Sappyfest is the only music festival on my radar these days. It's within a 4 hour drive from my house, the crowd is there (mostly) to listen to music and I only recognize 3 or 4 of the bands in the lineup.
Sappyfest: your port-a-potties were air freshened with well cured sinsemilla smoke rather than ammonia pucks. Your festival guide told me to accept lineup changes: "things change, get over it". I did.
The drive to Sackville was hopeful, filled with anticipation. This was my second foray into the fest' that is sappy so I had a vague idea of what, when and where to expect it.
The air on the highway was hot and the windows were down. I'm sure I wasn't the only driver who had a Don Quixote moment when passing the large wind power array at the NS/NB border.
Once I crossed the Tantramar marshes (it was just like the Sappy Times handout said....utter those words like a mystical incantation: tantramar marshes, tantramar marshes, tantramar marshes), it was as if I had entered Mordor. Epic cumulus clouds and sunny skies were replaced with a thick blanket of grey fog that enshrouded my home away from home. At the time, I thought I wanted more sun. As it turns out, I didn't know what I wanted.
Skip ahead to the last day of the festival. I sat in a shady corner of a parking lot, enjoying the support of the soft driver's seat in my car. I felt like I was drowning. It's not the heat, it's the humidity. Actually, it was everything. A weekend of sensory overload. I was suffering from hipster fatigue.
I bolted.
Staying in Sackville for another 4 hours quickly started to feel like getting up for work after a heavenly and relaxing long weekend. I started assessing my festival experience the way day traders perform a price/earnings ratio analysis of stocks and bonds. I realized how Sappy happy I felt. I stopped thinking about getting my money's worth from my ticket the way ravenous diners approach a cheap buffet.
I couldn't stay any longer, so I didn't. I escaped.
I fueled up my body and my car and hit the road. I gave my new Eternal Summers cd a test run as I had another Don Quixote moment. I was awake, alert and happy to be driving. Maybe I was just happy to be in a comfortable, air conditioned seat.
I ran. I ran back to my cosy Lunenburg county home. I ran back to the chilly embrace of my familiar Atlantic ocean.
I was happy to see a thick bank of fog greeting me as I crossed the county line. I rolled down the windows. I inhaled and exhaled. I cooled down.
Thank you, Sappyfest. See you next year.
(more pics and stories to follow)
