I couldn’t sleep much last night, my head was spinning last night from one of our most interesting Open Houses yet.

It was cold and it rained much of the time.

We had by far the fewest visitors to any Open House, yet this morning my mailbox was flooded with messages from people saying how much they loved it, how intimate and personal it was, how wonderful it was to have time to talk to me and Maria, to meet other people, to hear Mary Kellogg and Carol Gulley read their poems, to see Bud and Red and Fate and meet Lulu and Fanny, who were quite hospitable and stuffed themselves with carrots.

The very brave Sisters Of the Shawl, Maria’s Belly Dancing group, rode out the cold mist to dance for the hardy souls who came out in the cold and the wind.

I’m not sure what all of these means. the weather was bad for sure, and I haven’t had a book out in two year, which affects the number of people coming quite a bit. But the truth is, I have no idea why our smallest Open House seems also to have been our best.

We are, of course, exhausted and will sit down and try to figure things out for next year. I loved this Open House very much, i got to connect with so many people in such a deeper and more meaningful way.

My morning began with a phone call from the Fraud Department of my bank, telling me someone had been spending hundreds of dollars this morning at a  Sears department store in the Midwest, and so my card was cancelled. Life in America, this is quite a common experience, a discordant note and a pain in the ass.

Maria is exhausted, and I spent a couple of hours cleaning up the yard, putting away the chairs, taking down the banners, putting the Fiber Chair back where it belongs, tucking the chalkboard away until next year, although we are certainly giving thought to next year and what creative things we might try, what different things we might do.

I’m trying to get my head around the fact that so few people came – two or three hundred perhaps – and yet everyone seemed to love it so much, including me and Maria. And she sold a bunch of art as well.

I guess it is clear, in a sense. Being able to talk to people is important, still, to so many of us.

I hauled too many things around, and my angina told me to stop, so I did, but I got it all done. We both need some rest. I can get through the day without my  bank credit card.

Bud is having a bit of a puppy period, I’ll write about that separately. And sometime this week, I need to get back to work on my  book, Gus and Bud. No shortage of material there.

Tomorrow, I record some promos for my upcoming radio show, “Talking To Dogs,” to be broadcast on WBTN, Brattleboro, Vt., a community radio station. I’d wanted to have my own radio show for some time, and this station could use some help and support.

So could my show. It will be streamed online (WBTN, 1370 AM, 96.5 FM), and it will be a call in show, so I hope lots of you call in. I think the number to call is 802 442 6321. Anybody who can stream on their device or TV can hear it and call in. More later.

This station needs support, I hope to help. And I can’t wait to do the show.

Thanks for following the stories about the Open House an many of you are checking out our video from Maria’s studio to see if there is anything you might want to buy. Have fun. There is some lovely and inexpensive art left.