Monday Morning: Arts and Crafts Week

If you saw last week’s column, you know that Asheville, like much of the country, has been blessed with spring-like weather the past few weeks.

Well, thank goodness, that changed.

This past weekend we were peppered with snow crystals, a few of which tried to accumulate on the still green grass, driven like a sandblaster by wintry gusts approaching forty miles an hour. A large limb from a dead sycamore tree in our horse pasture took out a section of board fence, but a quick rope repair will have to suffice until next week.

Our February weather seems to run in weekly peaks and valleys. One weekend it will be in the fifties and the next it might stay in the high thirties. This weekend’s cold front appears to have cleared the way for next weekend’s gradual warming. While we won’t have temperatures in the sixties for the Arts & Crafts Conference, it does appear we are set for highs in the fifties and sunshine, always with the possibility of a brief shower.

But, of course, living in the mountains, that could all change….

Monday morning here in the office can be a bit disturbing. Imagine stacks of boxes and plastic tubs, brimming with hundreds of name badges, file folders, tote bags, posters, notebooks, foam board signs, books, envelopes, programs, catalogs and lists. Lots of lists.

Tomorrow we start moving into the Grove Park Inn. Half of everything in the office goes with Alex to the Registration Desk. The other half travels with me to my temporary office located in a small, windowless coatroom down a service hallway between the Antiques Show and the Contemporary Craftsfirms Show.

Of all the wonderful rooms and panoramic views in this grand old hotel, my coatroom office is undoubtedly the drabbest, but I line it with tables, drag in a Morris chair from the hallway, hang an enormous bulletin board on the wall, and decorate it with my daily schedule, lots of lists and hourly reminders. My cell phone and laptop will keep me in touch with my staff of twelve and, if necessary, any of the Grove Park Inn’s 800 employees. And black coffee and Snickers bars will provide the energy.

It’s a week like no other, and I wouldn’t trade it for any place in the world the third weekend in February.

So, today we check off the final blanks on our lists, close the lids on the tubs, and prepare to move our office to the Grove Park Inn tomorrow.

Hope you check back in to see how the week goes….

Until then,

Have a great day!

– Bruce