Last weekend was the Winding Roads Art Tour.

I keep trying to write about it, but nothing I write truly captures the experience.

It was fun.

It was energizing.

It was beautiful.

It was inspiring.

But just as my photos of the day fall short, so do each of those adjectives.

What do I want to tell you?

Do I want to describe the lovely house and beautiful setting that my photos can’t capture (and didn’t because these are the only ones I took)?

Do I want to tell you about the shift I felt, the opening, the blossoming I felt by participating, by doing something different?

Do I want to encourage you in your dreams? To encourage you to stretch yourself and to try things you aren’t certain you’ll enjoy?

Perhaps.

But I think what I most want to say is that I wish you’d been able to come (and if you’re reading this and you did come, thank you! It was great to meet you!).

One of the things I enjoyed most about the Winding Roads Art Tour was chatting with the people who came.

When I shared about my inspiration or my garden or the kind of art supplies I like to use I got to hear about someone else’s garden or childhood favorite plant or yummiest tomato or art they like to make or their forays into embroidery or the project they did with their students.

The common threads running through all those conversations were joy and creativity.

Making connections, even momentary connections, around art and beauty and nature and joy is important. In our broken world, anything that brings us together instead of deepening our divides is.

Last month I invited you to join a conversation. I was delighted to see how much you wanted to share and I want to continue the conversations. So let’s chat some more today.

Imagine you came to my stop on the art tour. What would you tell me? What would you ask? What would you share? What would you say about flowers or your garden or memories of gardens from your past? What would you share about the art you’ve been making or wanting to make or the tools you like to use?

Please don’t be shy. Jump in and chat with the other readers, too. I know “chatting” with words on a computer isn’t the same as chatting in person, but let’s try it and see how things go.

I’m always so grateful you come here and read my words, that what I write inspires you or makes you think, that what I share encourages you or brightens your day.

Thank you! Let’s keep coming together and lifting each other up and spreading joy.