Dino comic reredux

And now I'm back home. And there are a lot of reasons to be happy about that, too. One very big one is Charlie, and the dino-comics he makes:

To be away

And now I'm here, in Vermont.

At the Vermont Studio Center

Before I came here I knew this would be a Thing that would Change My Life. Which is silly, because everything does. But, what I meant, I guess, was that, good or bad, spending two weeks in a brand new place with brand new people would be an always, already thing.

And. Of course. It's the most wonderful thing. The new people I've met stretch and warm my heart. And the Alberta-familiar but not-quite landscape begs to be explored, run, walked, skiied, snow-shoed, each day. And my little studio draws ideas and creativity out of me, as does the fact that people all around are doing the same. Out my window, across the river, I can see the painters in their studios, next door Stuart works on poetry like careful gardening, upstairs Quincy transcribes interviews with an 80-year-old violin maker.

And we all meet and talk about it over dinner the VSC provides warm and vegetarian and new each night,

and then back to work. Excitedly and glad, always, already.

This Driving Family

Yes. I am in Vermont.

Yes. I flew into Toronto first.

And then my sister and I drove down the St. Lawrence, through this eastern mild-winter, from our country into our mixed-feelings neighbour. And we saw everything and we sang the whole time.

A photo essay, of sorts:

Goodbye Toronto, hello 401. Erin drives our rented cube-of-a-car:


Two different flavours of blue-fuel-non-water:


In rural Ontario, the fine print is key:


Bridge to America:


And suddenly, everything looks more Libertarian:


And we do tourist things:


Both of us do:


And visit a graveyard for frozen flavours:


And then it was time to part ways: