KDLL Summer Solstice Music Festival

Last night I volunteered at the Summer Solstice Music Festival. The solstice is a big deal around here because it's actually noticeable that it's the longest day of the year with all of the daylight. It reminded me of 4th of July at home in a way. At home one area of town is mobbed for the festivities for a few days. It's similar to that except there isn't really an area that everyone gravitates toward because of the layout around here, instead, they have festivals everywhere. I could feel the presence of the celebrations even though I didn't know where all of the celebrations were. They had those big flashing construction signs up telling people not to drink and drive and the stores were busy with people getting BBQ supplies.

The festival I volunteered at was run by a radio station and the Kenai Peninsula B&B association. I wasn't sure when I'd be able to get there because I had to wait for my debit card to be delivered. The festival started at Noon, but I wasn't able to get there until after 7 because of the stupid Bank of America issue. It's too bad because I told them I'd help most of the day, and that I'd just head in right after I got the package. So much for that! I ended up stationed at the gate selling people tickets and I had a really good time. When I arrived there was a guy, Dwight, directing traffic by pointing toward the lot while pretending to dance and play the banjo. Quite amusing. I ended up hanging out with him and two ladies, Tina and Delora, from the B&B association for the rest of the night. What a hysterical and rowdy bunch. Delora and Tina were good laughers. We had to give the people tickets that they had to bring to the B&B association table inside to be eligible for door prizes, so we'd give them the ticket and tell them our spiel about where to go and what it gets them. If I had a nickel for every time some joker said, "but I don't need any doors!"
My eye color looks wildly different in different lighting and depending on what I'm wearing. Some times they're a less pronounced grey blue and other times they're brighter. The lighting must have been just right because people kept commenting that I had blue eyes. One guy with his two kids bought tickets from me then he just stood there for a second silently then he said matter of factly, "you have blue eyes." So, I said, "yes, I do." and he replied, "just thought I'd state the obvious," and walked away. What?!?!?! An old guy with a big beard was standing near me when I was inside the festival and he turned to me and said, "I'm sorry I keep staring at you, your eyes are really blue." I didn't even notice he was staring at me in the first place, but alright.
There really are a lot of men here in comparison to women and they're awfully eager. I guess what they say about Alaska is true. The more I get out around here, the more I notice it. When I was reading about the area beforehand, I came across something where this girl was saying that she was relatively average, but she felt like a supermodel the way people looked at her around here.
At the gate a group of Mexicans came in who spoke very little english, so that was fun trying to tell them where to bring their raffle tickets. One of the ladies ended up just walking them over there. About 10 minutes after they went in another group of Mexicans came up to the desk and asked if we had seen a group of Mexicans. I don't know why, but I thought that was funny. "have you seen any Mexicans?!" ha. They all spoke very little English and were definitely new to the area. One of the women there informed me that they're illegal immigrants. There's a canning company in the area that buys Mexicans one way tickets to Alaska to work and then after the summer is over the illegal immigrants call immigration on themselves (a la Cheech and Chong) and get shipped home for free. That canning company should be fined for those practices. Way to make sure dollars earned in the US stay in the US! Jerks.

Toward the end I got to go in and see some of the music. The singer of the last band had a really good voice. That is, until he tried to do Ants Marching by Dave Matthews. He did well at first, but he was following Dave Matthews' style of singing too closely, which is unique and as far as I'm concerned shouldn't be mimicked to the T in a cover because it will never sound right. Nonetheless, they were pretty good. The bands were all pretty good except one guy that sounded like bad karaoke. I swear he must have been drunk.

I headed home after the festival ended at midnight. On my way I thought there were people walking along the highway in the distance, but as I got closer I realized it was moose. It was a mom with two babies. I've never seen one with two kids, it's usually just one. She was trying to cross the road but was freaked out, probably by the headlights, so she kept starting to go then changing her mind and doubling back. It looked funny because they're awkward and look dumb when they try to make a quick maneuver and the babies were following her every move so they were just scurrying around her, not knowing what to do. Finally they made a run for it and they all bolted into the woods.