Travel weekend...both by car and by armchair. Saturday marked the final Art VS. Craft show in Milwaukee. After ten strong years, this urban/outsider art event is ending which is so sad. I always found the most unique gifts at this show - small items, quirky items, playful items and even some items that could be considers so ugly they are cute. Everything is hand made, mostly by regional artists, and each item is one of a kind. After the show, I gave my friend Karen a quick tour of the Third Ward, and then returned home to empty my dog.
On Sunday, I went to Italy with Frances Mayes. Although I am not nearly as daring as she (who is?) I felt the fear, the joy, the excitement, the anxiety and the satisfaction right along with her. Mayes took me with her on a brave journey, and I enjoyed every word. The reality of what she did rang so much deeper and truer than Eat, Pray, Love, for example. While I liked that book, especially the section on Indonesia, the author spent too much time inward time; but I guess that was the purpose of her story. In Mayes' book I got to know the people and the traditions. She let me experience a fierce electrical storm with her, taste olives freshly picked from her own trees, and inhale the aromas of field flows and herbs on every path she travel;led.
"Go slow. Be polite" she advised herself as she faced comunication challenges along with owls flying in through unscreened windows, inadequate septic system, and a plethora of other daunting disasters fierce enough to send most professional city girls screaming back to the comforts of the home. But not Mayes. she toughed it out. I know it sounds cheesy, but she learned a lot about herself along the way, and shared it in a most entertaining way. Want a suggestion? Pick up a copy of this book and save it. Save it for a day when you're snowed in and there's nothing else to do but take a little trip - and let Frances Mayes be your guide.
Go slow. Be polite. Pretty simple words to live by. I think I'll try that in 2014. Help me to remember that, will you?
Thanks for stopping by.
