Mississippi street fair

Bridgett and Gifty Kitty in the Mississippi

Dear Liza,

Now that I am back in Portland, I will address my letters to you. This past Saturday was the biggest street fair in the city, The Mississippi Street Fair. I helped Auntie Bridgett get her table set up in front of Gifty Kitty.

Gifty Kitty is a delightfully artsy, quirky shop run by Clody Cates, who is very artsy herself. She is also a powerhouse of energy!

The other tables in front of the store were run by Amelia Opie, who paints cats, and Rowen, who creates all sorts of cute characters.

Rowen really likes pink!

As the crowds started showing up, Bridgett started drawing, and several folks came by to ask about hiring her to draw their cats! She said yes, of course!

As it turned out, the heat of the day was too much for me, and Grandpa Nelson came and fetched me home. While I was grateful for the cool lay down, I was sorry to have missed seeing this: Clody in her beautiful cat costume! (Bridgett took this picture!)

Ain’t life fun?

Love,

Grandma Judy

Random images of Mississippi

Dear Liza,

Yesterday I tried to tell you all about the big Mississippi Street Fair in Portland. But there were so many different booths, stories, people, and images caught in my camera that today I will just share some with you without much comment.

This young lady posed for my picture as she enjoyed the shade of the Hardcase Tattoo booth. They were not offering tattoos at the fair, just artwork and conversation.

This very young DJ was spinning wonderfully funky tunes on his Apple computer.

Everyone was drinking water and seeking shade.

And the big parade just kept going!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Hitting the Street in the Mississippi

Dear Liza,

On Saturday, Auntie Bridgett got to have a table at the Mississippi Street Fair. This is the largest neighborhood street fair in the city, being half a mile long and stuffed edge to edge with booths, tables, and food trucks.

Rather than worry about traffic and parking, we took the bus. The Magic 15 got us downtown, then we transferred to the 4 to get us north. It took about 40 minutes, but we would have spent that much time driving around looking for parking. And we got to sit back and relax!

We got to the fair just before noon, and it was crowded! Looking down the length of it was like looking down a river of humanity.

Along the banks of this river were booths selling all sorts of things. Besides Auntie Bridgett doing commissioned cat cartoons, there were other artists selling puzzles, ceramics, and paintings.

In overwhelmingly White Portland, Mississippi is a neighborhood with a higher-than-usual African American population, and this was happily reflected in the fair.

This lady was selling her sparkly puzzles, and Author Joyce McNair was selling her book The Amazing Sweetie Pie, which I bought. It is a creative, inclusive story that shows the commonality of children.

Down the road, our dear friend Jack Kent was selling his newest book, Sketchy People 6.

And there was plenty of food for when all those people got hungry. The most popular was the barbecue, with at least five booths and trucks pumping out delicious smells and luring long lines of folks.

But there was also caramel corn, burritos, and delightful ableskivvers (with lingonberry jam and lemon curd) from Broder Nord. Yum!

As the day warmed up, staying cool became a priority for everyone.

By 4:00, we were done in. Tired feet and too much sun got the best of us and we caught the bus home. Lots of water and a long nap got us in shape for that evenings’ Shakespeare in the Park.

But that’s another story.

Love,

Grandma Judy