It’s been too nice lately to get any work done. I alternate between feelings of sunny satisfaction and inexcusable laziness.

A quick visit to North Carolina in springtime when the tulips are blooming, cardinals are singing and everything is a little bit better.

Nancy Parton, Dolly’s cousin, sings a Kris Kristofferson song at karaoke night in Tryon, NC. Watch it in HD for maximum effect.

In Colombia, down by the river.

Bogotá wasn’t so friendly to me, but I just couldn’t stay away. Like all the women I fall for.

“How the hell did I end up here?”, I kept asking myself.

After Caracas, I needed a break from the city. I started boarding buses that moved in a westward direction through Venezuela. On one particular five hour ride I woke up and saw beautiful fields nestled between hefty peaks. I decided that this was the place and convinced the confused driver to stop.

I didn’t even know what this place was called. I just started cutting across fields looking for a place to lay my head.

I eventually came across a proper town and secured a room in the hotel.

It just happened to be Carnavale and children had taken over the town square.

Second place – potato sack race. Second place – eating contest. But still a champ.

I didn’t realize Carnavale was also a time for scary costumes. Maybe its a Venezuelan thing.

The fog rolled in only adding to the mystery of this place.

A princess reigned over the festival.

I was hoping to go unnoticed in the crowd but they could all spot a gringo. A teenage girl came up and asked my name. I told her and she wrote it down.

A few minutes later I was called up over the sound system. They asked me to sit at a small desk with three other adults. Then one by one, these little girls in costumes were paraded across the back of a flatbed truck. I have no idea how it happened by I was suddenly judging a girls 10 and under beauty pageant.

It was cute overload. I didn’t know how I was supposed to judge these adorable little girls. They were all great. My co-judges were a little more discerning.

We tallied our scores and awarded Miss Congeniality and Best Smile but in Spanish words that I didn’t understand. Another contest started on the side for best costume. El Diablo took first.

Tensions ran high as the results were being announced. I sensed the Carnavale pageant is a really big deal in this town.

As my final duty, I pinned a sash on Senorita Turismo on the far right.

The old princess annoints the new.

The town was called Chachopo I eventually learned. I have no idea how I ended up where I did doing what I did, but I’m glad for it. The following morning I flagged down the next bus, knowing that I’d never know what was next.