Celebrating Early

It has been a whirlwind of a weekend. Women's party Friday night, then the openings last night. Today I did some more work on taxes, a wee bit of work on some cards, threw the brushes in the cleaner, and then around 2 took off for Woodstock with Karen to see the two art shows.

It was warm, so we put the top down and had the first ride of the open air together. The streets in town were busy with locals and tourists, enjoying the lovely late winter day.

I did not go to the St. Patrick's day parade; too crowded, too much drinking and frivolity for me on a Sunday. It is the one day I seek peace and often solitude. But on the way home, we did stop at Skytop Restaurant as friends of ours were playing music there, so for an hour we sipped on a pint of some excellent amber beer, and listened to the music.

The other day a friend asked me if I was going to something that involved crowds. I laughed, and told him that I did not like crowds. To know me is to find that quite odd as I appear on the surface to be such a gregarious and social person. And indeed I can.....charm the rattles off a snake, talk to anyone at length, or host a party with grace and great geniality. But I can also go very deep into hiding, for the most part I hate large groups of people, (I think it is genetic) and am very happy not answering my phone or seeing anyone for days on end. I have a lot of friends, and that hermit part of me often makes it difficult for me to be a good friend to all of them. I find that I have to pick a few, and try and see the rest whenever I can. The Bob Dylan concert last year almost threw me over the edge, (hours getting out of the parking lot!) thus you will find me in small intimate concert halls, shopping in small open air markets, and wishing that I could move to a tiny town in Europe with no highways or box stores. (oh and Walmart totally freaks me out!)

So another day, another secret. Back to hiding.

Patti O Hermit Crab