16 | August | 2013 | DCTdesigns Creative Canvas

I love road trips, driving, getting away. I have a game I play called radio roulette. Now this works much better if I’m by myself (others tend to get annoyed). But I press the scan button on the radio and let it flip though the channels until I hear something interesting. Then I stop to listen. I repeat this till the next musical creation catches my fancy. Pretty obvious why this might not work with a group in the car. Especially if you need to reach a consensus with only 5 second sound bites. But since I was driving all by myself radio roulette was in full force.

Now there is a stretch of I-5 between Bow and Bellingham that reminds me of the drive into the mountains of Colorado past Dillion. The windy road, evergreens and lake running alongside the highway calms me. There is almost a sense of familiarity, like home, that takes over as all the tension drains from my body. The relief is instantaneous. I have no explanation for this feeling. But it never fails.

When I went to school in Boulder there was legend that Arapaho Cheif Niwot cursed the valley upon the gold seekers arrival. He said “People seeing the beauty of this valley will want to stay, and their staying will be the undoing of the beauty.” Now living there the legend morphed over time. It was foretold that once you took residence in the valley you would never be satisfied elsewhere. You would always yearn to return. Silly superstition but I’ll tell you I can still feel that same odd sense of home every time I visit.

My vacation was short. But truly when are they long enough? I met some fabulous people and had a great night on the town. I’m ever grateful to Kristina for her Karaoke support both moral and literal. Had she not been there to help me with the melody on the verse of Pink’s- F**kin’ Perfect I’d have been lost. And the rap section forget about it. It was all her genius. Besides i think it has been at least 10 years since I sang in public. Sorry Bellingham.

Here are a few photos from my vacation. Clockwise: (1) Proving that sometimes love simply blooms. (2) Fairhaven’s Charm (3) An Artist at work (4) My date for the night- couldn’t resist his eye contact.

The next day I had to head back to reality. The tensions returned the moment I hit the hustle bustle of urban commuters heading home. And as is life, things like the workers I hired to build the shed fell through. But I’ve solicited the help of few girlfriends for Saturday morning. I’ll be plying them with coffee and donuts (caffeine and sugar seem mandatory for early morning manual labor). Wish us luck.

The highlight of my week though was selling another print on Etsy. I am still always excited when someone likes my work enough to buy one and adorn their walls, ever humbled really. So Aussie Amy Thank You. Love Song will be on it’s way very soon.