Spring in southwestern Ohio is notoriously wet and the weather unpredictable. Last week, we got three inches of rain last week. Monday morning, I woke up to snow.

My poor magnolia!

With nearly 10 inches of rainfall thus far this year, my yard and pastures are … boggy. The barnyard is downright soupy. The packed dirt floor of my barn squishes underfoot.

In short, it’s wet out here. Really wet.

This is the season during which I discover whether my Muck books have spring a leak. Slogging through a shin-deep slurry of mud and manure quickly reveals the integrity (or lack of) of my boots rubberized construction. Trudging back to the house after feeding the livestock, I repeat to myself, “It’s just mud. It’s just mud.” After shedding my outer garments, I’ll strip off my brown-stained socks and find clean socks, because it’s not “just mud.”

I can’t lie to myself that convincingly.

Flooding and rushing water filled the scenery on the drive to Logan, Ohio for the 10th annual Spring Craft Show. Proceeds from the craft show benefit the Kalklosch Scholarship given to Logan School District students. Southeastern Ohio has a reputation as being underserved in education with poor literacy and poverty depressing the economy in the Appalachian foothills. The craft show was held at the Hocking Hills Retreat Center, itself an interesting building with metal and fabric construction reputed to be able to withstand hurricanes due to its ability to flex in high winds.

Not that we get many hurricanes in Ohio, but we do get high winds and tornadoes. I can’t see the building withstanding a direct hit from a tornado. From what I’ve seen, an encounter with a tornado leaves nothing intact.

I was not the only author participating at this event, although I dare say that I was the only author who traveled to far to participate as a vendor. The season’s unpredictable weather dumped more rain on us, rain which we blamed for low attendance at the event. The organizer, Jim Kalklosch, circulated among the vendors to gather feedback and admitted that this year’s event had lower than normal attendance. He suggested returning for the Fall Craft Show which is typically blessed by better weather and much greater attendance.

I’ll consider it. After all, the organizer can’t control the weather.

That said, my next event will be a return to the Beech Grove First Friday Art Walk on Main on May 2. This event takes place outdoors on Main Street between Fifth and Seventh Avenues in Beech Grove, a southwestern suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. I’ll have copies of The Bounty: Jones and The Bounty: Gerlaugh, FOCUS, Champion of the Twin Moons, Double Cut, and Single Stroke as well as the usual assortment of original paintings to sell.

Let’s hope for good weather. Since vendors are not permitted canopies or tents, inclement weather means I won’t be there. Books and paintings don’t hold up well in the rain.

Keep an eye out for Light of the Twin Moons, the sixth and final book of the Twin Moons Saga to be published this summer.