Adult Supervision

National Storytelling Festival 2012
The National Storytelling Festival at Jonesborough TN was the best discovery we made during last years travels.  This year we told everyone who would listen to put it on their Bucket List. At least three did.  We were joined this year by Al’s sister Beth, Cousin Patsy and her BFF Meg.
Now Patsy and Meg require some introduction. Meg has long since been elevated to honorary Cousin through her tireless efforts to herd Patsy along the path of righteousness. On earlier forays into the Southland and so many more we have not witnessed, we thought of Meg as tireless friend, Road Manager and Patsy’s “Keeper.”  On walker or on foot, Patsy is full speed ahead on feet she hasn’t really felt in several years now. She doesn’t eat (unless you count wine and ice cream) and cooks (wonderfully) only for others, doesn’t consult maps, seldom unpacks and never, never passes up an outing. She is energy squared and always on the brink of catastrophic instability.  Meg is her nuclear containment. She protects her from internal and external pressures, gives her fuel when required, and is as solid as eight feet of steel-reinforced concrete.
Both were enthusiastic about the Storytelling, but Patsy was ON FIRE to see Jeanne Robertson, her favorite 5 foot fourteen inch Miss North Carolina,  a frequent voice on Satellite radio and YouTube.
We ate supper quickly but thoroughly and were the first in the tent; We were, in  fact, camped in the tent before the sound man and well before Jeanne arrived early to graciously mix with the crowd.  Of course we needed an autograph and perhaps a picture to show friends…but some of us were a little awed…
Of course Pat wasn’t, and, after running across the tent to ask a 45 year old Road Manager if he was Jeanne’s 75 year old husband “Left Brain”, Patsy figured she wouldn’t be THAT embarrassing, so the dynamic duo went off to greet the giant humorist.







Just before the big moment, Patsy feared her photographer had disappeared…




…but he was just laughing…and so was everyone else, until far into the night.