Art Away

Gotta say, the drive up to Hoosick Falls wipes me clean out. It’s generally just 3 and a half to four hours, most of the way is absolutely gorgeous and traffic is usually not heinous but still – it’s exhausting.

On Friday, I followed this truck, at right, for a good part of the way there. Why? The damn smiley face cheered me up.

I’d love to take the train instead but Amtrak’s site is, pretty much, incomprehensible. It looks like there are no direct routes to Albany so, Bast only knows how long the trip would take. Though I'm def not keen on bus travel, Greyhound looks like a much better option. They seem to have straight through Boston/Albany routes and, better still, it’s less than half the price.

Helen and I buzzed over to Bennington as we do on every visit. I was surprised and saddened to find so many closed shops – maybe as many as half the stores were empty. It was, seriously, a bit shocking. Bennington’s a college town and a tourist destination – I’d think they’d do well, economically speaking, no matter what. Nope.

Fiddleheads is, mega happily, still open. I LOVE this gallery/crafts shop!  I found this bizarre little mug which screamed at me “JEN MUST HAVE ME!” (yeah, it yelled at me in all caps/bold face...RILLY!) Natch, I couldn’t ignore or turn down a cup who’d gone all emo. Also too, the wee tankard was right, Jen loves him.

From there we were pulled into (damn tractor beams!) an antique/junk shop where I found this Depression glass set of sherbet glasses and matching small punch bowl. Did I need them? Fuck no, but the price was insane ($16 for the whole lot!) so how could I walk away? As it turns out, the proprietor had misquoted the amount – it was supposed to be $16 per piece. He stuck with his original quote though and these beauties now live here in Valhalla. Yea!

Before motoring home, we stopped by Bennington Pottery. I haven’t been there since I was a kid and was psyched to check it out. There’s now a very nice, slick sales shop so we didn’t do a walk through of the studio/manufacturing floor. No big though – the work didn’t strike my fancy at all (‘cept to say MEH!). I was a lot more impressed by the mosaic moose standing half in/half out the front display window.

Coco gave me a raft of shit when I got home to Valhalla. Of course. Where have you been?! Yes, Jen and Oni visited but I NEED my lap, dammit! Also too, gimme some treats NOW, Woman! Yes, Princess knows how to sling the guilt. You'd think she'd been raised by nuns, fer fuck's sake.

I'm quite sure she would've given me instantaneous absolution had I brought that moose home for her. Our girl's a true art connoisseur, ya know.