bye for a while

bye for a while blog readers... I am in Wyoming at Jentel Artist Residency which is a bit of heaven. I'm here for 4 weeks which I know will zoom by. Residency... there are 6 of us, 3 men, 3 women. 2 writers, a film maker, me, a sculptor and drawer, and another painter. We share this huge, beautiful house on 1,000 acres of land. It is so beautiful here it boggles my mind. My studio is HUGE, and even has a bed to rest in. I'm scared as usual that I won't live up to such a wonderful gift, but I'm just ignoring those thoughts. The internet here is reallllly slow and i didn't bring a computer on purpose but I promise to regale you all in 4 weeks.
much love to all, Janice

one more thing...

I haven't gotten any comments in a LONG time on this blog and it makes me wonder if something is broken... (maybe it's me being boring?). I checked the preferences and it seems to be in order, but ???

What happened today...

This afternoon I vacuumed the floors at MECCA. It was fun, I got to look at everything and visit with the MECCA shoppers. And then something really good happened.

Two young men and a woman came into the store. They all looked like they were having a hard time, they were disheveled and not too clean and one was carrying a large backpack. The woman asked if there was yarn and a crochet hook and how much were they? She sounded angry and defensive. But little by little she softened. I got her a stool to sit on, the young men looked through the crochet hooks, and the amazing MECCA worker patiently answered her questions.

I told her the colors she chose were beautiful and the first smile appeared. She asked the worker if there was any material she could make a blanket with and the MECCA worker told her when she could come and use the sewing machine. By now she was beaming. 

As they were leaving they asked one more question, "do you have any sleeping bags or tarps?" The MECCA worker told them were to go to get help. 

That yarn gave that young woman a creative outlet and something to feel good about. It's why I love MECCA so much. Everyone gets to make things. It's about access. My guess is something like the story above happens most days there. 

What a magic place. 

Go visit!

MECCA