Casual Labor at the New Age Trade Show

So as I was saying, I briefly visited the INATS West show yesterday, in the capacity of day labor to help the Zells take down their booth on its last afternoon.

(You sit on the curb in front of the liquor store until a guy wearing a wizard's hat and driving a van with California plates comes along and says, "Hey, want to eat at an Ethiopian restaurant?")

The "Street of the Idol-Makers" was shorter than last year's version, due partly to Sacred Source now being owned by the same people as Maxine Miller Studios, or so I'm told.

The emphatically Pagan switch plate on the right was at Dryad Design's booth. Paul Borda has also designed a Green Man version, where the switch forms his tongue.

And suddenly it's all over. Dropped steel pipes from someone's exhibit frame ring like tolling bells. Castles, temples, and crystal caves lined up in rows collapse into bags and shrink-wrapped pallets. The 4-Wheel Parts Truck Fest needs to set up next.