Seek and you shall Find

[caption id="attachment_2838" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Today's letter[/caption]Today my letter is going off to Cindy in Connecticut. (Hi Cindy!)  I feel very fortunate to have lots of wonderful pen friends.  Are you as fortunate?  But I know there are people out there who would love to write letters if only they knew just who would write back to them.  There truly are some circumstances in which we write to folks who never write back to us ( writing our children at college, writing to very old people who love to get letters, but just can't write them anymore)  but the usual approach to letter writing is "give and take".  It takes two to tango, and it takes two, sending letters back and forth, to create the most satisfying correspondence.  So, if you don't happen to have family or friends out of town, or even in town, people who like to write letters, what can you do?  You might think you have to be content writing in your journal, but no, there are ways to find interesting pen friends.  Some methods take time, like friendship books which I've told you about in the past, but a very quick and easy way to develop a circle of pen friends is to become a member of The Letter Exchange.  This organization, of and for letter writers, will get you rolling in no time.

Here's how it works

After paying a small fee for membership you'll receive a magazine filled with articles on letter writing and better still, you'll find ads from letter writers who would love to have you write to them.   There's a little mystery to the program too, mystery which makes finding pen friends in The Letter Exchange even more fun.

Each member of The Letter Exchange is given a number.  I am 9367.  Ads listed do not tell you the name and address of the person seeking a correspondent, only their Lex number.  When I receive my quarterly magazine I delight in reading all the ads and circling the ones I plan to answer.

At regular intervals I'll write five short "hello" letters in response to these ads.  I call these letters my "SEARCH LETTERS".  As I write them I feel as Queen Isabella must have felt when she prepared to send out ships in search of treasure.  I'm in search of treasure too.  The treasure I'm seeking is friendship in the form of pen friends.  And just like Queen Isabella sometimes my efforts don't pay off, but other times - Oh Boy!

When you are in the habit of sending out "search letters"  your trip to the mail box each day will be very exciting for you'll never know what will be waiting for you there.  You'll be expecting a lot more than junk mail - AND YOU"LL BE GETTING A LOT MORE THAN JUNK MAIL TOO!  Letters from the most interesting people will be showing up to make your acquaintance.

[caption id="attachment_2845" align="aligncenter" width="225"] One of my "search letters[/caption]Lately I've been writing "search letters" on one sheet of paper that folds and becomes its own envelope.  I found this nifty stationary in a shop somewhere, but as usually happens, I decided there wouldn't be much to copying the idea making my own self-sealing letter paper.

[caption id="attachment_2843" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Another "search letter"[/caption]

I kept the art simple this time using only colored chalk along the edges of the paper, but next time who knows what artful design I'll create.  Simple is fine though, for the main objective of a "search letter" is simply to introduce yourself to a potential letter friend.

[caption id="attachment_2846" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Lots of search letters ready to go[/caption]

It only takes an hour or so to compose five "search letters".  Of course you can write much longer letters if you like, but sometimes a first meeting is best kept short in case personalities don't click -  and they don't always click.  Do you love everyone you meet at work, at school, at the coffee shop?  But you will click with lots of letter writers - after all, you have one very big thing in common.  You both love to write letters!

[caption id="attachment_2844" align="aligncenter" width="300"] This "search letter" is going off to Lex 11541[/caption]

Once your "search letters" are composed each one is addressed by placing the Lex number belonging to the ad being answered, along with a postage stamp, on the front of the envelope, or in this case, on  the front of my self-sealing letter paper.

[caption id="attachment_2842" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Five ambassadors of friendship[/caption]

Each of these "search letters" is like an explorer that I'm sending out in search of treasure, the treasure of friendship in the form of pen friends.

[caption id="attachment_2839" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The virtual treasure ship (envelope) which will carry my "search letters" off into the world[/caption]

"Search letters" are mailed off to The Letter Exchange and there they will be forwarded to the appropriate party.

[caption id="attachment_2840" align="aligncenter" width="225"] A great letter writing team[/caption]

Then, with the help of The Letter Exchange, like Queen Isabella waiting for her ships to return, I wait for the arrival of letters, letters from five new pen friends.  Every day there is delicious expectation as I walk out to my mail box.  Regular correspondents will be popping in as usual, but what new and fascinating person will appear?

Could it be YOU!

Whatever is Good ...

I hope you're having a nice day.  So far I'm having a wonderful day - that's because I'm writing to you and focusing on the good around me.

I love writing letters.  I'm sitting here on my porch writing and watching an array of birds fluttering around a bird feeder. What beauty is nature!

I'm listening to some  favorite music, Bach's Brandenburg Concertos No. 1-4.  What glory is music!

I'm sipping some delicious dark espresso roast coffee.  What a treat is the ability to taste!

The grass is being mowed as I write and the scent is fresh and green.  What delight is fragrance!

My feet are up and my sofa is comfy.  A gentle breeze wafts past me.  What a pleasure is the sense of touch!

I ponder which of my favorite things should be the topic of this letter.  What joy it is to not only have favorite things, but also to reflect on them and share those things with others.

I hope you're aware of, and focus on,  the simple pleasures in life. So often we're all guilty of taking some, or all, of these things for granted.

All this brings a certain Bible verse to mind.   It's from a letter (yes a LETTER) to the Philippians 4:8.  The letter reads:

Brothers and Sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about these things.

and I add -   WRITE ABOUT THESE THINGS IN YOUR LETTERS.

We should all focus on what's good, not what's bad.  The news and television seem to have things backwards.  If we're not depressed before we tune in to most  tv and news programs we'll soon become depressed.  Shows today do not inspire good.  They focus on bad behavior.

I say FOCUS ON GOOD THINGS and then SHARE that good.

Letters are a great vehicle for sharing good.  You've heard of Paul, Peter, James and John?  They were avid letter writers as I am.  They wrote an awful lot of letters to all sorts of people - many were strangers to them - the Corinthians, the Romans, the Colossians,  just to name a few.  And look how long their letters have lasted.  The letters you write will last too IF they're good letters - that is,  letters that are admirable and praiseworthy.

People are always asking  me why I write so very many people, why I belong to The Letter Exchange, the organization of and for letter writers.  They ask me why I'm constantly reaching out to people I don't yet know hoping they become pen friends.  I'm asked  why I write to old friends, why I write to family.    I bet Peter, Paul, James and John were asked some of these question too.  And what's the answer?  The answer is:

WRITING LETTERS IS A VERY GOOD WAY TO SHARE JOY.

Of course,  you can't share joy if you don't have joy,  So Cultivate Joy!  Focus on  Beauty!  Reflect on the Goodness all around you -  then write about it to everyone you know, to everyone you meet.

If you're looking for a purpose in life, spreading good and spreading joy is a very good one.  It will  make you happier and it will make lots of other people happier as well.

Don't take my word for it. Write some letters and see for yourself.

Charlotte, Jane, Carol Ann (and Artie too)

[caption id="attachment_2798" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My daily letter[/caption]

Today, as usual, I began my morning by writing a letter.  It was a letter composed of four  pages, 8x10 inches.  This is the usual length of one of my letters, though sometimes I'll create a letter booklet, smaller in size, but made up of at least ten pages.  I send these letters off for the cost of a 46 cent U.S. postage stamp, providing the letter is staying in the United States.  Postal rates are higher if letters are going over seas.  Is my letter writing  an economical pleasure?  Whether it is or not I plan to continue writing and sending letters off because it is such a complete treat - a physical, social, intellectual and spiritual treat.

Today I wrote to Artie in Staten Island, New York.  Artie is a very nice gentlemen, and reading his letter, then responding, made for a very pleasant start to my day, but I had even more interesting fun reading a letter from Charlotte ... you know, Charlotte Bronte, one of my talented "dead friends".  I came upon a a letter she wrote to her publisher back on January 12th, 1848.

You'll find the letters of your "dead friends" to be very interesting  reading, but that's only if you choose very interesting "dead friends".  Of course, why would you choose any other kind?

Well, Charlotte's letter was full of surprises.  Did you know she didn't think very much of Jane Austen's writing?  I didn't know that till I read this letter to her publisher who also happened to be Jane's publisher.  Charlotte wrote"

..."Why do you like Miss Austen so very much?  I am puzzled on that point.  (She writes) an accurate, daguerreotyped portrait of a commonplace face!  a carefully-fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but no glance of a bright, vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no sonny beck.  I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their elegant but confined houses.  These observations will probably irritate you, but I shall run the risk ... Miss Austen is only a shrewd observer."

Charlotte doesn't mince words, does she?  I bet she must be quite surprised and annoyed to know just how popular Jane Austen's work has become in today's world.  Though Charlotte and Jane weren't chummy on earth I wonder if they met in heaven and became friends.  They must both be pleased that their works are still being read by people like us.

Those of us who believe in an afterlife must wonder what people in heaven are doing.  MAYBE THEY'RE WATCHING US!  MAYBE THEY'RE INTERESTED IN OUR CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THEM!  Maybe so, maybe not.  But I like to imagine they're reaching out to us, and I sure enjoy hearing what my "dead friends" think  and have to say for it's often more interesting than what a lot of living, breathing  people have to share.  I'm very happy to hear from "dead friends" in all sorts of ways,  by discovering their work, by reading  books written about them, by film, and especially by reading their letters,  JUST NOT BY PERSONAL APPEARANCE!

All Charlotte's talk about Jane Austen got me thinking it was about time I paid a little visit to Jane myself so I picked up a copy of "Jane Austen's Town and Country Style"  written by Susan Watkins.  What a great book to help us go back in time into Jane's world.

I started this missive by telling you about current U.S. postal rates and the length of my daily letters.   Well, it was most interesting to read what Susan Watkins had to say not only about postal rates in Jane and Charlotte's world, but also about letters.

Did you know in London, until 1801, letters were picked up and delivered four to eight times daily for the price of one penny, but the Penny Post became the Twopenny Post in 1805, and by 1812 the cost of a letter was four pence for 15 miles or less, rising to 17 pence for 700 miles.  And we complain about our rate increases!  Susan also explained that postage was paid by the recipient.  Boy, if postage was paid by the recipient today we'd all be getting a lot less junk mail.

Reading "Jane Austen's Town and Country Style" is a great book if you want to learn all the ins and outs of life in her world spanning the end of the eighteenth century and the beginning of the nineteenth.  For example, did you know back then "The postage charge was based on letters of a single sheet - more paper meant more money - and because of the cost, letters were usually written on a single page, which was then folded to make a small rectangle envelope and sealed with a wafer of wax."   To save money  letter writers  would fill the whole paper, then write at right-angles across the first lines of their writing.

Yikes!  I tried this technique and I don't think it makes for easy reading, do you?  Many of us like to romanticize life in the past, but I think we have it a lot better these days... at least most of us do.

Speaking of Jane Austen and her time,  you might like to see the film, "Lost in Austen".  I thought it was great fun, all about a modern London girl going back, not only in time, but also into a Jane Austen book.

Well, letter writing really entertains me.  Today without leaving home I had visits with Artie from New York and Charlotte and Jane from England.  Of course there's you too, but if I'm to feel your presence you'll just have to write me a letter.  Go ahead.  Do it!

So till next time...

 

The Post card as Art

[caption id="attachment_2744" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Today's post card to Kathi[/caption]My "dead friend" Charlotte Bronte has been known to say "... short notes give one the feeling of a very small piece of a very good thing to eat" and I agree.  Though both Charlotte and I love nice long letters we both appreciate short notes too.  In fact, Charlotte added "... I am very glad to get notes; so don't think, when you are pinched for time ... that it is useless to write a few lines; be assured, a few lines are very acceptable..."

And so every day I send off one short note in the form of a post card in addition to one of my nice long letters. I like to use post cards for these short notes because  a post card requires less postage than a short letter and because a post card most always contains a picture, and you know what they say about a picture.  It's worth a thousand words.

So today I send a post card off to my cousin Kathi.  I recently had a tea and baked a pretty impressive apple pie if I do say so myself, so after all the work of baking and hosting the tea, it seemed only right to take a picture in order to memorialize the event and share my joy over and over again.  Most of the picture post cards I create come out of scenes from my daily life.  And it's funny, knowing I can take these pictures and use them for my correspondence gives me good reason to go the extra mile in making things as nice as possible.

[caption id="attachment_2760" align="aligncenter" width="225"] The Red Lion Inn[/caption]I first started sending post cards years ago when I discovered The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.  I loved that inn then, and still do.  The Red Lion Inn was the inspiration for my invention - Country Inn Days.  You may have read about these days in a former post.  The Red Lion Inn sold many lovely post cards and I bought them all.  I kept some, but being a letter writer, I sent others away to friends as a way to share my joy.  I also took lots of my own pictures.  Here you see one of them.  I think the porch at The Red Lion Inn is its best feature.  I loved it so much that I patterned the porch at my own 1853 house after it.

[caption id="attachment_2761" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Tea served at my own private Inn, The Jeremiah Brown House[/caption]Now, on a Country Inn Day, when I'm  playing the part of innkeeper and hosting a tea, I take pictures along the way in order to create and send off my very own Country Inn Day postcards from my very own Country Inn, The Jeremiah Brown House.  Sharing doubles my joy. It's great fun!

[caption id="attachment_2763" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Another tea at the Jeremiah Brown House[/caption]Creating a lovely table setting is a lot like painting a lovely picture.  It's fun, but it's also work.  Some art we create lasts and lasts; a painting, a song, but not a table setting.  After a tea or meal the setting's moment of glory is over.  All that work could be forgotten, just a vague memory unless we photograph the scene.  If we do take a picture we'll have the image forever, available for post cards and photo notes.

Besides taking pictures in our own private worlds it's also wonderful to buy picture post cards on our travel adventures and our visits to  favorite places near and far. Sharing these sites with friends and family allows us to share our joy.  I used to live in Boston and I absolutely LOVE The Boston Public Garden. Whenever I return to Boston, as I do quite frequently, I spend hours in this magical place.  In fact the arboretum-like feeling of this garden is what inspired me to choose The Jeremiah Brown House for home.

[caption id="attachment_2786" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Entrance to The Jeremiah Brown House (1853)[/caption]

And because I love my trees so very much, naturally they often become the subjects of my Country Inn Day postcards.

[caption id="attachment_2775" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Carol Ann in Chicago[/caption]

Sometimes we might find ourselves in a place that is really special but has no card shop handy, and even if there is a card shop, there's no picture for sale showing exactly what we're seeing and enjoying. This happens off in the country all the time, but it happened to me in downtown Chicago recently.   My husband and I were walking along and I was awestruck by the impressive skyscrapers all around me.  What to do?  Take a picture of course!  Making our own picture post cards is fun and very personal for though the store-bought cards may at times  be of better quality, they don't ever include our very own smiling faces.

[caption id="attachment_2770" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Crop Bistro, Cleveland, Ohio[/caption]

I'll often send my pen friends pictures of lovely places in and around Cleveland.  There are  lots of such lovely places, but Cleveland, like many industrial cities, gets only bad press.  I want people to know there is a great deal of beauty here too.  We have wonderful restaurants,  like the beautiful Crop Bistro housed in a gorgeous historic building.  We also have fabulous parks, charming small-town neighborhoods, terrific culture, (I used to work for The Cleveland Orchestra) and we're working on the sports.

I think I should be hired as a public relations representative for Cleveland because I'm forever bragging about the city, broadcasting its finer points, and sending snazzy picture post cards to my pen friends all around the world.

[caption id="attachment_2747" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Two dashing fellows[/caption]

Of course it's lots of fun to photograph people too.  Here you see my husband Bill (in the white) and our friend Steve who was visiting from Florida.  Steve, our friend Susan, (Susan's not pictured here, sorry Susan) Bill and I, all went to Blossom, the Summer Home of The Cleveland Orchestra where we attended a concert.  Camera in hand (as usual) I got lots of good pictures.  Won't Steve be surprised to go out to his mail box one day and find this picture post card waiting for him?

Any time  I get together with friends and family is a great time to take pictures for my post cards.  Who wouldn't enjoy finding not only a postcard addressed "just to them", but a picture post card featuring their very own picture?  Add a sweet caption and it's a great way to let your friends know you're thinking of them. There's enough room for a short note on the back of the card too.

[caption id="attachment_2777" align="aligncenter" width="300"] My son Patrick "supported" in friendship by his UCLA chums[/caption]Any photo post card you send to your friends should put a smile on their face, but some pictures are more fun than others.  The more fun your subjects are having,  the more fun they'll have revisiting that fun.  Life is short.  Enjoy yourself and share that joy.

Even though it's delightful and artful work creating your own picture post cards you don't have to make all of them yourself.   You'll find all sorts of post cards for sale.  My letter friend Joy has gone into the post card business and soon you'll be able to buy her designs.  She makes lovely, artful cards.  I'll keep you posted on how to purchase them.

[caption id="attachment_2778" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Daniel Gerber's (American, 1880-1958)
The River's Bridge[/caption]

Art museums are  wonderful places to find post cards of great and famous art works. You can use these cards when writing short notes to your friends, start a collection of beautiful post cards for your personal pleasure - looking through them whenever you need  a spot of beauty, or you might  buy a dozen art post cards, tie them in a ribbon, and use them as hostess gifts for the next dinner party you attend.  These cards might be serious ...

[caption id="attachment_2753" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Day 'N Night by JETGLASS
Your Best Water Heater Buy[/caption]

or they might be a little silly.  At one time this picture was meant to be a serious advertisement, but now it's just a fun post card.

And this card is fun too, especially if you're female.  Note the caption:

"I made some Niman Ranch lamb tenderloin with garlic, black pepper, and Indonesian soy sauce for dinner.  I hope that sounds ok."

I love this fella's expression, don't you?

So many humorous forwards fly around on the internet these days, but snail mail can spread a lot of fun as well.

[caption id="attachment_2752" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Inspiration[/caption]

And snail mail can also spread a lot of beauty around this weary world.  My friend Evelyna loves afternoon tea as I do and she finds beautiful tea images on post cards to share with me.  These pictures inspire my own tea gatherings.

[caption id="attachment_2751" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Evelyna's tiny script helps her say a lot on a small post card[/caption]

So though a post card will never take the place of a long, juicy letter it does have its value.   Just as we appreciate  hor dourves as the small but delicious little treats they are, so too should we appreciate the post card as the lovely little art form it is.

Don't take my word for it.  Buy or make some post cards, send them out and see what happens.  If you're not yet a letter writer but you'd like to be, post cards are a nice way to get started.  If you are a letter writer, why not add some post cards to your correspondence ritual?  You just may find

When you give (post cards) good things (more post cards) come back to you

Solitude and Society Simultaneously

[caption id="attachment_2707" align="aligncenter" width="225"] One of my wonderful "Dead Friends"[/caption]

After a fun and busy Summer spent with lots of wonderful friends and family members I'm now enjoying some peace and quiet, some solitude, well, not complete solitude.  I'm enjoying the companionship of favorite people from the past, people I affectionately call my "dead friends".  They visit with me by way of biographies, autobiographies, and their personal letters.

One of my favorite "dead friends" is pictured above.  Do you recognize her?  Maybe she's one of your "dead friends" too.  She's Charlotte Bronte.  Charlotte was a writer like me, well, not just like me.  Charlotte was a very successful novelist, but she also was an avid letter writer and as you know I am an avid letter writer too.  Are you?

When I get hold of one of Charlotte's letters I feel like she's writing that letter just to me.  That's the magic of letters.  They last.  They can last a lot longer than we can.  When we write a letter there's no telling who might be reading it in years to come, or even next week for that matter -  so be careful what you write!

I feel I get to know my favorite people of the past better through their letters than any other way. That's because letters are so intimate.  A well written letter reveals personality like nothing else can and it will capture a person's true feelings about all sorts of things, big and small.  Recently I learned that Charlotte was like me in that she loves nice long letters as I do.  Do you like long letters too?  Do you write long letters or are yours short little teasers?

Though I'm happy to receive any letter I do feel a bit disappointed when the letter in my mail box turns out to be just a short little thing.  After all, when a letter arrives I'll take the time to make a cup of coffee so I can read and sip as though I were having a visit in a coffee shop with my friend. I'll get all comfy in a favorite location.  I'll  tear open the envelope in great anticipation of a nice long visit and then ... if I find just a few lines, well, there is great disappointment. What a let down!  It seems Charlotte felt the same way when she found a short little letter in her mail box.  Listen to what she writes in her reply dated March 1, 1846.

"Even at the risk of seeming very exacting, I can't help saying that I should like a letter as long as your last every time you write.  Short notes give one the feeling of a very small piece of a very good thing to eat, ---they set the appetite on edge, and don't satisfy it, ---a letter leaves you more contented; and yet, after all, I am very glad to get notes; so don't think, when you are pinched for time and materials that it is useless to write a few lines; be assured, a few lines are very acceptable as far as they go; and though I like long letters, I would by no means have you make a task of writing them."

These words from Charlotte were delivered to me not by my friendly postman, but rather by Mrs. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell in the book she wrote entitled "The Life of Charlotte Bronte".  Elizabeth is another of my "dead friends".  She was also a novelist and an avid letter writer, but then most everyone was a letter writer years ago.

 What so many are missing by never putting  pen to paper and sharing their thoughts in letters.  In a hundred years who will remember them and what they had to say?  This isn't you, is it?

Like Charlotte, I prefer long letters to most everything else, but I was happy to know Charlotte also liked short notes.  I  enjoy sending postcards out every day - one a day, just like the vitamin pill.  One day soon  I'll tell you about my postcards.  The thing is,  a postcard looks like a short note right from the start so one doesn't get their hopes up for a long visit and  a postcard contains a picture.  You know what they say about a picture.  A picture is worth a thousand words, so a picture postcard is not as small a thing as you might think.

We have our family and living friends.  We have our pen friends, but it's wonderful to have a collection of "dead friends" too.  Talk about solitude and society simultaneously!  And people of the past have so very much to offer us, both in information as to how things were back then, and also in the realm of inspiration.  If you're looking to meet some "dead friends you'll find lots of  them in the library or your local book store. 

As I share my favorite things with others I'm always thinking of my "dead friends" and what they had to say on so many subjects.  I'm sure they're happy to be remembered by me and others.  Wouldn't you be happy if people remembered you and the things you had to say a hundred years from now?  I should think so.

Descartes, French philosopher, mathematician and writer, (1596-1650) and another of my  "dead friends", put it  well when he said " The reading of good books is like conversation with the finest men of past centuries."  Descartes understood how I feel about my "dead friends".  Do you?  And though he only mentioned books as a way to have conversation with people of the past, I'm sure he would agree that reading personal letters is an even  better way to have those conversations.

 I encourage you to cultivate relationships with your own "dead friends".  They may become some of your favorite things... I mean people.

Solitude and Society Simultaneously

Yes!

Talk about Art Play

[caption id="attachment_2686" align="aligncenter" width="300"] An Art Show in Hudson[/caption]

This weekend Hudson was the scene of an art show at the edge of town.  At least a hundred tents were set up and all sorts of artists were displaying their work.  It's always nice to see what people can come up with and they certainly come up with a lot.

Many people were displaying pictures and paintings, serious and silly ones, using all sorts of methods - water color, pen and ink, oil, photography, computer generated designs...  Some work was framed and some work was not.  There were cards galore for those of us who write letters.

I love to watch each artist talking to perspective customers.  This is just as interesting to me as checking out the art they've created.  I like to imagine them at work in their studio, lost in their craft.  What fun they must have and what satisfaction if their work is not only appreciated by the public, but also purchased.

And it's not only paintings I saw at the art show in Hudson.  There was plenty of  jewelry, ceramics, dried flower designs, lamps made out of bottles, sweaters made out of alpaca yarn.  People don't just sit around.  They get busy exercising their creativity.  Do you?  But so much to pack and set up for display at shows like the one I attended today and some of the art is  very fragile, like these glass ornaments.  You know it's a labor of love making these things, but an even greater labor of love  getting them to market.

I'm always most enchanted with the unusual items I see, like this wall hanging above.  Talk about using creativity to make something fun and new out of old rejected material.

Would you have thought to collect outdated license plates in order to cut them apart, reassemble them, and turn them into fun and artful hangings?  This artist was using his imagination all right, and he was exercising his creativity.  His work seemed to be a big hit with many shoppers too. I know I liked it a lot!  Seeing art like this makes me wonder what treasures I'm throwing away, treasures that could be recycled and turned into art.

Art shows are not about buying things we need.  They're about buying things that strike our fancy.  How about a snazzy hat?  In a perfect world we should all have a budget set up to provide us with plenty of spending money for spontaneous purchases.  I'm sure all the vendors at today's art show would agree with me.  If this were the case, whenever we'd spot an item that we appreciated we could buy it and make ourselves happy and make the artist responsible pretty happy too.

If I had  a 'fru fru' budget set up I would've purchased these two copper frogs to be of service around  my garden. If you look closely you can see one is holding a tray for drinks and the other is holding an ice bucket. How much would you pay for these little fellas?  You know they must have been a lot of work to make, and talk about the skill involved.  Well the two little frogs (really not so little) were selling for $1000 - that's for the pair of them, and you'd have to buy both.  How could you split them up? They're a team.

I give all the artists I saw today a lot of credit and that goes for all artists everywhere.  It's wonderful to have "your thing", something you love to do, and will do, even if there's little money in it.  Do you have such a thing?  Letter writers like me enjoy creative work with paper.  This may be small scale art compared to copper frogs serving cocktails, but whatever our creative work - it's all good!

So hurrah for art play and for artists everywhere.   No matter what form that art play takes, large or small, complicated or simple, practical or playful, lucrative or not, art play is an activity of joy, and art shows are a place where that joy is shared, and you know what I always say about sharing...

Sharing doubles the joy

It's a Country Inn Day

Today I'm enjoying  a Country Inn Day.  Country Inn Days are a little invention I created more than twenty years ago.  I had to invent them because I absolutely love Country Inns and my very favorite Country Inn is about 600 miles away situated in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.  Though Ohio has a few here and there I needed to  come up with something that would satisfy my craving for regular  inn experiences.

Luckily I have a wonderful imagination so this was not a difficult challenge for me.  Also, it happened to be very convenient that my husband, an avid golfer, seemed to need a handy place to play golf most every day.  He therefore joined The Lake Forest Country Club in my Hudson where he happily enjoys his golf and  I am able to enjoy the clubhouse, its gardens and amenities.

I do love historic preservation, and lucky for me, Lake Forest is an old place and looks even older  because of its architectural style.  It's also quite nice that it sits at the edge of a lake, Lake Forest.  There's nothing quite as refreshing as viewing a body of water, well,  except for viewing beautiful gardens and Lake Forest is truly endowed with beautiful gardens.

 I love flowers, don't you?  I love flowers  almost as much as I love letters so Lake Forest  is a very good place for me to spend time writing  letters.  Just look at some of the flowers I can feast my eyes on as I write.

I keep telling my husband I need  the Lake Forest gardener to help me with the garden at our house.  He seems to really know what he's doing.  The view from every window here is a vision of natural beauty.

And though my Country Inn days take me on all sorts of adventures in and out of Hudson, as well as all over the world, having Lake Forest right here in my own neighborhood helps me enjoy some of those very nice inn experiences I love so much - experiences like being served food and drinks in a beautiful old world setting.

[caption id="attachment_2662" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The Jeremiah Brown House[/caption]

Of course many of my inn days are had at my very own home, The Jeremiah Brown House.  This house was built in 1853 so it has what many of my favorite inns have, a historical feeling.   Here at the house I have the fun of playing the part of inn chef, inn gardener, inn maid and innkeeper - inn guest too, but it is still nice to have Lake Forest in the picture.

I do like to remain at my home for many inn days though, because the Jeremiah Brown House is personal and very private.  Any inn guests that do appear must be invited by me.  Sometimes these guests appear for tea or intimate dinners.

 Sometimes I plug in my imagination and the Inn hosts my "dead friends" - so many -   Chopin will be at the piano in the next room playing his waltzes (via cd),

Agatha Christie will be telling me stories of her life on the porch over cocktails (via biographies)... so many wonderful inn experiences are powered by my imagination.  So you see, staying at The Jeremiah Brown House can be the setting for a wonderful inn day.

Still

popping over to Lake Forest for lunch, dinner, or some letter writing adds a little spice to any Country Inn Day.

Step inside with me.

I'll take you for an interior tour on some cold, rainy Autumn day. but the weather is so nice today, we'll cut through the building and go out to the terrace.  Here in the entrance you see the staircase that goes up to the women's locker rooms.

And in this picture you see a bit of the living room looking into the entrance and up at the very high ceiling overhead.  It's here at Lake Forest Country Club that I  give talks on The  Art of Letter Writing to interested groups while they enjoy lunch, dinner or tea.  If you belong to a club and have interest in such an event contact me via my website (carolannmccarthy.com)

See out the window where we're headed?

Now, standing on the patio we are looking out over the pool to the lake beyond.

And a  nice pool it is too, quite peaceful now that most kiddies have gone back to school.

 But I prefer the lower terrace where food and drinks are also served, but where the view of the lake is so much better.

I rather like the tables way at the end of the terrace for here I have solitude yet the society of my letter friends - and here it is I write today's letter,

I'm answering a letter from Candi.  She lives in Mankato, Minnesota.

I am so behind in answering Candi's letter, but she is a darling and I'm sure she forgives me.  I haven't even sent her pictures of my son's graduation from UCLA in June.   Well, better late, than never.

So I write Candi and you from my Country Inn Day.

Country Inn Days happen regularly for me -  every week.  After all, everybody needs to get away from it all now and then, don't they?  Don't you?  And what's better than getting away without having to pack a suitcase,  spend a lot of money and get all tired out?  Country Inn Days grant us adventures, if that's what we want, or rest and relaxation.  We have the power to design our Inn days  any way we like.  How would you design yours?  Plug in your imagination and  see what you come up with ...create some Country Inn Days for yourself.  You'll be glad you did.

So till we meet again I'm signing off from the Inn.

Love, Carol Ann