It’s me again. Double dipping. When you read you might understand why. Nothing fictitious about this story…sigh.
Genre: Hysterical Faction
Word Count: 100
ONE SWELL FOOP
My husband and I raised our purple canopy for the weekly farmer’s market. A breeze cooled my back. “At least it’s not as hot as last Tuesday.
Jan mopped sweat from his eyes. “Still warm and windy, though. Wish we’d brought weights to hold this thing down.”
Then, he stood back and admired our handiwork—gridwalls loaded with framed works, tables full of books, notecards, and prints. “Nicest setup here.”
Perching on my purple chair, I posted pictures and greetings to Facebook and awaited prospective customers. Suddenly a strong gust upended my tent. How quickly triumph can turn to tragedy.
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Rochelle Wisoff-Fields-Addicted to Purple 
👍
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All it would take is a purple wind to put it all back together again
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Oh, Neil. Would that it were that easy. Thank you for reading my purple prose.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Aww, that was a bummer. I hope the next tent is more resilient to wind.
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Dear Sadje,
I hope so, too…that is if we ever get the next tent.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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You will, Insha’Allah.
You’re welcome Rochelle.
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Hoo boy. Best laid plans, and all that. Puts me in mind of. . . .well, you’ll have to read it once I get it posted 🙂
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People really don’t think of all the work involved setting up a market stall, generally, I have found. I love working in markets but never had an accident as major as that one. I can sense the experience behind just rolling up your sleeves and continuing…
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Dear Forestbathings,
The wind flipped our tent toward the beginning of market. So we did go on. 😉 Yes, there is quite a lot of work involved in setup and teardown. Still, working markets is a great way to make contact, despite the hazards. We’ve been rained on and now blown away by them.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Linda,
Some things are just out of our control, aren’t they? And, as I keep saying. It could’ve been so much worse.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Oh dear! I’m sorry you had a disaster. Great idea to turn it into a piece of flash fiction!
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Dear Penny,
Life’s experiences are better when written down and shared. 😉 I’ve often said I am my own anecdote. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I had a tent go flying just like that once. Glad you were able to continue.
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Dear Mason,
The show must always go on. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Indeed, the show never stops!
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Oh no! I’ve helped my friend set up for craft fairs. I feel your pain from personal experience. At least you didn’t get any purple rain.
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Dear Nobbin,
No purple rain…this time. We’ve been washed out before, though. Thank you for the commiseration. Setup and teardown can get tedious, can’t it?
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Bumma!
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Bumma indeed, Lisa. 😉
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Wind can be disguised as the One Eyed Purple Tent EATER Monster. Glad no art work was harmed in this story.
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Dear Jeannie,
Jan might actually be able to fix it. There will be a whole lotta framin’ going on in the future. 😉 Thanks BFF
Shalom,
Rocky
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So sorry about all your hoo~hah but at least I know I’m not the only one who’s expected to deal with the wind from Hell~
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As long as we’re on this planet, Larry. 😉
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I was devastated while picking the broken glass up and digging out the pictures. The tent frame was totally destroyed. So… we ordered a much heavier commercial quality (expensive) tent and I just ordered heavy weights as well. Hopefully we will have better luck with this setup. It did not damage our drive.
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Dear Jan,
And now you might be able to fix that which was thought to be destroyed. How lovely is that? And sooner or later we’ll get that industrial strength tent. And we still made a nice sale after the tent flip. 😉 We shall forge ahead. 😀 ❤
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Dear Rochelle,
“One swell foop” indeed. But you and Jan carried on despite the disaster. I bet it wasn’t a piece of cake sitting there unshaded in the sweltering in the heat.
Shalom,
dora
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Dear Dora,
It did get quite toasty sitting in the sun without the tent. Fortunately it wasn’t as hot as the week before. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Sorry to hear but glad your artwork was recoverable in the end. A good reminder that things can turn upside down when least expected.
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Dear Brenda,
So true. Life can turn on a dime. That’s for sure and certain. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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What a bummer! Good for you, carrying on regardless 😊
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Thank you, Liz. 🙂
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Dear Rochelle,
Each experience we live through is a chance to learn and grow 😉 ‘Course, it would be nice for such learnings to not come at such a price. Sorry about the broken frames. Hope the next one is tough and I saw by Jan’s comment it will be… plus the extra weights should help!
Shalom and lotsa well-weighted love,
Dale
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Dear Dale,
The weights are in and filled with sand. Still no word as to when the tent will arrive. Talked to Eurmax company who referred me back to Amazon since that’s who we ordered through. Got the runaround. Robo chat assured me it’s being prepared for delivery. At least it’s Prime and free delivery And on the upside, Jan thinks, if he can get the parts, he can repair the windblown tent. And we did learn something from the experience. 😉 Some lessons are harder than others, aren’t they? 😀
Shalom and lotsa braced and stable hugs,
Rochelle
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Oh how fun. Weights are good. Runaround, not so much. Handyman, good and lessons learned, also good!
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Oh no, what a thing to happen. I’m glad you were able to keep calm and carry on!
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Dear Keith,
I think I went into numb mode. So carry on we did while a staff member helped us sweep up the glass. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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I’m glad no one was injured and the artwork didn’t suffer. Better luck next time, that display really look(ed) great.
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Dear Gabi,
I think we’ll be more prepared next time. Weights no matter what. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Oh noes! Love the title, sorry about the story behind the story.
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Dear Jen,
Substance happens. 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Oh, how horrible for that to happen. I’m glad all the artwork was safe. And typical of you, I think, to carry on regardless and make it work.
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Like the others, glad you, Jan and the artwork weren’t harmed. Hope next market day is less eventful!
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Dear Lorraine,
There’s a good possibility that this week’s market will be called on account of rain. There’s just no controlling that pesky weather. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Ooh noo! Love “the caption “moments before disaster struck” and the title 🙂
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Dear Ali,
You know the old saying. “When life hands you lemons, write a story about it.” 😉 Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Oh no, that’s unlucky Rochelle. I hope you could get going again without too much damage.
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Dear Michael,
We have some repair/replacement to do on the frames but I think we’ll land on our feet. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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All the best with that, Rochelle
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it could have been worse. in a way, it could still be considered a blessing.
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Dear Plaridel,
I agree 100%. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Well its good to see that everyone is ok and here to live another beautiful day
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Dear Eddy,
Thank you so much for dropping by with your well wishes. 😀
Shalom,
Rochelle
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Nooooooo! That darned wind. I love seeing photos of you both! And purple is a great color
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Dear Laurie,
It was very disappointing although the artwork was unscathed. Wish I could say the same for the tent and some of my frames. So I’m waiting on a new purple canopy and Jan thinks he can possibly repair the broken one. Thank you.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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