My butterfly in the picture is called a Mourning Cloak. I thought  what a sad name for the first butterfly of the season.  I am using it today because we have been mourning the loss of one of my Daughter's classmates. http://www.caringbridge.org/cb/viewMyStory.do?method=executeInit

her story is at the link above. We had reveled in the progress that Betty had made after her stroke last summer.  My daughter is experiencing her first great loss, and it has been just heartbreaking.  Betty was a friend of of my daughter's from before she went to public school.  They met at church when they were very young.

Anyway we also had a sale going on this weekend, There was a kiln opening yesterday and we did some raku firings .  there was good food in the evening and a real nice campfire at the end of the evening.  Sales weren't what we had hoped....but  some really cool people stopped by, and we made a new friend or two.  We will do it all over again today.  As I type, it looks like a gorgeous day shaping up, and the sale will continue. 

I can understand why folks in the area aren't overly enthused about handmade pottery. Times are hard, and this county was never really prosperous on a per capita level.  As we keep up the fight to stay in our home, and support our family, a disappointing day of sales could be a thing that would bring a person down, or cause us to give up.   As the day dwindled down, and we realized that yhis particular sale was not going to ease our immediate  financial problems, I could have been negative, but thoughts of thanks kept pouring through my heart. I was thankful for the friends who were invited that showed up, to cook food play music, and catch up on events in our lives. I was greatful for the new people that came and had such a good time and reveled with us.  I cannot judge the sale on a monetary basis.  It was a great time and I am thankful for everything we have, and I know we will be able to think up some way to get by.  We have before  and we will do it again!  

I have learned in life that money or the lack of it doesn't  define who I am as a person.  I can't let poverty issues rule my life.  I chose to live my life as an artist, and that is how I measure my success. I have succeeded in being an artist throughout my working career, and I will continue to be creative, and look for opportunities as they appear to me.  While I wait for finances to get less burdensome,  I can sit here and think how rich my life has been and how many cool people I have  had the priviledge to meet in this lifetime.D