A Thanks-giving Story
Sometime this past summer, our Southeastern Alpaca Association treasurer asked folks if they would consider making the trip to south Georgia to participate in the Sunbelt Ag Expo. You see our association has a "barn" on the grounds of what is sometimes referred to as the largest agricultural expo in the country...if not the world. Thousands of folks, both city folk and country folk, come to this three day event each year to see what new equipment, or livestock they may find.
Well Jude said to me that we really should take a few of our guys down and see what this expo was all about...and did I ever tell you that I refer to my dear wife as "the boss" of the farm? Well, time came and we packed up not only three of our "guys" to take, but also a display for our coffee as well...and away we drove. We left the farm early Monday morning because we had to get down to Moultrie, GA (home of the Expo) and set up before six that evening. It was a little warm when we set out and by the time we touched down just outside the "barn" it was 87 degrees...now we are talking October 17th , but hey we were in south Georgia. First thing we got the alpacas out of the trailer and stalled so they would have fans blowing on them...good thing too, because if you did not have fans on them they would not have been able to breathe...no not from the heat, from the two million gnats that descended upon them immediately.
Yep, we set everything up while breathing gnats, eating gnats, swatting gnats, and spitting gnats...the more we sweated the better the local hosts (gnats) loved us. Now remember it is at least 87 degrees in the shade this lovely day...but we made it through and got everything set for the good folks to marvel at our and other alpacas.
Tuesday arrived and we did as well...parked in the field designated for exhibitors and got out to gather a few necessary things we got at Chinaland...aka Walmart...and the cooler, computer, etc. While gathering I did not notice that I had these creatures crawling up my pant legs...and my legs...until about twenty of them decided it was time to take a bit of flesh...spent the next twenty minutes trying our best to get rid of them...finally, Jude and I made our way to the barn. Everyone else had arrived and were ready for our guests to begin filing into our world.
Filing in they did...that is until we were hit with monsoon like rains. The place was flooded, but luckily the folks that had built the shelter/barn thought ahead and planned for high water. Well, the rain eased off about the time everyone was ready to call it a day, so we ventured out to our truck...keeping an eye open for floating fire ants, just in case...and settled into our seats. We looked around and noticed that there were a lot of folks that would not be leaving any time too soon...they did not have four wheel drive vehicles and their four wheels had disappeared from sight below the mud line.
Luckily for us, we do have four wheel drive and we motored out of the mud and onto a firm surface...us and our two thousand closest friends that is...enough about day two...
Wednesday had to be better...don't you think? We thought so...so we bravely returned to our posts...that is after a two hour "drive" of about a quarter of a mile. Yep, you guessed it...because of the previous day two of the gates to the expo were closed, along with their parking areas. Have you ever walked around a mile carrying jugs of water for brewing coffee??? Got to our barn and noticed that it was a wee bit breezy...later in the day it became an all out gale! But hey, we are alpaca farmers and a sturdy group at that, so we did ok...
Thursday got here...and we had seen everything that could have happened as far as weather...that is except a polar breeze out of the north. Well, Thursday took care of that! Turns out Thursday was just as breezy as Wednesday, with a wicked cold front as well.
Man what a four day adventure...Our faithful treasurer asked us if we would ever come back...especially since we had faced a horrible set of weather challenges...and our answer was a definite, "YES!" Where else could you spend time with a group of folks that had a way of keeping us cool during the hottest of days, dry even as we stood in the middle of a flood, steadfast even as the wind whipped and spun, and warm even as the Arctic winds descended upon us. We had a blast, trying and tiring, but still a blast.
Thank you for asking us Carrie and thanks to all the alpaca farm owners that shared this unbelievable four days with us. Do not think we will ever experience the likes of the 2011 Sunbelt Expo again in this lifetime...probably a good thing...but maybe not.
You see this experience gave Judy and I something else to be thankful for this Thanksgiving Season...thankful for our health, thankful for the opportunity to share our love of alpaca farming with more folks than you can shake a stick at, but most of all thankful for the time to share with a group of loving folks we are proud to call friends!
The Coffeeman
