Street Performers Part 2
Apr 09, 2022 | Roanoke, VA
Yesterday was actually just a sneak-peak show for the street performers. The real event was a weekend-long (Sat & Sun) 11-7 extravaganza at Elmwood Park. I say "extravaganza" because holy crap is that a lot of hours for the performers to cover. The only problem is the weather wasn't exactly cooperating today. It only hit a peak of like 50 degrees, and a few points a small bit of the tiniest hail ever fell on our heads. I felt bad for Hilby juggling in his lederhosen shorts.
But actually before all that went on, we had made plans with our new friends to meet at a restaurant that Cain swore up and down was good despite everyone hating their goofy ass name, that name being 2 Chill. He was right though, the food was very good. Well at least for me---Erika was stuck with having to cobble together a small meal from the side dishes, which ended up being some breakfast potatoes and toast with jam. It became clear to us from a very early point in our time in Roanoke that the idea of vegan food has all but alluded these folks so far at this point in history. But Courtney and Alayna also joined us and we had a swell ol' time chatting about who knows what.
We walked to the previously mentioned extravaganza and due to the weather probably, the turnout was a bit disappointing. Cain was worried that Johnny and the rest of the people who were involved with the organization were sad or disappointed on how it was turning out. But we watched Hilby again and his act was extended for the full-length version of the show. More jokes and tricks and once again, they were all great. We also watched some twin brother dancers named Tic and Tac that weren't in the preview show at Golden Cactus.
We once again had a lot of fun with this new crew we had only just met. It's an interesting thing for us because it's come up quite a bit when we're talking to each other about our travels that the main thing we are missing on this trip is friendship and socialization. I'd even been thinking that my social skills were suffering due to disuse. When I talked to people I felt like I was often stumbling over my words and feeling like I wasn't relaxed in how I was delivering what I had to say. Erika at least had had some jobs and coworkers, but I work at home. And although of course I talk to Erika all day long, it's a very different thing to talk to your partner in your home versus a stranger in a bar. Requires a very different use of the brain, and probably quite a bit more exertion on that part. The issue is that we're both just so bad at approaching strangers. We don't want to come off as pests or be rejected, but if we are pulled into a scenario like we did the day prior at Golden Cactus, we do fine. So basically it was a very nice change of pace for us to have some new cool people to mess around with.
