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     When the sum comes up very early and there's no way to fall back to sleep it's really easy to just let the mind wander.  Today is Father's Day and my first thoughts this morning were about my Dad.  He passed away in 1997, but it seems no matter what is going on he always has a presence in the lives of his children.  Even today every day drama can have a happy ending if we just remember to "do the right thing".  Parents teach their children values, but being a good, no, great parent, comes from imparting common sense and a willingness to follow through on our actions.  Dad was always patient.  He never got upset (or at least outwardly so) at us for the "dumb" things we'd do.  We could always ask him his opinion because he was never judgmental and never forced us to do things as he saw fit.  He'd have suggestions on a course of action, which in the hind sight of the moment, would have been a better idea.  Once we'd experienced this a few times we'd learned he was a good source for advice.  Which gave him a chance to be part of how we built our lives.  He was approachable and non-judgmental.  What a great support system we had, and never knew it at the time. 
     Thinking about him as just a regular guy, it's easy to remember him just having fun.  He liked to repairing broken things.  He really enjoyed finding something in an antique store or garage sale that was, to most eyes a piece of junk, and would have it working again.  Not just functioning, but shiny and humming.  He loved to garden and would grow the biggest tomatoes I've ever seen.  Eating that first BLT of the season was a spiritual experience.  He was a very funny person that could see the humor in just about any situation.  Learning how to having a positive attitude and finding that we can laugh at ourselves is such a sweet gift.  He also loved to dance.  Any event that included dancing had him in the middle of the dance floor showing everyone just exactly how it's done.  He loved the outdoors.  When he went to the beach he just about burst with happy energy.   We were always welcome to go hunting and fishing with him,  if we wanted to.  We learned from him the "greater" outdoors should be cared for and respected.   Another great gift to pass along to children.
  
  So time marches on and and it's time to step up to the plate as the adults in our family.  To be there for the nieces and nephews, knowing they will not be judged, just gently guided, in hopefully, a direction that is best for them. Read More

Yesterday I stopped in my favorite art store to purchase a tube of paint and some hangers for frames.  I was also taking a necklace to one of my friends as partial payment for a painting I bought from him.  The necklace would be a gift, and I think he enjoyed picking the colors.  I made two necklaces and earring sets so he'd have a choice.  One was very funky and had lots of bright turquoise and yellow and art glass and one was Sapphire blue and more conservative.  He like the conservative piece better and hopefully, it will be a great gift.  It worked well for me to exchange something I enjoy making to help pay down the price of the painting (actually a pencil drawing, I'd seen about a year ago at a show and really liked it.)
The high point of the day however, was at the framing counter in the back of the store.  On the counter was a somewhat dog eared and yellowed map.  A fairly large sized map, about the size of a full watercolor sheet, of The Republic of Mali.  I was cautiously listening to my friends, that work in the store and frame art all the time chat with the woman who brought the map in.  I enjoy framing my work as much as I do working on it, to me it is like a relationship, the frame and the painting have to compliment one another and work together.  So framing art work is "sort-of" like being a match maker.  When I have a chance to learn about techniques for hanging large pieces or repair of older art work, or something like this particular piece an old map, I was very alert and aware of all the details, I might learn something useful.  My friend at the framing counter has some art conservation experience from another job (where they restore a lot of maps), so he really was a good person to be helping her.  Cautiously, I had to find out more about this person and this map.  My curiosity got the better of me, and I wanted to approach her with a friendly, but not "in your face" question and all that came out of my mouth was "Wow, that's a cool map!"  The woman turned and beautiful blue eyes and a big smile answered, saying that she had the map from time she spent in the Peace Corps.  Wow, didn't expect that. The soft tone of her voice was like we were in church.  She used this map to find her way around the country.  Now, I could understand in a second why she'd want to frame it.  But the conversation had been about repairing it as much a possible and taking he wrinkles out.  Possibly dry mounting it to foam core.  Did I dare intrude further?  I sensed no "please go away and mind your own business", so I mentioned it's personality, the sweat and bug stains and yellow corners where it had been taped up on a wall.  There were giggles and my friends knew, as well as I, that it really was special to her and needed something a little be different?  She mentioned she had thought about preserving it's character, could it be placed in a shadow box?  It would be large, and maybe cost would be more than she had wanted to spend.  Did she have any other little trinkets or things that could go in the shadow box with it?   One of her children came running over to ask a question.  Fast forward 40 years and I could see a map that she would tell her grandchildren about, the trip that took five days by camel to get to Tombouctou.  After her child skipped off to check out something else, she talked about some hand made fabric she brought back with her from the time spent there that was big enough to be placed behind the map.  I listened a few more minutes and wandered over to pay for my tube of  paint and hangers....never underestimate letting genuine curiosity motivate questions for you, life experience of others surrounds us everwhere and if you don't ask?  You'll never know... Read More