Last week I had three delightful visitors.


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I had the pleasure of meeting Louise Kennedy last summer when David was living on the mountain. Louise and he met on the third floor of the Sewanee Library. I believe they were usually the only two there as he prepared for the Tennessee Bar and she worked on her thesis for the Sewanee School of Letters - a program offering a Master's Degree in creative writing.

It has been my good fortune that she paused by David's table one afternoon and introduced herself.

This summer Louise returned to complete her thesis. The last week of the program her children, Ivor and Fiona, arrived. It was during this last week that the three visited my home.


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Prior to their arrival I was all atwitter. (Yes, that's a real word.) Children don't visit my home - and I adore children and wanted them to feel welcomed and precious and greeted with giddy hospitality.

So, I dashed to the grocery store with a purchase plan anchored mostly in what I remembered I liked as a kid and what my own children had enjoyed. I grabbed a cart and zoomed to the Pepperidge Farm aisle.

It was a no-brainer:

Pepperidge Farm Chessmen Cookies. *check*

Pepperidge Farm Goldfish with a modern splash of rainbow colors. *check*

M&Ms. *check*

Real Coke in tiny bottles with caps that required a standard metal bottle opener. *check*

Obligatory healthy food (grapes) *check*













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Louise and Ivor and Fiona arrived at the appointed time. Without hesitation, they entered my home with arms full of hugs - the type that old women who live in the woods by themselves... love. I gladly lightened the burden. I was so touched. I felt like a beloved, deeply missed grandma.

Ivor and Fiona showed a keen interest in the art that's all atwitter (I feel compelled to use this world again) throughout my home with color and shapes and textures. Favorites were noted with me elaborating the provenance of pieces they were especially attracted to. I never had the chance to let Ivor know that I noticed his observation of the lone apple sitting under the domed cake plate on my kitchen counter. The apple is there because it pleases my eyes. It delighted me that he noticed it.

Ivor and Fiona were also attentive and appreciative of the refreshments I'd selected. And then they flew out the backdoor to explore my surrounding woods and pathways I've created over the years.

Louise and I chatted while Ivor and Fiona explored. Also, no one enters my home anymore without being given an assignment that usually includes a stepstool and hammer. I put Louise to work! I'm so grateful for those willing to pitch in for me.



Louise & Reenie (Taken Last Year)




Louise at Work

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When Fiona & Ivor returned from their explore, we moseyed over to Olivia's place for a visit with Lewis the Hedgehog!

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Fiona & Ivor with Lewis the Hedgehog


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Then it came time for the visit to end. I was given another round of hugs with words of appreciation for the good time had.

I really and truly can't remember the last time I had so much fun... so much honest fun... so much uncontrived fun... so much easy fun.


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Several days later I made a cameo appearance at Fiona's twelfth birthday celebration.





I wrapped up a gift of one of Fiona's favorites in my home. It was a classic example of Outsider Art - about an 8-inch tall figure of a man made out of bottle caps. It's a piece I've had for a long while and just now was surprised to discover I don't have a photo of it... like so much other art in my collection that I'm trying to update. She'd selected Cap Man as one of her favorites and I'd explained some of why it's especially representative of Outsider Art... and that she had a discerning eye.

I couldn't possibly give Fiona a gift and not have one for Ivor, so I wrapped a wee painting that I'd acquired from the nuns at St. Mary's Convent on the mountain. Years ago, they'd brought items back from a mission trip to Haiti.

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The following are emails I sent to Louise:

Louise: I so enjoyed your children's enthusiasm for my collection. Nothing pleases me more than having people in my home - immersing themselves in the cacophony of colors and shapes and genres. xo

Louise: I enjoy your friendship so much. The past month has been an adjustment for me - the inevitable changes. I have a fabulous posse here on the mountain... I could drown in companionship everyday if I wanted, but I've needed time alone. Today was the perfect elixir. Your youthful sensibilities and the pureness of your children twirling into a home that is so very hungry for twirls... It was good medicine for me.


Louise: You are probably on the road now, Sewanee a rearview swatch of verdant. I'm so pleased the children enjoyed my gifts. Even before the first unfurling of gift wrap, my heart pictured the pleasure they would express. I envisioned eyes round with surprise and soft whoops of pleasure. I knew all this because it was so obvious to me from the get-go that your children are exceptional. They aren't the type of children to ask, "So, where are the batteries?" (Not that that's always a bad thing.) Wishing you a GREAT escape with Don. xoxo


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It doesn't happen often, but I've got eager eyes and ears that jump to life when I detect a child is interested in art. This has been true since the very beginnings of my collection. I relish the opportunity to encourage any or all possibilities.

David and I once found a trashed guitar lying on the sand in Laguna Beach. We took it home and called it *Broken Melody*





Then there was also the time when David was bicycling with his father and came upon this Caprice hubcap and insisted on stopping to retrieve it to take home to me because he considered it art. We called it *Heart like a Wheel* (I wish I could've seen his father's face.)






So when I meet children like Ivor and Fiona, my heart does cartwheels. I restrain myself - and try so hard to not be scary with my enthusiasm when I see genuine curiosity in my collection. (This is true for people of all ages. *smiling*)

And that's what happened when I met Ivor and Fiona. I swoon to think of the adventures that await them.


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Now I'm all atwitter about my own grandchildren's visits during the ensuing months. The Oregon branch arrives in early August and then Thanksgiving will bring the KCMO grandchildren to my home.