Away

This barn is somewhere in Maryland. On the drive from Baltimore down to the area near the Pax Naval Air Station I saw several barns like this (once I started looking). They were all roughly the same size, and equally featureless. It's hard to tell at 65 MPH. So what's the big deal I was in such a hurry for?

These kids. They are my "fairly oddkids." I am their honorary Auntie. I am godmother to the little guy on the far right. I last visited in 2013, so I was way overdue.

One of them showed me this artwork from school. The colors are terrific. There's a quilt in there somewhere. I'll be thinking of how to let it out.

Between now and the time I am back in my own studio I'll be baking cookies and cake and bread, getting tons of hugs and kisses, visiting fabric stores, washing dishes, going to art museums, folding laundry, chasing toddlers, going to the movies and the grocery store, getting Dim Sum, showing my friend how to insert a zipper, and otherwise hanging out with one of my best pals and my four "fairly oddkids."

On the Amtrak train on the way down I sat next to a woman who, when told I was visiting a friend with four children and would NOT be staying at a motel, said, "All that noise? All those kids? Are you crazy? Why would you do that to yourself? That's no vacation."

I smiled. If I had to explain it, she wasn't going to understand. I live alone, and all this noise, all these kids, all this craziness, all this love, is EXACTLY what I need.

I made dinner last night. I gave a taste to SweetBean, and asked her to tell me if it was OK. "Of course it's OK," she replied, giving me a hug. "You made it."


I mean really. You don't get that when you stay at home by yourself.