still here and so is the flock - and the flock is forever.