Today is New Years Eve.. and we have our work cut out for us. Today was Fluffy’s first event for the public since the dry run back in July. Yesterday we got her lights, fire control and other systems working. Today Duane drove her fully clouded from Earthkeep in Charlotte to the burlington waterfront.   We all me up down town about 10 to beging the task of getting her ready for a big show

First order of business was to get the railings up on the two dance floorsa (we later figured out that we could even leave those on and still get in/out of the big door at Earthkeep !)

 

We put out some  welcome  tables

 

 

And walked aroudn to see soemohter stuff. Chris’s CHamp was beutiful and ready to burn tonight

 

Next came rigging the fire pole and setting up audio

Rebar did all the a hard lifting and acrobatics to get the cables attached.

 

At 3 that gates opened annd  it was time to get in costum.. we just keep adding layers/ it wasnt that cold (about 20F) but we were goign to be outside all day

It was still too light outside to fully appreciate the lights.. but we tr\urned them on anyway

 

friends started showing up.. and continued to come by all night

 

Finally it was dark enough for fire and lights

 

Our fellow Fluffyite Kristin showed up to share the night.. She’s just back from heart surgery !. It was soooo good to see her !

 

Then something unexpected happened.   The team had thoguht that one of the 100 pound propane tanks was full whul the other was empty. We discovered around 5L45 that they were both now empty.. Uh-oh !

No worries, we improvised a plan ‘B’. Luckinly Diane had suggested that we bring along a full 20 poind  tank we had at home (for my own fire poofer. James , Diane and I quickly rerouted the gas hoses to feed from the little tan. The big problem then was how to keep the tan warm. As the tanks are used. they get very cold.. think of the last time you used a spray paint can.. it gets cold as it sprays because the expanding gas that comes out of the nozzle absorbs heat from the can.. 

We found a tub that would fit the small tank and siphoned some of the water we’d warmed from around the tank we had thought was full.. Then, for the rest of the night, diane took some of that water and boiled it in an electric teapot and then poured it back on the tank. This allowed us to keep the tank from freezing up. We were able to make that switch over without even turning off the pilot flame.. no interruptions from the audience experience.. in parallel, Duane called is lovely wife Laura and had her pick up an additional 3 20 pound tanks.. (we ended up using 3 20 pound tans dfo r the rest of the even !) 

 

As we were doing the swap my friend Eliot and his family came by.. baby Ezra, girlfriend Leia and her son Gustof.. Super fun seeing them all 

THen the first of our 2 DJ’s started.. first was DJ Umamni, then DJ Rice Pilaf. They were both so good !

Then came the fireworks !

Our friends Meagan and her wife Gina came by !

We got to watch chris’s champ burn from the bus.. (I had to stay and mind the fire system). It was a really beautiful burn.. The audience loved the Cirque du Fuego fire dancing and Champs burn !

I was amazed at how long these 20 pound tanks have lasted given that we had the pilot tuned up for the wind

Friends continued to drop by through the evening. I loved gettign to show them around. Here’s my good friend shannon

Tonight was such a great celebration for all the people who contributed to making fluffy real.. their names are all printed on the back.. So many creative folks !

FInally It was tiem to shut down. The event closed at 10.. we shut down the poofer, took down the poofer pole and stowed the audio and ligth contorl. The idea was to drive fluffy back to Charlotte with everything wlese rigged.. that means the clouds and the dance floor railings. We figured we had about 4 inches of clearence using the big door at Earthkeep. THis is gonna make it so much easie to take fluffy out for events

As Duane was preparing to drive out, he asked me if it was possible to rig the lights to still be on and reacting as he drove. I gave it a little thought and realized that as long as the geni was running,. I could stow the llight control computer in a safe space that would make that no problem.. so with a little more wrangling, fluffy drove off into the .. sunset ? .. no moonset ? Diane and I drove away abotut he same tiem and got to see fluffy roll on by.. a great end to the evening

We got back home at about 11:30.. Got a fire goign and drew a hot bath.We barely stayed awake until midnight .. but we made it !

We’d been outside and working from 10 am till 11PM in winter cold…

the bed sure felt warm and cozy..

Happy new year everyone.. lets make it a good one. !

nite all, nite sam

-me