Arts Alive
Arts Alive is a once-a-month art walk in downtown Eureka, CA. They shut off a couple streets for pedestrian use only by setting up road blocks. Edna and I were fortunate to show up just prior to the street closing, so we got a parking spot right amidst the heart of the event.
It was great for Edna and I to make our way out of Arcata. At first the streets were nearly empty, and I was worried that nobody would show up to drink tea. A few people wandered by, wondering to themselves what was going on, and a couple people even commented, but nobody stopped to sip a cuppa tea. This is how many tea parties have started over the years. A single male in a school bus serving free tea can seem odd, or even sketchy to some. However, once another person joins the tea party, the number of participants seems to grow at an exponential rate. This is what happened at Arts Alive! Not only did the crowd grow from one to a dozen and a half in a matter of minutes, but a video camera was rolling, shooting the tea boiling, pouring of cups, and interviewing me for a College of the Redwoods media class. I ended up meeting neighbors of where I had been staying, people who have heard about the tea party and have wanted to join, random folk, and friends.
Another interesting note on the evolution of the tea party is that when someone shows up, they automatically assume that whoever is on the bus is part of the bus. When the first guest arrives, they see me and know that it is my bus and I am the serving tea. When the next guest or two show up, they assume that it is the original guest AND my own tea party. This is so even to the point where there will be eight people on the bus and somebody will assume that we are all traveling/living on the bus. It is funny, because everyone who is on the bus (including myself) is just as much a part of the tea party as the new person walking up, and even though you can tell someone this, they might just have this idea stuck in their head that and will ask everyone how we can all fit while sleeping as the bus is so small…
Felipe and Felix
Lots o' different folks
Tea and music