Young Artist

Thank you . . .

by Sailor, age 9

GOOD-BYE, OHIO; HELLO, FLORIDA!

Good-bye fun times, like the live music by Sam and the Funky Nation at the Easton Town Center with my new friend, Kelly, who is the niece of the awesome artist, Janeen Mason.

Kelly, Sam and Donna

Good-bye lovely new friends . . .

Kelly and Donna

Meg

Amy

Pat and her new friend, a butterfly

Good-bye Thurber House . . .

Front of Thurber House

Muggs -- the dog who bit people -- fountain in outdoor Muggs Garden

Thurber House Dining Room

Pathway leading from house

Side yard and site of literary picnics

Good-bye young writers . . .

And young docents, who give fun tours of the Thurber House . . .

 The amazing teen writing group, some of whom drive an hour each way to attend the meetings.

And many dedicated, fun counselors . . .

John and Iris

Good-bye Topiary Park behind the Columbus Library (where I saw a homeless man pee on a bush).

Good-bye cool libraries . . .

Castle in Children's Department at Columbus Metropolitan Library

Good-bye Park of Roses . . .

Park of Roses

Good-bye Okapi (from the Columbus Zoo) . . .

Good-bye cool bridge on which I ate an apple during my 26 mile ride on the Olentangy Trail . . .

Good-bye Loft Bookstore in the German Village with your 32 rooms (that I may or may not have actually gotten lost in).

Good-bye crazy man dancing in a chicken suit at the Doo Dah Parade on the 4th of July . . .

One of the saner things seen at the Doo Dah Parade

Good-bye crazy boot camp class at Columbus Commons . . .

I believe we were hopping like frogs at this point.

Good-bye Jim Fischer, who created this fun, 3-minute video of the Children's Writer-in-Residence at the Thurber House . . .

Me taking a photo of Jim Fischer taking a video of me.

Good-bye funky pig from the North Market . . .

Good-bye authors I met at the literary picnics, like Mark Titus . . .

Mark Titus and me

Good-bye signed author photos all over the walls.  (I'll sign my photo tomorrow.)  Can't believe how many amazing authors have visited the Thurber House, like these guys . . .

Bill Bryson

T.C. Boyle

Good-bye sign I see every evening when I retire to the third floor apartment . . .

"The Attic where Grandfather used to sleep; now home to our Writer-in-Residence."

Good-bye view I've seen from my window every night for a month . . .

Good-bye bed . . .

Good-bye ghost . . .









HELLO, FLORIDA . . .

HELLO, HOME!!!

And the Winner is . . .

The winner of the autographed Mark Titus book, DON'T PUT ME IN COACH:  MY INCREDIBLE NCAA JOURNEY FROM THE END OF THE BENCH TO THE END OF THE BENCH from this blog post is . . .

DEB!!!

Congratulations!  The autographed book is on its way to you.  (Thanks to my friend random.org for choosing our winner.)

Last Weekend in Columbus

So glad I got to spend Friday evening with friends Donna and Jeff Keller and Sophia, who is beautiful inside and out.

Jeff and Donna

They treated me to dinner at Mary Kelley's and gave me a great tour of the area, which included, a giant cement cornfield in Dublin, OH.

109 cement ears of people-sized corn

Saturday, Pat Shannon, took me to the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.

Thanks, Pat!

These were in the Desert room.

Chihuly artwork appeared throughout

These Chihuly pieces were above a glass ceiling

Even the kids' musical group, the Shazzbots, played in front of Chihuly art!

The butterfly room was way cool.  Check out this little boy, who was fascinated by the butterfly that landed on his sister's arm.

Here's a closeup of a blue butterfly . . .

 

My favorite part was the glass blowing.  (Sorry, Pat, for making you sit through, um, three demonstrations.)  John Sharvin created beautiful pieces.  Check out his work.

Afterwards, we strolled the outdoor gardens and may or may not have gone to Jeni's for ice cream.

Sunday, my college friend, Mike Kutz, and his lovely wife Rose Mary, drove 2-1/2 hours each way from West Virginia to spend the day.

Rose Mary and Mike Kutz

We had the best time catching up.  We strolled the German Village and ate at the original Max and Erma's restaurant.  Then I may or may not have gotten lost in the 32-room bookstore, The Book Loft.  After that, we strolled around the Park of Roses and may or may not have gotten ice cream at Graeter's.

Park of Roses

Now?  One more week of writing workshops at the Thurber Camp, a homeless shelter and a library and lots of writing, then . . . HOME SWEET HOME.

Waiting patiently