North Hampton Art Festival

I believe it was during the last week of May that we attended the North Hampton Art Festival. It was small...small enough to make me wonder how it could have qualified as a Festival. But then I'm not really sure what the qualifications are for a festival. And how would that be different from say....a gala or a fair? Ok, so we attended this tiny festival.

Some of the art on display blew me away and many of the items would have loved to come home and live with me I'm sure. But alas...I haven't got large quantities of disposable income. In other words, art ain't cheap. But I didn't let my lack of funds stop me from appreciating the talents of the various artists. And I took pictures of some of my favorites.

I did catch some flack for my picture taking too. Some guy, who claimed not to be offended by pictures being taken of HIS art, came up to me and told me that it was not the thing to take pictures of anyone's art without asking first. I was floored and confused. First I was wondering why he would be saying anything if he wasn't offended. Who was he speaking for and why can't they speak for themselves? Is there really anyone that's offended at all? Second...and more importantly...are you kidding me??!!
He seemed very vague and unable to clarify why picture taking was a bad thing. He never really gave me a reason why at all...just said it was rude not to ask the artist first. I told him I should think they'd be flattered if nothing else.

It wasn't until much later that it occurred to me that they might be afraid of being copied. But then, that idea was shot down because they have websites and anybody can go there and get a copy of their artwork. Their ideas are never safe once it's displayed to the world. Plus I was open and honest about my picture taking while others were using their cell phones...which seems kind of sneaky to me.
After speaking to a few people about this incident another thought came to me. If they don't want pictures taken they need to post that where people can see it. There were no signs of any kind anywhere...just price tags.
So....as far as I'm concerned, case closed. I will continue to take pictures, especially at that 'festival' until they start posting signs telling me not to. Ain't I a stinker??

Bigelow Hollow Pond

I've been going to Bigelow Hollow State Park since I was 16 yrs old. I'm not going to tell you how many years that's been...trust me, it's been a lot of years.  Over the years the park has seen many improvements as well as some changes that I can't call improvements really. They have built many more side avenues for fishing and picnicing. There are other areas for parking tucked into sections that used to be all forest. They even have a smaller boat launch that seems to be primarily for the exclusive use of fishermen. This exclusive boat launch is where I headed with my kayak on this day. Why would I do that? Beats me!

I drove all the way to the 'top' of the park; I saw all the people (a lot of people for a Friday) busily unpacking items; backing vehicles towards the water and dragging small children in the general direction of the footpaths. There were dogs barking (on leashes thankfully); people discussing how best to proceed with too many items to fit comfortably in their boats; children sprinting excitedly around the car for no reason other than to blow off steam while the adults "waste time" making decisions; and a general feeling of low grade chaos in the air.
Without really knowing why or even thinking about it actually, I found myself slowly driving around the circle (watching the various scenes of life unfold as I went) and heading back where I came from. My gut told me I didn't feel like dealing with that many people nor that level of thought. I didn't want to have to worry about running over one of those little kids or dogs that I know very well will all be running amuck very soon. I didn't want to have to use my 'big people' voice to subdue someone else's kids or dogs either for that matter. I just didn't want to deal with any of it....not today. This was my day off and I wanted peace and quiet.

I found myself back at the Bigelow Hollow boat launch which I later found out (strange that I never knew this all these years) is part of a totally seperate body of water. It's not Mashapaug Lake and does not connect to it in any way. At first I was dismayed by this discovery but that was before I really started to explore this pond. It is wonderful and huge! It's so huge in fact that I find it odd that it's called a pond at all. It seems more like a lake....but then I really don't know the criteria required to be a pond or a lake...perhaps it's not about size. (I've often heard that size doesn't matter anyway, right girls?)
I paddled my kayak around for over an hour before I decided to settle somewhere. And I had no problem deciding where to settle once I saw the huge rock and shaded path that looked so inviting from the center of the pond. I saw water lilies; some kind of bright yellow blossoms that stick out from the water but are not opened as yet and some really eye catching purple flower that grows in stalks along the edges. The effect was really beautiful...and I'm sorry to say I didn't take any pictures because I was too engrossed to think about my camera.

I spent all day on that pond, either kayaking and exploring the various nooks and crannies; lounging in the sun; playing in the water or reading my book in the shade while nibbling on fruit and cheese. I only had one visitor and he was quite temporary. An older man, quite fit and good looking I must say, suddenly appeared bid me good day.  He dropped his towel on the rock and jumped off into the water. As he was leaving he said he hoped he hadn't disturbed me and he was gone in a flash...the best kind of unexpected visitor I'd say.
I had a very relaxing day there and will go again I'm sure. I'll try to get pictures of the flowers next time. I was very happy there didn't seem to be any underwater monsters at THIS pond and certainly no gobs of green guck clinging to my paddles. I did hear a few frogs but never saw a single turtle all day.