Izzy, Noel

November 14 2007 -Izzy is in his third month as a hospice volunteer, and seems born to it. I am proud of him and the work he is doing, privileged to be a part of it. He and I and Lenore and Anthony Armstrong, concrete artisan, will be in Saratoga Saturday at All the Right Angles, 536 Maple Street (518 587 4320) showing our respective photos and concrete sculptures and artworks, along with the crafts, pictures and paintings of other artists for sale in the store. We will be giving talks at 2 p.m. and available for information yakking throughout the afternoon. Lenore will be on hand for cuddling and chewing things. Cail Johnstone will be showing her astounding needle work, and her totes and bags.
  A portion of the proceeds from things sold will go to hospice, another portion to a special trust set up for Karlie Armstrong-Gates, who lost her mother a couple of weeks ago. Contributions to the fund for Karlie can also be made to this address: The Karlie Armstrong-Gates Trust, c/o TD Banknorth, Main Street, Salem, N.Y., 12865.
  My photos will be on sale, and rumors have it that Mary Kellogg, poet extraordinaire, might be on hand to read a poem or two. That is always a wondrous event. Anthony will be there to talk about his concrete work, and we can also talk about hospice and also a picture book we are doing together called “Paying Attention,” about his experiences with ADD and other issues. The book will be sold at All the Right Angles, among other places, and we are scrambling to finish it. It will, we hope, be out in December. So come by, meet dogs meet me, meet Anthony and Stephanie and Cail, buy neat stuff, eat good food, help hospice, help a 5-year-old in some need, get a jump on Christmas shopping. Hope to see you.
  The pictures here, shown with permission, are of Izzy visiting Noel, who loves dogs and has bonded with Izzy, a natural hospice volunteer. The two spend an hour or so together regularly. Izzy has an amazing intuition and sense of appropriateness that isn’t something I could train him for. He just has it. He greets Noel, then jumps up on the bed and the two commune. Something to see and thanks to Noel and the family for allowing these pictures to be taken and shown.

Izzy, with his photo ID