Virtual Travel

Every now and then, I go on a virtual traveling expedition. I looked ahead at my schedule for this summer, and I already feel tired! (But excited; summer on Maine's coast is always like one big carnival, from about now to Labor Day and beyond.) So I am thinking ahead to what would be fun to do in October, after things slow down enough to let me get away for a little fun.

In reality, I know I would never be able to really find the time or the money to go on this fantasy trip. But it's fun to dream....

I'd start on October 1 & 2, with the Wool Festival at Taos. I loved New Mexico when I was there earlier this year (even though I was sick as a dog, New Mexico was still gorgeous!), and the Taos region is known for art of all kinds. The wool festival would be a great way for me to be completely immersed in wool and exotic fibers for a couple of days. How lovely...

Then I'd skip down to Albuquerque for the 2005 Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta -- it starts on September 30, but since I'd be at the Taos Wool Festival October 1 and 2, I'd join the balloon festival already underway on October 3 through 6. This fiesta has nothing to do with fiber, but I've always loved hot air balloons (must be a throw back to my early love of the Wizard of Oz), so one of my lifetime ambitions is to get to Albuquerque for this fiesta sometime. The fiesta actually lasts through October 9, but I'd leave on October 6 and fly back east to ......

Cape Breton, Nova Scotia for the Celtic Colours International Festival, October 7 through 15. I don't believe I have a drop of Irish or Scottish blood in me (well, maybe a little Scottish, since there were Herricks in my ancestry), but I've always loved Celtic music. Probably, because I grew up in far northern Maine, and Canadian television formed my earlier memories way more than American television did. My childhood tv friends were The Friendly Giant, Miss Ann, Mr. Dress-up and Suzanne (? I think that was her name; she taught French on tv). Later there was The Beachcombers. Ahh.. Anyway, the Maritimes and their Celtic culture takes me back to my beginnings, and I'd love to get up to Cape Breton (a fabulous place to visit any time, because it is gorgeous) and listen to some hot fiddle music, some plaintive bagpipes, and some blood-stirring drums.

Then, back home to knit and spin and design and chat with lovely customers and help people with their knitting. It's a good life. And it's been a fun virtual trip. :)