Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition 2013 - Tuesday, June 4, 2013 - Day 12

Oh, No!  Termites!

Remnants of the Great Termite Attack at the 2013 Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition

What you see pictured above are wings of Formosan termites, evidence left behind from swarm attacks on and around several tents last evening/early morning.  It is now our belief that the termites were perhaps swarming to start new colonies.  The birds were on the ground having a banquet, saving the artists from further attack. However, this entire episode provoked a great Artist Freak-Out in my area, and I was alerted by emergency text at my day job at approximately 11:06 a.m. EST, thanks to one of my most trusted and confidential sources (being a corporate paralegal, I hire an art sitter twice a week during the show when I go to the office to keep my attorneys & me free from the panic of being out for a full 2 weeks...).  Fortunately, my trusted source regularly deals with crises of this magnitude and calmed the artists in our area down, explaining that while this entire situation was rather gross, Formosan termites do not eat artists.

Tornado Warning

I arrived at Marion Square at 4:00 p.m. to relieve my sitter, who had dealt with the rain on and off today  (believe me, she earned her fee!).  The park was quiet, the termite crisis was under control, the rain had stopped and suddenly an artist races by me heading out to cross the street to her car, saying "there is a tornado warning!" And apparently there was. In Dorchester and Orangeburg counties.  We could not find the warning for Charleston County but with the recent mid-west tornado tragedies, several artists were not taking chances.  It did cause me to formulate my "Piccolo Spoleto Tornado Plan" in case we do get a warning for Charleston County or downtown Charleston during the rest of the show. Having a plan is good.  We hope we never have to use it, but it's there in case we do.

My Piccolo Spoleto Tornado Plan

               1.  Grab cash box.

               2.  Zip up tent. (forget this step if you see a funnel cloud)

               3.  Run to Artists and Craftsman Art Supply Store across Calhoun Street (mainly because the

                    Art Store is in the basement of a building).

               4. Look both ways before crossing street (let's not make a bad situation worse...)

               5. Run into Art Store, grab Gamblin the cat (only if you see him) and run into the tiny

                   bathroom.  (Yell for the employees to join you, but make sure you have a place in there).

               6. Close the door after as many people as can fit are in the bathroom.

               7. Pray.