We didn’t leave the Greater Kansas City area last week during my son’s Spring Break. We stayed put, slept in our own comfy beds every night, journeyed to wonderful places during the day, and ate great food at all the wrong times of the day. It was awesome.
A month or so ago, we started making a list of all the places I had, though the years, been telling our son we would see “sometime”. I had been making this “sometime list” since he was old enough to read – maps, road signs, magazines, etc. Over the years, he has been known to say, “Hey, Mom, can we go to the Thomas Hart Benton Home this weekend?” or, “Mom, have I ever been to The John Wornall Home?” or, “Mom, when are we going Fort Osage?” To all of these, over many years, I have responded that yes we would go to these places but just not “right now/this weekend/soon”.
So Spring Break 2010 was a journey to of all these accumulated places we’ve never been to as a family. A listing of it all would be boring – although none of the destinations were dull – but a real highlight was the day we traveled to Sibley, Missouri, to see Fort Osage. Find out more for yourself here. It’s worth a trip. We had a ball.
And, just when I was least expecting it, one of my favorite art forms appeared – forged metal. This door lock had me transfixed, and I love the way the worn gray wood is the perfect backdrop for the metal. I was instantly reminded of all the blacksmith shops I’ve stood in with our son, over many vacations and just as many years, while he planted himself stock still as metal was bent with flame. (He still keeps by his bed the nail that was made right before his eyes at Monticello.)
My mind wandered while my husband took photos of the lock for me, and I thought of the new artist we are representing at stuff, George Rousis, and how his metal work has ignited keen interest in our store. We even started doing progressive stamping on metal. We have never carried a metal smith before. Silversmiths? Yes. Steel-, iron-, and copper-smiths? Not so much. Until now. I had a discussion with a customer just before Spring Break about the balusters and balustrade that George was custom forging for their home and how “organic” they were. His eyes were lit from within as he described it to me – and I had that same look a few days later in the crisp sunshine.
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Yesterday it was back to the “real world”, as my son put it several years ago when vacation was over. He has returned to school. I, however, made sure I checked out George’s pieces in the cabinets and on our walls at work this morning. That way, I can pretend Spring Break hasn’t ended for me.
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