Art Fair Mystery - Grand Marais

Art Fairs aren't just about selling ones wares to others.
They are also about meeting new friends and re-visiting old ones.
Sometimes they are about surviving thunder storms and/or hail.
Sometimes they are about surviving an afternoon when the Heat Index reaching 105 F.

They can be the greatest fun.
They can be true agony.
They can hold laughter and tears within the same hour.

Some art fairs allow dogs.
I have MANY photos of Art Fair Dogs.
Two years ago, had I been quicker at the set up for River Falls, Wisconsin's Art on the Kinni I would have at least one photo of a young guy walking his pet porker on a leash. I have only memories. They are enough.

Then here is this beastie:

Two years ago Todd and I were walking around Grand Marais, Minnesota. It was a lovely calm evening. Even with the bars busy and shops open relatively late, there is not much going on on the main drag. After dinner we always hike to several different look-outs to spy on Lake Superior. As we walked closer to one of the many small shops in town I did a double-take when spotting this special window scene. The shop cat was keeping watch over whatever was holding its attention. Or perhaps it was in deep meditation? One seldom knows with cats. It looked at us for a moment as we came closer; then chose, in cat fashion, to ignore those two folks at the window. We were not in any way a concern to Cat. Cat was focused on cat thoughts. I took the photo and we moved on.

The weekend of July 11 - 12, 2015 we intend to be exhibiting at Grand Marais again. The fair is not large - but it IS Special. We get to talk life with Canadians. We got to wee lake Superior in action - for better and sometimes for worse. We artists enjoy getting treated REALLY well by members of the Grand Marais Art Colony. And The World's Best Donuts are on the far end of town. Really. With walls and tables covered in photos of folks all over the world proclaiming same. And there is PIE and great art galleries and music-filled bars and air that is fresh and sweet and Lake Superior-y. If you like rocks the beach is a fine place for picking. If you like trees there are plenty. If you like being alone and then with people and then alone again you can do this easily in Grand Marais.

Oh, and the past few years the Art Fair weekend is one for yarn-bombing sightings all through town.

Now it's time to re-call becoming parents to our son on a sort of long-ago July 3rd. He may be taller than our daughter but he'll always be that Younger Brother.  And I  still remember watching the National Fireworks from my July 4th hospital bed - ha! In person fire-works are better.

And NOW it's time to brew a cup of tea and decide on a chocolate treat from Trader Joe's. The head won't thank me but the tongue will - at least for a little while. And we must learn to appreciate those Little Whiles. Like the cat in the window. Or maybe the cat is still there...

"Happy Fourth of July!," if you celebrate the date, and May Your July 4th be a Lovely Day with the Activities of Your Choosing - if you do not.

Fare-thee-well,
Sue

www.suerowe.com
Facebook Page: Sue-Rowe-Studios

Places and Peace

Today is past mid-December in Stillwater, Minnesota. After a few balmy melty unusually "warm" days (for us) this morning's temperature is a more normal Twelve Above Zero. Snow is on the ground. Not much, but enough to make stuff white.

I've spend an hour walking circles in the house - to the sounds of Tibetan bowls ringing. On YouTube. Not listening to Bach or Mozart or the local or national sports-talk radio chats. Quiet dings and lings and pings. No, I did not walk the slow Zen meditation walk. I sped around at a good mid-speed. Accomplishing things as each footstep landed. So Not Zen. So Darned Sue. But the Sunday paper is in the recycling bin, a plastic art fair bin has been unloaded, backs of greeting cards cleaned up, candles played with (yes, I mess with those lighted wax melters, I do), towels folded and put away, and thoughts thunk.

Some day I will simply walk.

But what is on little mind is a wee bit of rest. Hahaha. And where one imagines this could happen.

These places exist. These chairs are real. This lake is iced over now, but will be softer water come next summer. Question to self is: Will you take the time to Simply Sit?  I do not know. Relaxing is a sort of hazy dream.

Yes, I can hear Aaron Rodgers' "R-E-L-A-X. Relax" in brain, but always through the ding ring ching kring of ye olde tinnitus. I get a tad guilty repeatedly bitching about this - knowing good friends and family members are dealing with much more seriously stuff - but it's still a major factor in not much remembering the sounds of "peace and quiet."

Quiet is not happening. I do still attempt a sort of Peace. Seriously. This is where Zen practice does help. And Yoda helps. And friends and family help. And places help.

Here is Plastic Yoda thinking Yoda thoughts while surveying the beach at Grand Marais, Minnesota, in July of 2014. Lake Superior is a place of both peaceful or violent beauty. It is one of My Places. I "go" to Lake Superior when I want to relax. No, not usually to Grand Marais. Usually the brain goes automatically to a small rocky beach at Little Girl's Point - in Northern Michigan. A beach right behind the home of an aunt and uncle. i don't know why, it just does.

Or it goes to The Upper Falls at Potato River Falls in my home town of Gurney, Wisconsin.

These are my Peace Places.

I hope you have a few of your own....

And I hope that the Green Bay Packers win out the season.

And I hope that you find a hour or two of True Peace during this sometimes frantic and  painful Holiday season.

Peace. Relax. Enjoy. Smile. Pass it on!

Merry Christmas, Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Festivus, and All Best Wishes to all in Celebrating what you find worth celebrating!

Fare-thee-well,
Sue the Strider

www.suerowe.com
Facebook page: Sue-Rowe-Studios
ArtFairArtists.com