HOWEVER (according to my cousin's immensely informed husband, TRENT... aka "Dick Shaney") there is a new entymologist in the southern Manigawtoga region who has miraculously introduced the cure for 'death-by-mosquitos': Dragonflies (no kidding)!! These Winnipeg folk have purchased a good supply of killer dragonflies who have been
routinely patrolling the praire skies
in search of a bloodsucking feast. And, thankfully, they are
gorging themselves!! YA!!
The evening skiesare full of fat, happy dragonflies cruising around
and filling up on evil mosquitos. Around sunset
every evening we all look skyward & give our
"thanks" to them!
In other words --- no (or, rather.... "few") mosquitos here on the praires!!
Which almost makes up for the unbearable heat & humidity.... (almost)....
Anyhew --- at right is our most awesome new set-up there at Birds Hill Provincial Campground. The uber-hubby positioned our netted, outdoor gazebo so that we could just truck right on into it from Shaggy & BBQ up whatever quick-&-easy meals we pleased.
Below is a silly photo of 'yours-truly' getting ready to dine at our indoor table. Honestly, we were both ready to fight-the-power of these mean & manhungry Manitoba mosquitos (with our handy screened-in eating area) and then.... there really weren't any bloodsuckers around. But we still hung out in the gazebo because it made us look so cool (& prepared!)
So, the Winnipeg F*&k Festival was an event-&-a-half. We were camped about a kilometre away from the festival grounds and the photo of Tim (at left) shows part of our daily bike trip to the music --- past fields of tall reeds and deer-filled thickets, a lagoon and a praire lake (among other sights). At night, when we would ride home, there were late-night shows of fancy fireflies in the meadows accompanied by a fat praire moon above. Amazing that there were no mosquitos... (did I mention?)....
The Freak Festival was.... well.... just that. It's amazing that we didn't suffer whiplash from the amount of "people watching" we engaged in. Fer instance --- the fellow below (to Tim's right) was really wearing a sequined, sky-blue miniskirt and a lovely embroidered halter top. I must admit that it was a wise choice to pair with his cascading dreadlocks and the eagle feather that he had balanced on his head.
The age of the crowd was nicely varied --- basically people of every age attended, from newborn to 92. Why on earth someone would want to take a newborn to an overheated, loud outdoor music festival, I can't tell you but --- one thing we noticed was that, in the "hippy chic" culture: kids are kool.
Like--- they're everywhere! Kids and cigarettes --- that's what's cool among hippies right now. Must run out & buy a pack of Benson & Hedges & get myself a bun-in-the-oven before summer is over. These dreadlocks just aren't cuttin' it.
Tattoos are also still very cool with the Flake Festival crowd (as evidenced above). Tim embarked on a serious study of the various tribal body art that the young women had emblazoned upon their skin. I was deeply impressed with his dedication to his studies (he could probably start his own blog just on this subject)....
There was all kindsa other stuff at the festival, too --- art installations, tons o' great food, handmade items. We kept finding all this cool art hanging in the trees and almost banged right into it. The photo doesn't do it justice but the material under which Tim is standing has all kindsa little intricate ornaments strung from it (like the clay eye below)....
And then there was the music. Some great (but also not-so-great) artists to enjoy like ---- Cindy Cashdollar, Hawksley Workman, Fred Eaglesmith and --- our faves of the festival --- the South Austin Jug Band.... awesome! They were a big group of (very) young bluegrass musicians from Texas who were just a multi-instrumental melee of foot-stompin' fun. We spent many hot afternoons stretched out on our blanket, sipping secret beers (don't tell!) and enjoying their groove. lovely......
The last night of the festival was, perhaps, a bit mellower than we'd hoped for. My memories of this particular folk fest include finale performances that got entire crowds of thousands on their feet.
It was much more subdued this year, tho...
The final performances were solos by Ricki Lee Jones and then Bruce Cockburn. Sombre and sober.... more background music than festival fare. There was a full harvest moon above the praire horizon as Bruce Cockburn rocked us to sleep so.... Tim & I hopped on our bikes & headed back to the campsite. Sorta anticlimactic but... we felt healthy in the morning! (for the first time in my festival history....)
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