An Unexpected Opportunity To Go To An Art Show

 

Jessie texted me this morning to see if I wanted to meet her at Costco. She needed a few things to take to North Carolina like many boxes of their favorite types of granola which they can't get in Black Mountain. 
I told her that yes, I would love to meet her at Costco although all I really needed was a bottle of Tito's and to see her one more time before they leave. So meet up we did where she bought her granola and a pair of men's Levi's which made me so happy. I have the exact same type which I also got at Costco but mine are let us say, several, inches shorter in the inseam. 
I saw the Beautiful Brenda and got the best hug in the world. That's always a good thing. 

Jessie and I managed to grab a quick lunch but she needed to get to the place where August has been going to an art camp for the last two weeks. Today was the last day of class and they had invited friends and family to join the young artists to take a tour of what they've been doing and perhaps have a little bag of Cheez-Its or a few raw vegetables or a cookie. It was a real art show! The only thing missing was cheap wine being served in plastic cups but they did have organic juice boxes with little straws which really is a better beverage no matter how you judge a beverage.
Jessie asked me if I wanted to go too and as you can probably tell from what I just wrote, I did. I wanted to go very, very much. 

When we got there, August was sitting down, eating his delicious treats. He gave the packaged ones to his mama to put in her purse to take home. 
Smart kid. 
He didn't know I was coming (nor had I) and may have been glad to see me but he's not the type to get all crazy about these things. I think he may have said, "Oh. Hi." 
I was excited enough for both of us but I try to control myself around August because his dignity inspires me. 

After he'd finished his refreshments, he led us to the first room where he had something displayed. That something was the puppet you see above. First they had to draw a picture of what they wanted to make, and then they made it. 
As you can see, August made a dragon. He said it wasn't easy to sew all those things together and I am sure it was not. He also let me in on a little trick of the trade by telling me the dragon's neck was made of PVC pipe. 
Aha! 

There was also a watercolor displayed on the wall in that room which August had painted. I did not get a picture of that and I don't know why. It was a picture of a hand holding what I would call a flagon. The theme for the entire two weeks was something like, "Imagining Different Lands." 
I'm certain that wasn't it exactly but something like that. The kids were taught about the ancient Greeks and possibly Romans and and then from that starting point, created their own imagined creatures, myths,  and objects. 
The next thing August showed us was this. 

The assignment was to create a mythical sea creature which was formed from several different real sea creatures. As you can plainly see, this is what August so aptly named a Shark-A-Pus-Of-War. 
It is a combination of a shark, an octopus, and a Portuguese Man of War. Genius! He told us that the green thing coming from what might be the Shark-A-Pus-Of-War's belly is a snake so really, it was a Serpent Shark-A-Pus-Of-War. 
He also added a bit of a hidden feature which you will only notice if you know what to look for. 

Here we have everyone's favorite sea creatures, SpongeBob SquarePants along with his good friends, Squidward and Mr. Krab who is also SpongeBob's boss at the Krusty Krab. 
I may not know shit about Pokemon or the newest crop of super heroes, but I know and love SpongeBob and his watery world. I like the shipwreck too. That boat was absolutely doomed when it split in half. 

So then August let us take his picture with both of us. 

We are both pursing our lips. There are two more pictures of us where I am kissing that boy but it looks like I'm eating his face and we'll just skip that. I need to work on my kissing skills, obviously.
Please note how tall that child is. He, too, will be towering over me soon. 
And then I got a few pictures of August and his mama. 

I don't think I even need to say anything about that sweetness. 

I did not cry when I told August goodbye although I do believe I had set my mouth in a way so as not to cry in that picture. 

And I did not cry when I hugged Vergil goodbye and I did not cry when I hugged Jessie goodbye. I wish I had gotten to see and hug Levon too but he was at basketball camp. And I will see them all in July. 
At least that's the plan. 

I'm home. We got good rain. The bed is made up with fresh, clean sheets. Mr. Moon is home, and of course- martinis. 

The power was off in Lloyd for several hours and has just come back on. With our generator, we had no loss of services and I am more than grateful for that. I was out picking beans and the sky was growing darker and darker and suddenly, there was a great boom of thunder, a huge bolt of lightening, and within three minutes, the power was off. This is how it is when you live in a county where there are probably a million more trees than there are people. 
If a tree falls in the forest which no one hears but it hit a line and all the power goes off, did it really fall?
Yes. Yes it did. 

Safe travels to the Weatherfords. 

Happy Friday to you. 

Love...Ms. Moon