As you read this, I’m probably in Hoquiam at Loggers Playday. (Hope it’s not raining.)

Truth be told, I need to cut loose after an extremely stressful week — which, as it happens, was stressful specifically because of Playday.

And not just for me.

On Monday morning, Aug. 28, I was placed in charge of putting together The Daily World’s eight-page special section on Playday. This was just eight days before the pages had to go to press, and I knew absolutely nothing about the annual event. So, instead of writing my column for Tuesday’s paper, I dove into that project.

I started by contacting someone I thought could point me toward the information I needed — and so began a long string of emails in which I was bounced around to various people who basically told me: “Not my department, try this person instead.”

After three days of that, I went to my publisher and asked if perhaps he knew of a more direct source of info. Less than an hour later, he came back and said: “You don’t have plans for tonight, do you?” Turns out the final Playday planning meeting was being held that evening. So off I went.

It was a very productive trip, thanks mostly to Lisa Anderson, the Playday court coordinator. If she didn’t know the answer to a given question, she got up and grabbed the person who did know it for me. I’m very grateful to her for her efforts.

After I left, I realized I’d failed to get quotes from the two Playday queens. I emailed Lisa the next morning asking her to have one or both of the girls contact me so I would get their words into my story. Then, on Monday — the day before I was to send the pages to press — I texted her to follow up because I hadn’t heard from either of them.

And that’s where things took a weird turn.

Tuesday was the most insane day I’ve had since starting this job six months ago. I had to polish up all of the text for the Loggers Playday section, dig up photos from previous years, decide what items to place on which pages, design and lay out the entire section, get the pages proofed and corrected, and finally send them to the printer — all by 5 p.m.

During the course of that day, my cellphone buzzed a couple of times; but I assumed they were personal calls, so I ignored them, figuring I’d get back with them later.

I finished the section before deadline and did a few other pages, too. I left that evening completely burned out, but feeling pretty darned good about my day’s work.

As I trudged up the steps to my door, fully prepared to eat a big dinner and go to bed early, my phone rang. It was one of the Playday queens, calling to talk with me for the story. I told her I was sorry, it was too late, the section had gone to the printer.

A few minutes later, I checked my voicemail messages from earlier. Turns out, she was the one who’d been calling; she had been earnestly trying to reach me since that morning. I was annoyed with myself for not answering, and embarrassed that it was in fact my fault I’d missed the opportunity to give her a voice in my article. Lesson learned, I thought as I fixed my dinner. Won’t happen again.

The next morning, my office phone rang. It was the girl’s father, and he was livid. He said I’d been mean and rude to his daughter, and he really let me have it. I was stunned into speechlessness, and when he was finished with me, he hung up.

I honestly couldn’t recall my exact words from that night; still can’t. But as I thought about it, I realized I had probably been curt with his daughter. It was late. I was exhausted. I didn’t realize she’d actually been trying to call all day … none of which, of course, was any sort of excuse for “taking a tone” with her.

As a parent, I certainly can’t blame her father for anything he said to me. My son will be the first to tell you I’ve gone full Mama Bear on any adult who did him wrong. We take care of our children; it’s a moral imperative. And after I got over the shock, I was grateful that he’d opened my eyes to my transgression.

So a small lesson learned has become a much larger one for me. I’m sincerely sorry for allowing my mood to hurt this fine young woman’s feelings. It was inexcusable, but I hope she can forgive me.

And I’m hoping to see her in Hoquiam today so I can apologize face to face.

Kat Bryant is lifestyle editor of The Daily World. Reach her at kbryant@thedailyworld.com or on Facebook at Kat Bryant-DailyWorld.