Cassandra Barney

Saturday, we dropped everything and headed up to Sundance for a hike with my mom and dad. It was so beautiful with the leaves just beginning to change. The air was even a little crisp.
Then that very afternoon, a storm ushered fall in, a change that happened right that day like somebody pushed a button to fall setting.

I love the smell when the heat is first turned on. The smell of the heat, the sound of the trains and the moon last night almost threw me into another place. I'm not sure where that place is, part of my childhood? I immediately switched into fall-mode. I stocked up of food to cook, I assessed which crafts I want to indulge in (probably felting first), I even got really excited about Halloween. So I cooked a good dinner, my kitten baked an apple crisp then she and her dad sewed while I did homework with the other two. Fall evokes the very most peaceful feelings in me. I'm looking forward to it.

My dad, who's birthday it is today, used to say, "I knew art was important to me because my doodles were always more important to me than my homework". My littlest one was concerned last night because she doesn't want to lose this drawing on the back of the homework she's turning in. Brilliant and only in grade one.
I'm so glad that I have the dad that I do. I remember a story that has stuck with me from when I was seven or eight years old. I was sprawled out on the green shag carpet of the living room floor, immersed in a drawing. My mom was calling to me for some help with some chore and I was ignoring her. My dad said to me, "if you just say that you are drawing and it's important that you not stop, I'll understand... but don't ignore your mother". I remember that scene because he understood, or gave value to my artwork even when I was a kid. True, as the story goes, he didn't push us into art, but he did in his subtle ways give us something better. His example made a big impression on me, on how I chose to live my life. Thanks dad and Happy Birthday.