Trailer Lights and Art Show

It got cold last night! The overnight low was 18 F. The predicted low was 25 F. I covered my tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, beets, and onions. It didn't warm up above freezing this morning until almost 11 am. When I uncovered the plants some of the underside of the tarps still had frost. It doesn't appear the vegetables had frozen. Tonight the predicted low is 14 F. The temperature is already 23 F. A clear sky and the hunter's full moon - big and cold.

At least it was sunny all day and the temperature warmed up to 44 F. With the sun and no wind it felt warmer.

After retrieving the cut logs from the tree in the north pasture I set to fixing my stock trailer light. I put in the new light I bought and it made no difference: the right turn signal did not work and the brake/parking light combinations were one or the other lights.

I decided to connect a new wire directly from the plug to the light for the right turn signal. Still no right turn signal.

I fiddled around some more then decided to go over Pierce RV. They are the business that has the lights lighting their show lot at night that lights up the area. I figured they "owed" me for that annoyance.

I found their lot to completely surrounded by a black wrought iron fence. It seems that after hours you can't browse their lot. This company is security conscious.

I spoke with a couple service employees. No one was in the showroom and the two service employees were sitting at the counter looking bored. Their idea was that I had a problem with my ground. They suggested I hook a jumper cable between the pickup bumper and the trailer hitch and see if that changes anything. Whether it works or not would tell whether I had a ground problem with the pickup or the trailer.

I went home and hooked the pickup to the trailer again. Before I got the jumper cable I tested the light. It worked. Huh? Earlier I had hooked the wire plug to the pickup but hadn't lowered the trailer onto the pickup hitch. Maybe it needed that extra connection?

I was hungry and went in the house to eat lunch. Afterwards I returned to the trailer, put the trailer plug together and wrapped all the wire connections with electrical tape. I retried the lights and I was back to the same problem: no right turn signal. Huh?

I must have done something when I wrapped the wire connections. I unwrapped the wires and had the same problem. I wiggled the plug connection into the pickup connector and my right signal now worked. Ahhh... the problem all along was with the trailer plug. It looks fine....

Anyway, my trailer lights now work as long as I plug it "right".

I checked my pocket gopher traps, then took a shower. Sue Ann's friend, Terry, was hosting an art show at her art gallery from 5 pm to 7 pm tonight and Sue Ann invited me. It would finally be an opportunity to meet Terry, who Sue Ann has talked about many times.

I was running later than I wanted to be and did not arrive at the gallery until 6:20 pm. There were plenty of people in the small gallery in downtown Columbia Falls. Terry just started to make an announcement when I entered. After everything turned to see who came in the door, Terry went on with her announcement. She gave a general talk thanking people for attending and then introduced the artists. I am not sure who they all are as they were in their respective parts of the gallery when introduced and audience members were all around.

After Terry spoke, and before the artist she introduced could speak, Jerry spoke. Ya, Jerry - the guy who I bought the primitive "cave art" horse print from a few weeks ago at his estate sale. Jerry made a short speech praising Terry and her gallery and the art show she put on. Finished with his speech he then wandered into the crowd and came over to me. I acknowledged him and he started speaking to me. He shook my hand and asked my name. I told him and then it registered that he had no clue who I was. I don't think he remembered me so I told him I had bought the horse print from him. I don't think it still registered then I noticed that people were still looking at us. Jerry has a loud voice. So we quit talking and let Terry get back to introducing one of the artists to speak.

Jerry sat down at a nearby table and it was then that I noticed he had a wine glass in his hand. Ah... adding to his usual ... what's the correct word?... rambling(?) nature, add in that he was a little drunk. He later let lose a drunken fart and I made sure I wasn't in a position to talk with him again.

I spoke with Jan the other day and she said her Soroptomists had not seen any money from Jerry's estate sale. He had promised to give the earnings to the Soroptomists and the Food Bank in exchange for the organizations helping him with the sale. Supposedly Jerry used to be a millionaire, though people are not sure if he still is. He is into the "arts" and he seems to fit the profile of a "schmoozer", someone who talks, but has no follow through. Since he has or had money, people seem to put up with him. The rich are eccentric while the poor are odd, weird, or crazy.

The artist who spoke was a Native American artist who formerly lived in North Dakota and now lives in Great Falls, MT. He is a short man whose name is "something" Yellow Feather. "something" is a white man's name, perhaps Tony. As an artist he goes by Two Pinto Pony, or something like that. (As I have said before I am terrible at remembering names.) I noticed he signed his paintings with both names.

This guy talked and talked just to hear himself talk. He seemed to be happy to be enjoying this attention, and combined with him being an artist, he talked without saying anything of importance. He threw out phrases of the obvious when describing his art and his artist style. For example he said "Color is color." as if this means something. Even in the context of what he was talking about at the time that phrase had no meaning. He said other similar meaningless phrases that I have forgotten, but left me scratching my head when he said them.

Finally he was done talking. But then Jerry came up as he begged for our attention for just one minute as he had something he felt required to say. He then rambled on several minutes about orchids, his love of art and how he likes to collect art, Georgia O'Keeffe, liquid drops in paintings, and whatever else came to mind. Huh?! Whatever!

Terry indulged him. I'm not sure if she didn't know how to get control back or was indulging him because he had money or was a friend.

Then it was back to mingling. Later I noticed a number of people had left after the speaking was over. Me, I worked my way back to the back of the gallery. There was finger food available and I wanted to munch while I looked at the art. There was a good variety of foods, from asparagus rolled in a slice of meat to crackers, meatballs, chocolate, nuts, and other foods I had no clue what they were.

I was on my way to the food area when an attractive woman and I attempted to move into the same space as we worked our way through the crowd. We both made a forgettable comment and I wondered from how she looked at me, if she wanted to begin a conversation. By the time this thought slowly worked its way through my mind I already had stepped back to let her take the space and move forward. I hadn't anything intelligent to say as I hadn't had a chance to look over the art yet, and besides my mind was focused on getting some food, or at least some of whatever was left after an hour and a half.

If she had an interest in me, I missed my chance as our paths - even in that small room - never crossed in the same way. She didn't appear to be there with anyone, but I never got a chance to look for a ring.

Ah... an interest in me, or was it just my vanity or imagination?

As I munched on the goodies I looked over the art. I wish I could describe it all but most of it wasn't my type of art and seemed to have nothing to say and was forgettable. Most of it seemed bland. The "Two Pintos" artist was different and he painted in bright colors. His images were two dimensional, in solid colors that did not blend, were of horses or buffalo skulls and Indian feathers. He appeared to glue small rocks or feathers to many of the paintings. While this was a step above the other two artists, it still seemed simplistic with no hook or point of view. I could see some of the paintings more on a greeting card than hanging on my wall. On my wall I would quickly get bored with it. I wasn't about to pay $7,000 for a three or four color two dimensional painting of a buffalo skull with a half dozen small rocks glued to it.

One of the women painters had painted a large image of clouds and blue sky. It was like looking out a window up at the sky. And I thought, why would I want a painting of that? If I wanted that image I would get a skylight. Or a photograph. As a painting it had a slight touch of an artificial feel to a realistically intended image. It felt lacking. It had no point, reason or vision.

The fourth artist was a photographer. His work was pretty good. While his images of cars, old buildings, hayfields and mountains were of common things, he seemed to have framed or tinted the photos to give a slightly different perspective of the image. He was the only artist I had a slight interest in talking to. He was chatting other other people so I didn't interrupt.

The crowd was definitely the opposite of the crowds I see at an auction. This crowd was mainly women or couples. And an older crowd, meaning closer to my age and older. Most people were dressed up, or were dressed casual chic.

To put a stereotypical view on it, from their dress and talk these people seemed to be liberal Democrat elitist artsy-fartsy people. Not that this is bad, but it isn't my usual crowd.

The crowd size was also uncomfortable to me. A small group is fine, and very large groups are fine - but the "larger than small" groups leave me skittish.

Sue Ann wasn't there. I am not sure if she never showed up, or if she came earlier and left already. She had helped Terry earlier and had already seen all the art being displayed.

I never did talk to Terry as plenty of other people chatted with her and we never seemed to be in the same part of the room. She is very beautiful. There were two younger men who, from their dress and demeanor, seemed as out of place as I may have been. I overheard one tell another woman he had stayed with Terry. That must be Terry's daughter's ex-boyfriend Sue Ann said is staying with Terry while he gets established after moving here to the Flathead. From the tshirt logo on the other guy, that may be Terry's on-and-off boyfriend.

Having looked over the art two times, reread the artists' statements and visions and still thought they were a bunch of hot air, munched on seconds, I had no reason to stay longer. So I left. I spent all of a half hour there. A little something different for me.

As I left the gallery the full moon rose over the mountains seen through Bad Rock Canyon. A beautiful full moon shining on the mountains.