People of the Forest

Leaving your camera in the car when you expect to be standing in a constant drizzle of rain for the next several hours is a good idea.  Yet, the moment I walked by a woman furiously hula hooping in an open back gold lame jumpsuit that somehow reminded me of Star Wars, I realized that I had made a grave mistake and found myself pining for my camera, a solid mile away in the trunk of my car.  So I was kind of relieved when Sharon offered me her camera from the protection of the Keul FM booth.  However, I was still kind of in a fixed point due to the rain, so had to wait for the entertainment to come to me.  It felt too creepy to take pictures of people unawares, so I had a little fun trying to catch the spirit of the people, without actually photographing them head on.  For example, there were a few wise souls who brought their hippiest umbrellas.

A lot of the modern age flower children didn't mind the rain, and didn't even bother to put their hoods up.  Maiden or modern day hipster, they stand hand in hand at Forest Fair.

In true hippie style, love was in the air, and lots of couples were cuddling under their umbrellas.  There was a lot of smooching and hand holding going on...the love vibe is alive and well.

There is something to be said for practicality.  This woman may be wearing a giant sandwich bag, but unlike me, she does not have pneumonia a week later.

Bride of nature?  Wood nymph?  Mystic sprite?  So many flowered headdresses I didn't know who was what.

A couple of psychedelic frogs were enjoying the show from the booth.  I am sure they look more innocent when viewed from outside the booth, but I found myself wondering about the volunteer who set up the booth from my angle.

This lady was camouflaged well enough to blend right in with the local flora.

And the crafts were awesome.  I bought some advance Christmas gifts.  I also almost bought these 'wee winkies' because they were so cute....and so soft...and because saying wee winkies makes me smile.  

Saturday stayed pretty damp at Forest Fair.  Even though I left around supper time, I am pretty sure the party went long into the night.  Even this wooden bear statue...

...looked a little more tripped out by Sunday morning as evidenced in the photo below.

photo by Sharon Vernon

My friend Sharon is a big supporter of Forest Fair, and this blog, so she carried on with the themes I started on her camera on Sunday.  She was bold enough to get a few awesome head on shots as well.  This is a pretty conservative look for forest fair -- don a sunglass wearing bear head hat on top of what would otherwise double as a "Heidi" costume (think Swiss Alps and yodelling), and spice it up with your favorite cowboy boots and accessorize with a fur wrapped cello...at least i think that's a cello...and then rock your heart out on stage.

photo by Sharon Vernon

Imagine waking up, wondering what you were going to wear to Forest Fair, and coming up with this next outfit.  It leaves me extremely curious about what else is in that closet.  I am willing to bet he has Mr. DressUp's whole Tickle Trunk in there.  And I am dying to know what didn't make the cut that day.  I have seen a few episodes of Fashion Police...I think they could do a Forest Fair Segment and the ratings would go through the roof!
 

Photo by Sharon Vernon

A picture is worth a thousand words.  In this case, I need a thousand words to understand how this photo came to be, in 2015, in a quiet mountain town in Alaska.  It's quite the paradox when you put it in that perspective.  My Fashion Police commentary -- BeetleJuice remake.  But seriously, being a bit crazy is part of the Forest Fair experience, and in that respect, this guy gets an A+.

 

photo by Sharon Vernon

If Sharon meant go get an iconic Forest Fair feel photo, she did it here.  I think a man in a dog mask wearing a tutu while hula hooping with children under the blissful and wreathed gaze of a carved wooden bear visually sums up the quirkiness of Forest Fair.  The colors reflect the vibrancy felt in the air, a moment where young and old take time out to play, where conventional is replaced for unconventional, people dance like no one is watching (even though they totally know everyone is watching), and life pulses to the main stage beat for one magical weekend in the woods of Girdwood.

photo by Sharon Vernon