Busily preparing for the North Coast Nature Fest this weekend. One of the local nature centers has a 2  day celebration of Spring, with wildflower walks, lectures, live animal programs, bird banding, live folk music & a lot of other fun activities. The nature center itself is full of educational displays, as well as a nature art show, which I'm part of this year. I've been to this event as a spectator, but this will be my fist time participating. Tomorrow(Friday), people are allowed to unload their stuff & then the show is 10-5 on Sat. and Sunday.
    It's always a lot of work gathering up everything & putting it into the car. I've got bronchitis, so it's making everything harder. Went to the dr. on Monday & got some meds, but they don't seem to be helping much, which is frustrating. I really don't need to be scaring people away from my table by barking at them. lol
    Anyways, wish me luck and I'll be sure to take pics to post next week.

      Yesterday I went out into the cold & rain to a craft show at St. Mary Magdalene
Byzantine Church. It was a nice show, but poorly attended, probably because of
the weather.    
      The church part
was open so people could go in, which I had hoped for before I went. I love seeing
churches and had never been in a Byzantine one before that I could recall. I
really liked it; the icons, the stained glass, soft lighting, the atmosphere. 
       As I was looking at the stained glass
windows along each side of the sanctuary, I was startled to see that one of them was
dedicated to the memory of someone I used to know. I knew he had died, but
didn't know about the window. His family was one on my paper route in school and I became friends with his mom. I watched him grow up. He had gotten
married & moved to Indiana. Soon afterwards, he died in a motorcycle accident.
This was his window.   
     They had the candles one
could light, something that is increasingly rare to find. So I  lit one for a friend's comatose friend. It was tall candle & has burned for hours, a symbol of hope.   
     There was a mystical
peacefulness in that place, something that I wanted to bring away with me. I got
so much more than a t-shirt at the craft show.  

     At the beginning of the week my arthritis went berzerk & then I got  a sore throat on Tuesday. My throat is still hurting &  a cold joined it, so I'm feeling yucky. I'm drinking lots of orange juice & tea & resting as much as the neighbor's vacuuming allows, but am feeling muddled & dopey, so haven't been able to update or comment. Sorry. I'll be back when I'm feeling better.