500 miles each way is a long commute and I seem to be doing it more often; the drive from my home in Oregon to the epicenter of my past, the San Francisco bay area. Last month it was the whole circus, four humans and one ferret who made the drive, but this time it was just me. The rolling hills adorned with fresh green grass are already giving way to brown crispness around the edges, but the California sky was a gorgeous blue and the strong winds blew in clean air off the coast. I miss that now, as it was snowing in the high desert on my way back north, and the pollen from our on-again, off-again spring bloom is making my eyes itch.

I was only in the bay area for about 48 hours, but it certainly was productive. So many more kimono have been hand picked for Fanime and preparations continue in anticipation of the big show next month. Also, as I alluded to in an earlier post, a DVD about shibori is now available, and I will be offering it in my Etsy shop Monday morning. For those of you who found my posts informative enough to get you really interested in shibori, I highly suggest you watch this video. It is an amazing view of the shibori industry in Japan. Narrated in English by Yoshiko Iwamoto Wada, recognized as one of the leading authorities on shibori today, it walks you through the process from start to finish.

As for now, it’s midnight and I’m off to bed! Driving 1,000 miles in a weekend is rather exhausting.