The people we meet, before and after the fair

A chance encounter that made me smile

We’ve all had those fun, surprising chance encounters. You’re on vacation, halfway across the country, and you meet someone who lives two doors down from you back home.

I had such an encounter today — not really that coincidental, if you think hard about it, since there was a good reason for the two of us to be in the same place at the same approximate time. But it was fun anyway.

First, the back story — if you know me, you know I’m not going to let you get out of here without making you listen to the back story.

I had been a doodler all my life, but a few years ago, an interest in fountain pens led me to try my hand at pen-and-ink drawings. I would sketch something out in pencil, then ink over it, then erase any visible pencil lines. Sometimes, if the drawing seemed like it needed a little color, I would add it using a cheap set of watercolor paint from Walmart.

Two years ago, I was startled when I took a blue ribbon in pen and ink and a yellow ribbon in mixed media at the Bedford County Fair. You would think that would have made me more disciplined and serious, but the fact of the matter is, I’m a dilettante. I pick up things, and then abandon them for a while, and then come back to them later. I’m not…