reunions in the dairy air.

today i was finally reunited with aitor. oh, did i not mention that he and a small contingent of the toronto pipe club had come down to a resort just outside of chicago to attend the annual chicagoland international pipe and tobacciana show? with over three hundred vendors, i really wish i had been able to go, take pictures, see the sites and report back to you, dear reader. but other obligations kept my nose to the grindstone in chicago and, given that the terrible directions i got to the convention ballooned my trip out there from one hour to three, it probably just was not meant to be. aitor surely has all kinds of stories of this cultish subsection of the handicraft world - slow smoking, the attire of the pipe nerd, overheard pipey gossip. maybe this secrets will come to light if he and his collective ever get behind the routine of writing their ideas and experiences down. we'll see.

in spite of time spent lost and confused on suburban illinois highways, the bulk today's travel was supposed to be spent going on a pilgrimage to milwaukee, to visit our friend faythe. faythe does one million things so coordinating a social visit with her has taken three years. of course, no trip from chicago to milwaukee is complete with a visit to the mars cheese castle (pictured above and below). yes, that is saturn on their logo.

we got to milwaukee with squeaky cheese curds in our tummies and warm hugs from faythe all around. we got to look around her shop, paper boat, which was a bittersweet experience given that after four years of operation, the recession finally tipped the scales and forced them to close at the end of this month. but more on that later; i am working a piece about faythe for the toronto craft alert that should go deeper into some of that information. for now, though, the shop is still open, it's perfectly curated and we felt very lucky to get to finally visit it. the final show in the gallery is a collection of mixed media drawings by handmade nation camera woman, micaela o'herlihy. it is exquisite and entirely worth a visit if you are in the area.

it is a real treat to visit with faythe in her incredibly inviting home (which did not make us feel itchy at all, as suggested by some weirdo comments here). sunshine everywhere, the largest collection of our community's art that i have ever seen in one place, open space, and fresh paint. faythe's home also boasts the holy grail of itinerant wayfarers, the spare bedroom. a dream wrapped in soft natural light!

tonight we partake in the pride of milwaukee. it could be a punishing night. i'm not sure that we have the intestinal fortitude (literally) to keep pace with 'america's drinking hole.' only time will tell.

shlemiel, shlemazel, y'all!