Friday the 13th

"What day of the week is it?"
"Friday."
"And the date?"

"The thirteenth."

"Exactly."

In true superstitious fashion, the day of grim misfortune struck the HPSS in full force. Lucky for us, it tangled with good humor and those able to laugh about the ensuing string of ridiculous near-catastrophic failures...

As we prepared to leave our hotel for lunch and setup at the second day of the fair, we received our first indication that today might not go exactly as planned: a phone call from the fair board informing us that our tent was found perilously flipped and crumpled a few hundred yards from where it had been all night. With dropped jaws and on empty stomachs, we rushed to investigate the damage:

...which was, to say, quite extensive. If we're honest, it hurt to look at it. We sheepishly gathered ourselves and set in on deconstructing the wounded beast, removing each panel and attempting to keep the frame in its proper orientation. We found that two support struts were broken, snapped off at their hinges, and one corner was badly bent. Thankfully, having just finished our stint in fourth semester Musculoskeletal, we were able to use some ingenuity (in the form of stakes and copious duct tape) to fixate the fractures above and below the affected joint (shout out to Dr. DeCamp), and got our girl back up on her feet pretty well in just under an hour.

Not too shabby. For our efforts, we found a local mexican restaurant and decided to take our lunch leisurely, applauding our damage control efforts and laughing at the irony of our day thusfar. Upon our return, we were ready for more hours of bringing veterinary medicine to fairgoers, and started to set up our displays. Almost immediately, one of our two glass-framed spay-neuter posters fell out of our hands and shattered. Pausing for effect, we rolled our eyes and finished putting out our supplies in the gale.

We soon found out that we would be wrangling with the wind for the rest of the afternoon. It decimated our stuffed animals, put our skeleton mascot in harm's way, made us tape down the radiographs, find makeshift paperweights for just about everything, and continue to keep an eye on the tent, which was billowing and shifting as it filled and flounced in the gusts. One particularly strong breeze took hold of our second poster and slammed it down against the back of a chair, spreading glass shards once again.

Well then. This was no ordinary day. We were 0 for 2 on posters, and 0 for smooth success on just about anything. With frustrated smiles, we went on wholehearted.

However, after all of our blood pressures had increased enough with worry for the day, we made the executive decision that the tent, for it's own sake, needed to be packed up for now, so as not to sustain any further wind damage. We removed our splints and carefully took down each piece to keep the frame stable. Packing away the collapsible construct, we began to fold the tent material for storage, which, let me tell you, was no easy task. This was like fighting with some kind of diabolical parachute. As the wind filled the fabric like a sail, one particular side went rogue and headed for our displays- Lindsey had to jump onto and roll herself into it to avoid certain disaster:

With that, we finally let go and had a good laugh at just how hilariously badly today was going, and as we packed away the last pieces of the tent, we felt raindrops, grinned knowingly, and ran around to bring the majority of our non-waterproof exhibit into the trailer for protection. As the rain continued, we decided we now had an excellent reason to explore the animal barns and rest of the fairgrounds, and met a very lazy and sleepy goat kid, plenty of sheep, brown swiss, and a fellow exhibitor who needed some advice about orphaned raccoon kits. It was great to be able to take in the ambiance of the fair, even under the rainy conditions. Croswell is a great place.

Shortly thereafter, once we were able to truly take a breather and contemplate (over elephant ears, the great inspirer) in the crowded trailer, we decided we would not just roll over. No way, Friday the 13th. We can take you. A little creativity and perserverence go a long way, as we made the effort to morph the HPSS exhibit into more than something that can be taken out by some wind and rain. We set up our displays and goodies inside the trailer, and invited our onlookers inside for a peek at what we had to offer. It felt a little more crowded, and a lot more effort, but we were proud to have soldiered on despite our drawbacks.

It was a much slower and harder-to-bear day, but as we wrapped up, we were reflecting in fondness the way we handled adversity and came out on top. And, of course, we still listened to "Final Countdown" on the way back to the hotel. It was a good day.