Re-entry

I am home from the Intermountain Weavers' Conference.  And what a wonderful conference it was!  I have some idea of what goes into a conference that runs smoothly, so smoothly that it seems to be effortless.  But to do that requires a LOT of effort, mainly beforehand but also during the conference itself.

First, the site, Durango, Colorado, is beautiful.  It was warmer than usual while we were there but the humidity was very low which always makes it more comfortable.  Sweating works when it is dry!

I had a full class, fifteen participants.  They had widely different levels of experience, which is common for me, but all of them worked hard and did well.  It was interesting to watch them create stripe designs using black construction paper on Bristol board (about the same as poster board).  Right away it was easy to spot who liked simple designs and those who created more elaborate ones.  Neither is better--just different.  If I could hire a sky-writer I would commission the phrase "Different is good!"

I threw in a lot of information that wasn't advertised, as usual, and they stayed with me the entire way, even those who had been weaving for only about a year.  What brave souls!  I honor courage and know that to take a new class requires courage, so I feel very tender toward my students.  They were so good!

I drove to this conference as I mentioned.  I was 1 for 2.  There were no horned larks at the Crescent Junction rest stop.  It was very hot at about 1 or 2 when I got there, so that might have had something to do with it.  I'd have checked on the way back but it was starting to get dark and the cataracts that are developing make driving after dark unpleasant and unsettling for me. 

I delayed my departure from Monticello the next morning so that I wouldn't get to Dove Creek too early to buy beans.  The place where I stop is on the far side (coming from the west) of Dove Creek.  I missed seeing the "Pinto Bean Capitol of the World" sign and asked about it at the store.  I was told that the governor told them it had to be taken down because apparently one of the Dakotas now grows more pinto beans than Dove Creek.  In case you go, it's the  Adobe Milling Company (on the left as you drive towards Durango) and doesn't seem to have changed in the decades I have been stopping there.  Great beans.

Here is a picture I took along the road to Crescent Junction.  I hadn't gotten to the part of Utah with red rocks but this mesa off the road with the gorgeous cumulus clouds growing behind it caught my eye.

Sad to say, the rest of the pictures were taken in B/W mode which made them unmemorable.  With sunglasses on I didn't see what I had done!


I have been working on re-entry tasks: laundry, reassuring Bob and Lola, grocery shopping, banking, bill paying, correspondence, mowing the lawn, watering the garden, etc.  There is always a lot to do before leaving and at least as much once I return.

I am still replaying the memories of IWC, the people there, old friends and new ones.....