back and forth

 

Yesterday, Jay and I went to The Fair, a Northwest tradition that goes back to my earliest memory at three years old when I wore my slippery red velvet dress (a strange fabric now that I think about it) and rode on the ferris wheel. That is where I lost my precious red helium balloon - a vague memory of the string getting tangled in the machinery. Maybe someone lost their grip on it when they tried to get it loose or maybe the string broke but I distinctly remember the feeling of loss as I watched it float upward knowing there was nothing anyone could do to save it. Very sad. Yesterday we started with one of the famous Fair scones and ate our way through a shared Myers hamburger, polish sausage, smoothie and finished with an over-the-top strawberry shortcake. Four hours of walking, looking, eating. A nice look back and diversion from other things.

My life has been going back and forth. We have been waiting since last spring for the permit to be issued to build our new house. We have tried to "hustle while you wait" by down-sizing. I've been selling excess studio supplies and am finally down to a pile of books that will be donated to the library. Our house plans are on-hold during what seems like a step back in an effort to finally move forward and get started before rainy weather sets in. Also this week, I handed off the last of my Women Painters of Washington volunteer jobs that have been a big part of my life for the last 16 years. Back again: in October I will show twelve colored pencil paintings in a two-person show with my good friend Kay Dewar. Also in October I will show my newest work, still life oil paintings. Meanwhile, I need to revisit my recent past with a pastel painting project. I'm becoming interested again in more writing...and so it goes, back and forth.