On the White Line

Hopping on the art/craft show circuit has always felt a bit “carnie” to me… a bunch of gypsies pulling into to town, working the locals in an attempt to make an honest dime. Truth is, it’s only part-way to a real carnie lifestyle, but every once in a while, there’s a stop along the way that feels a whole lot closer to a full-fledged circus.

Cue the bigtop music as I recall Warrens Cranberry Festival. Normally, the tiny northern Wisconsin town of Warrens is nothing more than a few homes, a large campground, a gas station, a few shops, a restaurant or two out by the highway and a bunch of cranberry bogs.

It’s Like the Circus Coming to Town

The locals told me that about a week before Cranfest, the vendors start arriving. Their RVs and vans claim spots on the baseball diamond and the (more…)

Warrens Cranberry Fest in Wisconsin. It's HUGE, and it pooped us out.

Corey and I are recuperating from a very busy show in Warrens, WI. We’ve got plenty to share, but right now, sleep is a top priority… three days of going full-steam from 5:30a-7:30p has us running on fumes. We got through it, but I must admit, if I heard, “Hello, Cranfesters,” uttered one more time, I suspect there might be someone found in the bog strangled with a microphone.

In the meantime, the RVers in the group… and especially those dreaming of RVing… might appreciate a post from Pam over at www.nerdseyeview.com — Mistakes Rookie RVers Make.

We spotted this mini-mini RV in an antique store.

We’re on the road a lot this month, and that means brilliant days of fall foilage and cozy nights in the RV. Since most of our days are spent either on the road or at art shows, we’re usually only looking for a comfy place to park for the night… no need for fancy campgrounds.

Enter the joys boondocking-style RVing. The challenge is finding a safe, legal spot to hunker down for a night off-the-grid… no electric or water hook-ups. Truth is, it’s not all that adventurous; we usually end up in a Wal-Mart parking lot where overnight parking is almost always allowed… and a spacious, shiny bathroom is waiting.

Staying Self-Contained

As for the lack of amenities, it’s not bad. Our water tank holds us over for six-and-a-half showers… and yes, it’s always me who gets hit with that half-shower. And we’ve got nearly a week before needing to think about emptying the waste tanks.

Our batteries last until dawn, even after watching a DVD or leaving the nightlight turned on. However, if the heater runs, the blower usually sucks up the last bit of juice from the batteries at about four in the morning. That just means we need to start the engine or the generator for a quick recharge.

The most common demand for our generator happens to be Liam’s insistence on blow drying his hair each morning… yes, if you’re parking your rig next to ours, that rumbling generator waking you in the wee hours is Liam doing his hair.

Not All Parking Lots Are Created Equal

For many RVers, going off-the-grid is reserved for emergency situations only. It’s just not their thing. For us, it’s an adventure… that happens to be made much easier by the everything-under-one-roof shopping in our backyard.

But if I had to choose between parking lot stays, I’d opt for one at a Native American casino over Wal-Mart. Not because we’re high rollers, but because most of them are open 24-hours (which feels a bit safer), and they often house a gigantic all-you-can-eat buffet. I’m a sucker for a good buffet. Even better, many casinos offer a restaurant discount or some free spins on the slots if you sign up for their players card.

For the record, we spent four nights in a casino parking lot last week, and we only ate buffet once and didn’t even step foot on the casino floor… don’t tell the casino owners, I’m sure they wouldn’t like to hear that.

Ready for This Weekend

This next weekend presents a bit of a test. Liam’s mom will be traveling with us. It’ll be a little preview of this January when she’ll be motoring west with us in the RV.

Just as we were about to launch this site, Liam spotted this little message burned into a piece of wood at an art show in Kenosha, WI. Leave it to Tolkien to sum things up so simply.

This very special message will be traveling with us for a very long time.

It’s been about a year since the bean counters blanketed the network news with prophesies of a financial apocalypse. Since then, we’ve all been a little scared of these “uncertain times.” And for someone like me who relies on consumers digging into their pocketbooks and shelling out some cash to take home my jewelry, the situation is especially unsettling.

I don’t have a finance minister, a CFO or a financial strategist who can guide my business decisions. I’m just a guy who refashions broken dishes into wearable art. Adding up my receipts and turning in my quarterly taxes are as accounting savvy as I get. So with last weekend marking the start of my busy season (I will likely make 50% of my annual sales in the next three months), I can’t help but gulp back a panic attack at any sign that business might slow down.

So how are sales going?

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As I was asking myself “Can Handmade Hold Out as Recession-Proof?,” I began thinking about the techniques I’ve used to continue growing my business in a bum economy.

Although I haven’t always been certain what to do when times get tough, I have stood by a few key strategies. They might not work for everyone, and there might be other techniques that completely counter these suggestions. What can I say? I’m just sharing what works for me and the type of business I run…

Our Fall/Winter Season kicked off this weekend, and on the way home, we were treated to a gorgeous sunset. Here’s our RV driving off into the sunset… pretty nice, huh? Taken with my iPhone.

“It must be nice…” is one of those phrases Liam and I hear all the time, and it’s not without reason. Those who spend time with us might hear a mention of a summer in Ireland, a winter “out west” or a weekend “up north.” Add the fact that we don’t report to a cubicle, we haven’t put ourselves in golden handcuffs and we’ve arranged our lives to embrace travel opportunities, and some people react with outright disdain.

We don’t let that bother us though. The fact is, for every blessing our lifestyle bestows, there are challenges we must tackle… we make half the salary we would if we “went corporate,” our health insurance premiums cover less, but cost more; we don’t have the security of employment laws… My list could go on and on, but ultimately, it’s working for us, and we’re happy.

For those who don’t know us, we started out in the blogosphere with our travel website and podcast at www.IrishFireside.com. Through that experience, we’ve learned how supportive and valuable an online community can be, whether we’re sharing what we know or tapping the collective knowledge of our audience… or, in the case of our Irish American Roadtrip, meeting up with people on the road.

We’re launching On the White Line to give ourselves a chance to document the ups and downs of living and working outside the norm. That means we’ll talk about self-employment, travel, our RV, living and working across states and continents, operating as digital nomads and probably some of the mundane things that bloggers tend to touch on from time to time.

So glad you stopped by. I hope you take a moment to leave a comment and continue following our blog.

Each time I reached for the keys to Big Red, our family’s 1976 Oldsmobile Ninety-Eight, my father would call out, “Keep the eagle on the white line!”

The phrase was familiar in our house. As far as I knew, he and my uncles invented the phrase in the 1930s… a personal farewell to be exchanged when one brother made the trip home from the dance hall without the other. As long as the hood ornament was kept in line with the stripe on the highway, the driver was sure to make it home safely.

Later, my uncles uttered the words to mark my father’s trip to the mines in Ajo, Arizona, then to the battlefields of World War II. Dad never stopped using the phrase, and he took a private delight in hearing it slip from the mouths of his children.

Just as my every journey began with “Keep the eagle on the white line,” every return home had its own ritual. I’d stand in the doorway and ask my father, “Did you miss me?”

He’d raise his eyebrows and snap back, “With every shot so far.”

“I love you too, dad.” Then, I’d head to the kitchen to sample the fresh scones, chocolate fudge cake, oatmeal cookies, currant cookies and safron bread he made especially for my arrival.