[Editors Note: What follows is one person's view of what it's like to do an Orchid Show.We print it here in order to entice others to join the fun. The names have NOT been changed for any reason...the guilty know who they are. You, however, get three guesses about who and which show...and the first two don't count!]

Dawn. Lord, it's cold! Twenty-two degrees...how are we ever going to get all those plants and stuff into the car, especially without damaging the flowers? We can't do a show with frozen flowers! OK, start the car so it can warm up, break down the seedling stand and put it in as a platform the way we talked about, then we'll tackle loading. Looking better, the exhaust is pretty bad, we'll have to shut the engine off when we load the flowers, just have to be quick so things don't get too cold. Coffee, mmm. Breakfast. Ok, let's do it. First load the props, suitcases, and anything else that can get cold or ride on the bottom. Now the ferns, greenery and live mosses. Time to tackle the toughies. Dee has the flowers staged and ready in the kitchen, back the car up to the front door, kill the engine, and start running...Whew. All aboard!!! Baltimore, next stop!

A beautiful day for a drive, sunny, the mountains are glorious in the sunshine, and the rolling farm country north of Charlottesville is a delight as always. Starting to cloud up a bit, though. Traffic getting heavier as we move into northern Virginia; then we're on the !@#&%!# beltway. No matter how many times I drive this obscenity of a highway it never gets any better. I live through it, albeit ungraciously. Someday, I may actually enjoy driving at 70 MPH in heavy traffic with those more accustomed to automotive insanity zipping by on both sides, but not today. Ok, we've taken the right exit, where's the map of the route into Baltimore? Brief period of anxiety... Ahh! There it is. Zip, turn, shift lanes turn. Well, I'll be, correct directions, here's the hotel; now find the loading dock. That looks promising...oops! The parking garage. Well why don't I go up to the lobby and Ask Directions! Novel idea...

Loading docks, yes plural, delivery trucks, U-Hauls, What? No semi's with flower killing, unbreatheable exhaust? Maybe we're just lucky. Find a slot next to a U-Haul, and pull in. Hmmm, they're unloading plants, too. Wonder who they are. Go looking for freight elevator like the front desk said. Find it. Go to fifth floor hoping to find a cart to help unload. No dice, lost instead. Try to find our exhibit...find Carol Allen, instead. She shows me the exhibit location, fills in missing bits of information, shows me how to get back to the freight elevators. Go back down to start hand carrying stuff. Dee has struck up a conversation with the folks in the U-Haul. We can borrow a cart they have acquired if I help get the palm trees off the truck. So away we go...all the while wondering "Are we supposed to compete with people who bring Palm Trees as props?" Talking to the guy I'm helping, they're from Southeastern Pennsylvania Orchid Society...competitive bunch by their own admission; must be, considering what's coming off the truck. Ok, got a cart, start unloading...

First load, mostly flowers, got to get them out of the cold. Lots of orchid folks around, everyone unloading and lugging stuff, strike up conversations in the elevators. Everyone is sizing up the competition and complaining about anything and everything; especially the winding hallways between dock and show, but mostly it's just conversation; it helps if you have on a name tag and are carrying an armload or a cartload or orchids, everyone's automatically friendly. Second load. More conversations, nice folks! Lost for the third time. Third load. Art and Louise have arrived. Fantastic! We can get it all unloaded before we have to give the cart back! More flowers, more greenery, more props...well, we do have to do a fifty footer. Didn't get lost this time, I may actually get to know something about this hotel. Fourth load, some guy is harassing Dee about moving the car, something about needing the space...I guess it's the incongruity of a micro-van next to all these huge trucks. Get the last load, take Lou and Dee upstairs and through the maze to the exhibit. Then back down to return the cart and move the car back to the parking garage.

Back upstairs, this time through the lobby loaded with suitcases, camera case, and leftover stuff, it helps that I checked in when I asked for directions. Up to the room, dump everything, then back down to the exhibition hall to help with the exhibit.

Dee and Lou are just getting organized, starting to put the crates and seedling stand shelves in as a support structure. Short period of placing, bracing, repositioning re-bracing; much discussion, trying to decide what will work best in the space provided... Ok, the basic form is set. Try to find info on registration, catch Carol Allen again, as usual she has the scoop. Art starts writing registration slips and then the name labels for the display. Lou and Dee start putting together the exhibit. Mostly I "step'n fetch it" at this point, trying to help the two artists, but I do put a couple of cents in occasionally. Time Passes...Pieces start falling into place...this is beginning to look good. Somehow a conversation gets started between us and the guy building the exhibit next to us. Nice guy, wonder why he's working alone...turns out he's from Gold Country Orchids in California...Nice Mini-catts, Really Nice. But then, no nicer than some we brought! The exhibit hall is a chaos of plants, props, and people. Quite a hubbub! The exhibit is going well, but hunger finally takes it's toll and we adjourn for dinner at the food court on the fourth floor, then come back to put on the finishing touches. Art has finished the registration, weirdest registration I ever saw, how are they ever going to tell what's what. Stand back and take a good look...Not Bad! Especially for one of the smaller societies here! Matter of fact, it's as good as any here!

And so to bed, it's been a very long day!

What time is it? Oh, Nine A.M.? Wonderful, the room is really quiet. Peek out the window at the doings down at the show. Lots of bustling around, they must be getting ready for the judging. So it's off to breakfast. Into the hotel Restaurant, Wow, floor to ceiling glass overlooking the harbor; HEY! It's Snowing!!! Delightful breakfast watching the snow over Baltimore Harbor, and we don't have to go anywhere today! Then down to the show and the judging, can't get in, can't get near. Oh, well, the sales area is open. Lots of vendors and old friends scattered among new ones, conversations everywhere. Interesting tidbit, the clerks are having to memorize where things are, then the judging will start. Time passes... The ribbon judging seems to be over, wonder how we did. The judges have moved into the room next to the exhibit hall for the AOS judging...hmmm, they left the doors open, I guess we can go in and see... Great! Three Blue, four Red, two yellow, an Honorable Mention and... Hot Damn! Lou got a Best in Class. Not bad!!! Oops, we're not supposed to be in here yet. People are being asked to leave, let's just make a quiet exit stage left, before they get to us.

And so through the show, mist a couple of times a day, take pictures, talk, check out everyone else's exhibit, talk, drool over the Really Good Flowers in all the exhibits, comb the sales area for bargains, talk and talk. Once again it's truly amazing how many people will talk to you when you have on a name tag, and are clearly identified as an orchid nut.

But all good things must end, so take down inevitably arrives. So how do I get all this stuff back into the car in the time available? They say we have two hours to get everything out, not much time considering how we have to pack the car. Anxiety all over again. Arrange to borrow Rolf's cart to help get the stuff downstairs. Art and I decide to forgo the loading dock and just try to load in the parking garage. Go with Rolf to get the cart, swearing for the hundredth time to never do another show without bringing a cart along. Put cart in the staging area till it's time. And there's the gun! These exhibits sure do come down a lot faster that they went up! Load the cart with the shelving and props, down to the car and set up while Art takes the rest of the load to his car. Back up. Load more props and greenery. Down, load into the two cars. Back and forth, lots of people, lots of chaos, and conversations with new friends and old, but hustling...hustling...

And finally loaded. Dee says Rolf needs his cart, she takes it back upstairs while I try to get everything situated and get out of the parking garage before the deadline. Don't make it. Pay the extra $$$. Pull up in front of the hotel to wait for Dee, attendants want to know if I need help...No, unless they want to magically make the beltway disappear. Dee arrives, and we're homeward bound...Not a bad trip, the lights other cities are exceptionally Pretty in the cold night air; and the beltway at night isn't too bad...and highways by moonlight can be quite a sight..And we did well, compliments on the exhibit from lots of folks, a Best in Show, and a nice batch of ribbons...Not too bad ! Not too bad!

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