Wonderful Wallingford
There are many different things that we
measure our lives by. For some people I guess it might be earning a bonus or an
annual professional review. Perhaps it’s the opinion of colleagues or of our
family. Are we achieving those things we hoped for and dreamed of? How do we measure our success? What is
important to us? Has that changed?
For me Wallingford BunkFest is one of those
events that gives me a view on my work and also allows me a review of how I have
progressed. It’s partly because it comes at the end of the summer so I can look
back at the whole season and re-think some of the highlights, issues and any
disasters and determine what needs to change. This year I have put fire
performance back into the show and feel it has given me an edge that was
missing from the third show. I still
have it in mind to develop the Materialising Motorbike Illusion, but it needs
some investment of money and time. Definitely a winter project worth considering.
It’s also the nature of how I am funded
there that makes Wallingford different.
The committee pay a contribution to my fee because they and I know the public
will put money into my hat. As it is a free festival of a very high quality this means that the public is willing to contribute financially to it. And I’m as
good as the money they drop in my hat. This
year the people of Wallingford were as generous as ever and I can therefore feel
satisfied the show is up to standard. In
addition the feedback was great and made me feel that the show continues to be
what I work hard to make it. I think the crowds were larger than ever and their enthusiastic response to the show was overwhelming.
Over the years the event has seen me in
many different psychological and emotional states so it has always given me a
period of reflection in a number of other ways too. I have many good friends in Wallingford and
they are always on hand for me to share personal aspects of my life, so I can
manage a personal review too. The summer
has been challenging and, on occasion, rather difficult personally. The VOSA episode in May launched me into a
short period of paranoia and worry which eventually proved to be unfounded, but
for a time preoccupied me considerably.
Other things also contributed to a somewhat unsettling early part of the
season. However I think I’m over the
worst and can return to my winter mode with enthusiasm for the new Cat’s Paw
presentation (about which more later) and all the usual preparation for next
year. I have also to focus myself on
organising and animating the Ilfracombe Victorian Celebrations. I’m going to be busy, which is how I like it.
So Wallingford 2015 finished with a blazing
hot summer Sunday, allaying all the fears of the previous week that had caused
so many Bank Holiday events (including the Isle of Wight Steam Show where I was)
to be muddy and rain-swept. It was a
glorious finale to the summer and I can go into the Back End Fairs (only two
more to go this year) with energy and enthusiasm.
My newly mounted solar panel on the lorry roof
manages to supply enough power for the fridge overnight and thanks to my good
friend Ralph I have got it working at peak efficiency and can see at a glance
how much power is left in the batteries thanks to the digital voltmeter and
second leisure battery he gave me. I plan to augment one panel to a three
panel array next year and be completely generator-free on sunny days.
So there is much to look forward to,
something I couldn’t have said with such certainty a few months ago.
All the best from a road near you,
Mr Alexander