Cousins Lunch - July 22, 2023

Yesterday was an unusual Saturday for me.

It started with a painting class at a local craft store.  It was one of those classes where everyone paints the same picture.  In this case, it was a sunset scene with a lighthouse.  I'd seen the prototype on an easel when I went there this week to buy a paintbrush.  I saw it again when I logged onto the store's social media page to ask if they'd found my debit card and again when I went to pick up the card.  As I'd scrolled through the social media posts, I'd gotten the sense that the store was (or had been) in danger of closing.  Although I was not particularly fond of the lighthouse picture, I decided to join the class, both for my benefit and theirs.

This store has been in business since the early '80s.  They offered painting classes way back then.  At the time, I was a young wife/mother, barely able to afford either the cost of the class or the time to take it.  Subsequently, life intervened, and I had neither the time nor the money to take advantage of the classes.  When I went into the store this week, it had been years since I'd been there.  The store is now being operated by the original owner's granddaughter.  The grandmother, 80-something years young, was on hand yesterday to help with the class.  It was wonderful to see her.  I was not very happy with my painting, but the class was fun.  I'll probably do another class soon.

Yesterday was also the day on which The Husband and his cousins had planned to have lunch together.  They typically see one another only at the extended family gatherings that occur a couple of times a year.  This year at the 4th of July family barbeque, they scheduled this lunch date.  I did not expect to be finished with the painting class in time to go, but when I got home, The Husband had not yet left for the restaurant, so I changed out of my painting clothes and went along.  The lunch lasted three hours.  As we sat there talking, it occurred to me that we were now the age that The Husband's grandmother and great-aunts were when we married.  My, how time flies.

Today I need to pick purple hull peas and cut okra.  I'll have to wear mud boots!