I found this view on South Cedar Street (Lansing, Michigan, USA). I walked to the library from my house, and this was near the sidewalk. It looked a bit like an archaeological dig, crossed with a Buddhist rock garden. I like it.

It has been very hot and sunny today. The view there probably looks similar right now. I’d planned to walk to the library this afternoon. That direct sun was just too mean at the time I wished to leave. Plan B!

Working at home is my work plan at this point. Yes, the library has A/C, but getting there would overheat anybody. I can’t justify driving there, it’s just too close.

I hope whatever sort of day you have, it makes you smile. I’m a big fan of summer. I’m nearly giddy that I only had to get my legwarmers out for one day before summer returned. Slowing down is the cost of heat, and my life allows for a slow physical pace if needed. Love it.

I have been busy. Here are some photos I collected along the way.

A tiny butterfly on the flowers in my friend Ulyana’s front yard, REO Town Lansing.

An unusual mottled eggplant with “ears.” This was taken at the East Lansing Food Co-Op. There was another eggplant of the same coloring, which did not have the side bits sticking out. I did not buy either of them, but the visual surprise delighted me.

A fraternal pair of Striped Summer Socklets. These are a store sample at Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan- as of Tuesday.

The yarn is Cascade Heritage, a standard wool-nylon sockyarn. It comes in many solid colors and a good selection of multicolors as well. Good quality, good price.

Several photos of a group of Habibi Dancers, performing this last Wednesday at Sparrow Hospital. I think this is my 5th year participating with my troupe in this event. It’s a Diversity Week celebration. They also have a food contest. We got to dance to the smell of some lovely Indian spices. Yum!

I am third from the right, in turquoise, hot green and a purple head wrap. This is how I look when I am in character as Eudora, the dancer.  Theatre is much fun, and dancing with girlfriends is just as fun as it gets!

You can’t see it here, but this was a cane dance. we balance the canes horizontally on our heads for part of the dance. We also swing them around, toss them back and forth, and otherwise generally have a bit o’fun with shiny sticks.

My dear friend April, being her beautiful and energetic self. Her daughter, Isabel (age six), took all of these photos for me, from the front row.

I’ve been giving Isabel my camera to use since she was about 4 years old. She has learned to take photos, zoom a bit, and take a look at the photos she has taken on the camera’s preview screen. She does a rather nice job.

I love that sometimes Isabel takes photos from her own perspective. A person several feet shorter than I am, sometimes takes photos at her eye level, which is adult hip level. When the photos are of dancers, I enjoy seeing the energy in the clothing. Clearly, these folks were moving quickly!

Love this one. Literally caught mid-hop.

Yes, the baskets are real. No, we don’t use magnets or velcro. Yes, the headwrap makes it easier (my hair is very slippery). Yes, it takes a lot of practice.

We still have hiccups at times. The baskets are wider than my shoulders. It’s easy to run into someone else’s basket. It’s SO much fun, though!!!

Thanks to Sparrow Hospital for inviting us back, yet again. Community events make me really happy. This is one of my favorite events of the year.

I’ve been helping my mom with a huge task… her life’s work is to teach as many kids to read as possible. She wrote 4 books to help them break through.

Mom has taught “little guys” to read for a long time. (She taught early elementary grades in public school for about 25 years.) These books are the result of her work on the students’ behalf. She struggled to learn reading herself, and has been passionate about making it easier for others.

Mom wrote all the stories so that only one new word appears on any page. She found when working in the classroom, some new-reader books would introduce even four new words per page. Many kids can not handle that rate of introduction.

The books have color covers, but the insides are black and white line drawings. One benefit to this, is that the artwork does not distract from the subject matter.

Another benefit is that children can be encouraged to own their books by coloring in the characters. Each character is named by their color, so the child can own the word “Red” by coloring the little Red character throughout the books.

My little sweet friend Isabel received a set of the prototype books about a year ago. One night she sneaked into its storage place, took it in her room and colored in every instance of little Blue. Her favorite color is blue. I love that story!

If you live in Lansing, you can get the books at Everybody Reads bookstore. This is on Lansing’s fine and funky East Side, across from Emil’s Italian restaurant, the same block as Rae’s Yarn Boutique. (It’s about 4 blocks west of Frandor.)

Everybody Reads will be sponsoring a meet-the Author/Illustrator night, with a book signing and talk. The event will be Thursday, September 30, from 6pm-8pm.

I can not stress enough how important it is to communities, to buy from local shops when possible. I find it powerful and humbling to know who actually benefits from my small purchases when I buy from a local shop. Scott Harris runs Everybody Reads. He’s as passionate about reading as my mother. He is wonderfully supportive of local talent. I love to vote with my dollars by supporting him.

Everybody Reads will even ship books to you if you do not live in Lansing. Their phone number is 517/346-9900. They are open until 7 on weeknights without events, and 5pm on weekends.

You can read more about Mom’s story and each individual book, at the With Me Books page on lulu.com

Congratulations, Mom! Your work will benefit the world for generations to come. Nice job.

If you missed my last post, the old Deluxe Inn in REO Town/Lansing, Michigan is now owned by a county-run government entity (or maybe two organizations, I’m sketchy on that part). It is scheduled to be torn down any day. Meanwhile, graffiti artists were invited to come in and embellish/ decorate the space. Honestly, it’s safe to wander there now and take photos, it’s like a park. Not long ago, it was a good place to avoid. I love everything about this change of events.

I took well over 100 images of the site, on two separate days. The first day was mid-afternoon on a Tuesday and there were few people there, most with kids.

On Wednesday I was there around 5:30 (this is quite near downtown where many work). Since the parking lot is blocked off, there are only 5 places where a car can sneak a parking spot. I got the last of 5 that day. It was just crawling with folks, most with a friend or a few kids. Solo visitors, in general, carried large and important-looking cameras.

The prettier, more colorful pieces (see cropped tiny images/thumbnails) often are embellished words, usually nicknames of the artists. I have trouble reading those, but that was not my aim in this post. If I try to guess those, I will make a fool of myself. Maybe someone reading this can enlighten me in that area. They are absolutely beautiful works of art. The text eludes me, though the beauty does not.

All of the below (larger) images of the now-graffiti-covered Deluxe Inn contain text which was meant to communicate to the viewer. I left out images containing only advertising or names of organizations/ people/ websites and the like. Some are small phrases, some are statements in the moment, and a few are clearly intended as a sort of urban poetry.

If you are as entranced by this artful moment in time as I am, perhaps you’ll be interested in more photos. I have put up 86 images in a photoset on my Flickr account (colorjoylynnh). It’s a lot of looking, but if you have a fast connection and the time, you might enjoy putting it on “slide show” and letting the photos float past you. Click here for my Graffiti LoveLansing Photoset.

The text I am highlighting below tends to be less decorative, but that makes it easier for my un-practiced eye to understand. (Some appear to be painted by folks in the sign-painting business, the text is so perfectly executed.) Maybe you will enjoy their intent, as I did.

THANKS

Since this was not
done for critical acclaim
nor economic or Social
gain, Writing on this Wall
is the purest form of

Art

(Further down above the next door it says: CAN WE STAY?)

BE THE CHANGE

(NO PARKING)
UNLESS YOU
WANT YR
CAR PAINTED.

thank you Lansing

We Do This All Day!

ART IS FUN!

SALISBURY
STEAK AND
FISH!

GRAVY SATURATED
BACON PIECES
WITH HUMMUS.

thaNK yOU LANSING!

FRANK

Thank you: LAND BANK + ACCELERATE LANSING

i’ve DoNe betteR

ART
HOPE

OBLIGATORY
PARTIES
IN SPECIFIC
GARMENTS OF
CLOTHING

Thanks!

THe
ReSPeCT

I$$UE

I WiLL BE BACK

There is a non-functioning motel in Lansing at the intersection of Main/496 and South Washington (ReoTown, near Cooley Gardens). It was a place where nothing good seemed to happen, and at present the county is set to demolish it.

About 2 weeks ago, graffiti artists were invited (by authorities) to come in and decorate the space until its demolition. The sad corner has become a very colorful one.

I went there twice, one time with a 10 yr old. She was bummed it would be taken down, because “art makes people happy.” Right now the place is typically crawling with folks all holding cameras. It’s quite a wonderful city scene.

The photo above says #lovelansing. That is a Twitter “tag” which is used to connect people who are “Tweeting” about things that are good about the Greater Lansing Area.

The little cartoon image above which has that tag, is my own contribution to the temporary art exhibit. I found an unmarked spot between larger artful works, and drew a little cartoon character. I started drawing this little guy around 1970, for a comic strip I contributed to the Middle School newspaper, the Kinawa Courier. I haven’t drawn “Mr. Graphix” in a long time. That was fun.

I took hundreds of photos. These are the ones which specifically referenced Lansing (the green helmet represents the MSU Spartans, 517 is our area code, and Impression 5 is a science museum in downtown). If you click on them, they will blow up approximately 4 times in size. Your choice!

I am spending a little time each day this week, weeding out old things that I don’t need anymore. I have boxes that I have moved from house to house and now is the time to purge.

I’ve been through about 6-7 boxes so far. Only less than one box stays, and that may thin even further at a later date.

At the same time, we are having a bit of a heat wave. Today is hotter than yesterday, and it appears that my living room is 86F/30C right now (5pm). Outside is maybe 94F or so.

Somehow the distraction of this big project, coupled with heat, made me ignore lunch until almost 5. Mind you, I get up later than others do, but lunch is usually about 2pm or so. Whoops!

It is too hot to cook, I’d say, so I made a salad. We had a can of black beans in the refrigerator just for salads. I drained/rinsed them, added a tomato and basil from our own garden, and then added olive oil and some spinach. It was light and cool, and just right.

I ate it on our fun porch… green table, purple floor. And the salad was pretty, too!

Late last week I was running a bunch of errands. I found myself waiting at a busy Lansing stoplight, next to an amazing vehicle, driven by an amazing-looking man.

The vehicle was a motor-tricycle which was decorated to the extreme. The man driving was wearing a helmet (as is required by law in Michigan). However, this helmet was a work of art on its own merits. It had large horns coming out of each side and what appeared to be hair on the top, above the horns. Somewhat viking-esque, perhaps?

This guy is TOTALLY into it. Remember, one can not buy passion. It comes, and we listen and act… or we let it pass us by. I have high regard for those who grab on and go!

This guy is into his own style.  It’s not my style, nor the style of anyone else I’ve seen in town. I was impressed.

I am a big fan of neighborhood events. I also especially love buying from people who own their own small businesses. Allen Street Market fits both bills.

One of the food vendors, I know from knitting. Their kids took my knitting classes when I was at Foster Community Center.

The market is literally on my route between home and Rae’s Yarn Boutique or Foster Center. I pass by the location nearly every day.

On Wednesdays, it comes alive! This week was a special treat. They had scheduled Strawberry Festival (though there were few strawberries there this week), and thus a musical act followed by Habibi Dancers.

Originally, Jen Sygit was scheduled to sing. In the end, friend Julianna substituted (with her friend Jeff). Julianna has a LOVELY voice and I enjoyed her set very much. Here’s a photo. Notice she has her ukulele in her lap.

After Julianna sang, I was part of the show by Habibi Dancers. Sheila (also a Habibi) came and thankfully did a great job taking photos of us, with my camera. Thanks, Sheila!

(For the record, the market is a magnet for people from all parts of my life. I saw contra dance folks, knitters, musician friends even a woman I met when I acted/danced in Pippin! at Riverwalk theater, I think in 1992. I feel so right there, all the facets of my life come together at this market.)

It’s hard to recognize me in my garb as my alter-ego, Eudora. I’m wearing a light green tunic with blue skirt and coins. I’m often in the front because of my height (or lack thereof).

Speaking of ColorJoy… I think the Habibis qualify!

Yesterday I was at the Okemos Public Library (Hope Borbas Branch – Mid Michigan). As I exited the building, I admired the garden.

A movement caught my eye. It was a butterfly on a Purple Coneflower (Echinacea) flower. I can’t tell you how happy I was to have my camera close at hand!

Oh, the joys of summer! We had a bunch of rain and now everything is growing like crazy. I picked this tomato, the first healthy ripe one of the season, a day or two ago.

I want to make guacamole. It’s just the right size for that.

I am so happy that I got fruit this year! One more looks like I can pick it tomorrow, too!

I have learned to grow tomatoes in large containers. They sit on the landing of our back steps, which is on a southwest corner of the house. I see them every time I enter the house, so I don’t forget to water.

I use “container soil” instead of standard potting soil. This has small granules of a gel which absorbs an amazing amount of water when it can, and then releases it slowly later. The plant can go longer between waterings without going totally dry. This works great on weeks/weekends when we go away and the weather is hot.

Last year was an awful year for me and tomatoes. I started a bit late, and even my “Early Girl” tomato plant did not make a single ripe fruit on the vine. I got one red one off a vine all year, and I had five pots going.

I did harvest a few (five, to be exact – see above) green ones in October, and put them on the windowsill to ripen. The smallest one never did turn red, the others I used for cooking when they looked OK.

Fortunately, knitting friend Rita B. is an amazing gardener. She grew a lot of types of tomatoes, including some heirloom ones in gorgeous colors.

She was generous in sharing, so I had fresh, off-the-vine tomatoes even though mine were useless. Here is a photo of a fully-ripe green heirloom variety she shared with me:

Here is a photo of a pot of some amazing chili I made up with a bumper crop she gave me one night. (Sometimes Thursday Knitting night is harvest-sharing night, and I was delighted.)

This year? I bought one huge pot with a large plant in it, right away. It had flowers and tiny fruit on it when I took it home. That is how I got the tomato pictured first today.

I also have four smaller plants which are growing but not large yet. One of the smallest ones has several small tomato fruits growing and a few flowers.

We will see what we will see. Meanwhile, guacamole for lunch on Wednesday?

Rae’s Yarn Boutique on the East Side of Lansing is having a special event with my ColorJoy patterns, this weekend. It’s buy 4, get 1 free…

…and if you take advantage of the 4-1 sale, you also get 20% off your yarn. (Yarn is 10% off this weekend even if you do not buy my patterns.)

It should be a fun weekend. Events like this make the shop into a bit of a reunion. The knitters who flow through make it a grand time.

This is the official notice all folks on the email list for Rae’s shop got today:

ColorJoy Event & Sale

Come pick out some great patterns & some yarn to knit them~

Friday June 25 – Sunday June 27

Lynn will be in the shop all weekend showing off all the designs she’s been working on this year! To celebrate the release of her newest patterns, Chipper Hat & Summer Striped Socklet, Lynn is offering buy 4 patterns get one 1 free!

Also we’re offering 10% off all regular price yarn this weekend & 20% off when you take advantage of Lynn’s Pattern Offer!

So come in this weekend for some great savings & to pick out some fun summer projects!

Lynn is also teaching a Nuno Felting class on Sunday. There’s still a few spots remaining in this fun class!

Actually, I will be at the shop for this event, all day Friday 11-6 and all day Sunday 11-3. I will be there to help folks pick yarn to go with any pattern, or show my samples, or perhaps just chat and say hello.

Saturday will be “catch as catch can.” Brian and I have a private musical performance to sing, out of town. I may be in the shop early in the workday on Saturday, but I do not know that for sure right now.

The sale goes on whether I am in or out of the store. It’s good from open on Friday, to close on Sunday.

Perhaps there are some patterns of mine that you have contemplated but never purchased. Now is the time to get them at a special price, and get a discount on your yarn at the same time!

I hope to see you there.

(Ravelry members, you can see a list of all my patterns, most of which will be at Rae’s this weekend, at this page: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/lynn-dt-hershberger Ravelry requires a free membership to view pages on their site. If you knit or crochet and have not joined yet, I highly recommend it. The information available there is vast. Just click the link, then click Join Now and they will get you started.)

In the last 8 months a dance friend had a baby and I gained a new niece. Then in the last 2-3 weeks, I’ve had another dance friend and two knitting friends have babies.

I have been old enough to be a grandmother for a decade, easily. I think it’s just great that my friendships span ages and lifestyles so much that I can be experiencing all these newborns at the same time.

I wrote the Chipper Hat pattern when my niece appeared on the scene. I made her some Chippy Socks (a pattern I wrote several years ago). Then I wanted a hat to go with them. Great! Chipper hat, it is.

Above is a Chipper Hat knit by my friend Cynthia, for a baby shower. I don’t know the recipient. The yarn is Berroco Pure Wool, purchased at Rae’s Yarn Boutique in Lansing. The family does not know whether the impending child is male or female, and this group of colors was fun and nontraditional. I’m liking it.

I took this photo immediately after Cynthia completed the last stitch. Some yarn ends were tucked inside the hat. We decided that the little yarn ends on the tassel looked a bit like the wind was blowing, and enjoyed how they looked just this way. The ends, of course, will be worked in before gifting time.

Two young women who regularly attend the Thursday night knit-in at Rae’s shop, had babies this week. How unusual! They were not due this close together, but that’s how it goes. We are *not* in charge.

The little sweater here was knit by the mother of the baby born yesterday. Notice that the buttons are not sewn on yet. I made these buttons and she bought them at Rae’s shop. It is amazing how well they go with this yarn. Exciting!

I guess I need to start designing more for babies. For once, I have models on which to try them out.

Before I had two sock design deadlines plus a trip out of town for 4 days, I had a grand time on Lansing’s East Side. Brian and I, as The Fabulous Heftones, played Mac’s Bar with our friend Wally Pleasant. Not only that, but there were two warm up bands besides our two acts, and I enjoyed every set.

Brian has worked with Wally since before Brian and I met. They used to go on tour together… two guys in a van with a bunch of instruments.

They would drive to Tennessee one day, then take turns driving and sleeping to get to Florida the next day, and a gig in Texas the next. It was a crazy schedule but they are both pretty laid back guys and it worked for them. Brian plays so many instruments, he’s a perfect one-man backup band.

Lately we are connecting with Wally again a bit more. It’s great fun.

Mac’s was an extra-special event, because we are emphatically not the kind of act one would expect at that venue. They do a lot of modern indie rock, usually more of a party scene. (It’s common to see a drum set on that stage.)

We are known as “Lansing’s most romantic act.” It was a delight to take our turn at the legendary venue on my own favorite side of town.

The night at Mac’s, Brian backed up Wally for half a set, and then Wally’s wife Alisa backed him on the last half. Alisa is a fine musician in her own right. She’s a classical musician, and also plays in the popular local band, The Lash. (She also took all of the photos in which I’m pictured. Thanks, friend!)

The last photo makes me giggle. There is a large poster on the wall at Mac’s, above the heads of everyone. It shows a fine collection of several class-act top entertainers, probably taken in the late 60’s or early 70’s. (Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Frank Sinatra)  All of them are wearing tuxedos.

Brian may be the only one ever to show up at Mac’s in a tuxedo, and he felt a photo of him and “the guys” was in order. Love it.

It is just perfect in Michigan right now. Some days we get rain, some days clouds, some days hot sun. No matter which of those, the ground is green and it seems everything that could bloom is doing so.

Our house was landscaped, for the most part, in the 1920s. We have lots of old fashioned flowers. The climbing roses are nasty, mean, grabby, and garment-eating for 11 months of the year. In June, I forgive them for all of their irritations. We have them on two sides of the house and one side of the garage.

In addition, we have peonies just finishing up, daylilies everywhere, and a hydrangea/snowball bush blooming. On Thursday I finally planted the last flower in a container. Last year we had some very sad tomatoes, no flowers in front and a few geraniums (in the pots they came in) on the back. This year, Geraniums and petunias with yellow-green sweet potato vines in back. Impatiens in 3 colors in front. I feel rich.

Last year I planted 3 types of tomatoes. One was called “Early Girl.” She never made a single fruit. In fact, the first tomato I got last year was in late October if I remember right. Several I picked green and ripened on the windowsill. If it were not for my knitting friend Rita B. who is an amazing gardener, I would not have had any home-grown tomatoes at all. Hers more than made up for my lack, though.

This year, we had a gift certificate to VanAtta’s Greenhouse in Haslett, and I was able to buy nicer things than usual. My geraniums already look wild and alive. And I splurged on a “Patio Tomato” which was about a yard/meter tall, already blooming, and had a few tiny fruits already growing. Here she is this week:

Can I jump up and down in glee? I’m pretty happy with this. No wonder I keep singing “June is Busting out All Over.” It’s true!