People Talk to Me

The LFTN Spring Workshop ended Saturday night. I asked Bob and Deana to drop me off at the airport early Sunday morning so I could decompress. I can do social activities for a weekend if I get some time to rest and recharge. I have no problem sitting by myself in an airport for a few hours or even an entire day and always have something with me to occupy the time. Because it was so early, I couldn’t drop off my bag and go through security to the gate, so I found a seat in the ticketing area and sat down.

I’m still making hexies and had a stack of them to sew into hexie flowers, so I took out my project bag and got to work. All of a sudden, I heard a woman exclaim, “She’s making hexies!” and two older ladies bustled over and sat down next to me. They had been at the Paducah Quilt Show in Paducah, Kentucky, and were on their way home to Edmonton, Alberta. They assumed that I, too, had been at the quilt show.

We chatted for a bit—mostly, they talked about the quilt show—until two more quilting friends of theirs came over. I offered up my seat and excused myself to go find some coffee. What I really did was to go down to baggage claim to find another place to sit. My reasoning was that people in the baggage claim area are in a hurry to retrieve their stuff and leave, so no one was likely to talk to me.

I found another quiet spot and sat down. After a few minutes, a woman joined me a few seats away. I could tell she was watching me. Her curiosity finally got the better of her. “What are you doing?” she asked. I explained the process to her. She said that she wanted to learn how to quilt because she works with women refugees in Roanoake, Virginia, and thought quilting would be a good activity for them. We chatted for a bit until I saw that it was time for the Alaska Airlines counter to open, so I excused myself to drop my bag off and get through security.

When I got to the gate, I sat down and took out a book to read. No one talked to me there.

I must look approachable, because this happens all the time. I’ve had people start up conversations with me in the middle of Tool World, at Lowes, when the husband and I go on date night. DD#1 says tourists in Ketchikan often stop her and ask her to take photos of them.

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Deana has a blog and did a fun write-up of our week together at their house and the spring workshop. She also has better pictures. Go check it out. I borrowed the pic of the three of us just before the workshop started:

I should mention that Bob and I have been friends for 43 years. We sat next to each other in high school band when I was a freshman and sophomore and he was a junior and senior. He is an excellent musician and a much better trombone player than I am, although that bar is pretty low, especially these days. The three of us had a lot of fun hanging out together. Deana also sews, cans, crochets, (and knits! because I taught her at the workshop), and is a most awesome cook.

I knew April was going to be a marathon month—and it was—but it hasn’t let up much. My schedule should ease a bit next week. I got a text from our pig supplier while I was at the workshop, letting us know our piglets were ready. We had asked for piglets around June 1, so that was a bit of a surprise. I told her I was traveling and we wouldn’t be able to get them until this coming weekend. The husband spent last weekend getting the pig pasture ready. We are getting the piglets tomorrow morning. Our homestead foundation pie social is tomorrow afternoon, although the weather forecast is for cold and rain, so I suspect attendance will be down. And then it’s back to playing piano at church on Sunday. Our next big event is the homestead foundation plant sale on May 20. After that, it will be time to put plants in the garden!