Greeting Cards and Downtown Event

The birthday greeting cards above are three that Mother made yesterday for kids in the family.

Since there was no water aerobics session today due to the college being out on spring break, we got up late, and I exercised on my treadmill after breakfast. We had nothing on our agenda for today, so we just did this and that until after lunch, when Mother and I continued our October movie fest... this time watching Johnny Depp in "Sleepy Hollow," rated "R" for violence. This film isn't as bloody as "Sweeney Todd," despite all the head lopping, but it has lots of eerie moments, many of them done humorously by Depp, who plays the somewhat inept and always frightened Ichabod Crane (Crane jumps up on a chair at the sight of a spider in one scene).

Later, Hubbie and I went downtown for "Second Friday" events. We started at the art gallery to attend a retrospective art exhibit by a 70-something artist. This artist is also a member of Master Gardeners, and is the same one that I did photos for recently. I photographed some of her paintings for a prospective book she is putting together.

This lady is a very talented artist, versatile in several mediums, including jewelry making. This is the first time we have had the opportunity to see some of her acrylics and watercolors, which are just beautiful. Each Friday she paints with a group of women who are breast cancer survivors.

From the gallery, we meandered up and down Main Street, where various musicians were playing in front of businesses. At the pocket park, a group from one of the colleges performed Renaissance dances, but that happened before we arrived downtown. Not a problem, though, since we've seen these dancers during Renaissance Days at the college.

We went on to a new antiques/collectibles/flea market mall that opened this month. We were surprised at how large it is...it's in a former furniture store, which has been modified to extend to the storage area in the back. There are many booths of goods in the mall. It was fun looking through the booths, but I only turned up one item to buy...an audiobook on CD for $3.

At one booth, there was a faux fur (mink-like) collar, with a clip at the head to attach to the tail. I had one very much like it when I was in Catholic high school, back in the 1950s. One day, when I wore it to school, one of the boys dared me to attach it to the veil of the nun's habit who was teaching our class. I did, and as soon as Sister discovered it, I was summarily sent to the principal's office. I don't remember my punishment. All I remember was the giggles of my classmates as Sister strode up and down between our desks with that ridiculous "animal" attached to her veil.

Touring the mall was like a walk down memory lane, finding items similar to things we remember our parents having, or that we had in our own homes. Often are the times we have regretted getting rid of items that would bring a fortune today.

While we were at the mall, a lady exclaimed that we should all go over to the bay door windows to see the sunset...a spectacular view as the sun glowed through cloulds, turning them to deep pink and purple against a dark blue sky.

After the mall, we went back to the pocket park, where I intended to catch the local dance studio students in a performance, but we got there just as it ended, drat it. So we walked over to the dance studio, where the doors were open, and a group was dancing to some new step that Hubbie and I are unfamiliar with, which meant that Hubbie was not game to join in.

By this time, it was 7:30. A series of "Betty Boop" cartoons was to be shown at a coffee house at 8:30, but Hubbie didn't want to wait around for it, so we came on home, and I played a movie I'd recorded on DVR..."Hoosiers." This 1986 "PG" movie, starring Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, and Dennis Hopper, is very good. I don't remember seeing it before, but even if I had, it was worth seeing again. It's about a volatile middle-aged man who comes to a small town to whip a basketball team into shape, but has to overcome the town folks' hostility and rejection of him.