The brunch was an excellent opportunity for us as artists to
get to know and talk with the staff at ADC, and that was nice as more often than
not, unless you’re a local artists you primarily work with them over the phone –
and it’s always great to put a name to the face.
It’s also an opportunity for the artists to get to know one
another alongside of their works. I’m
always an advocate for artists getting to know each other, but I’ll save that
for another post. Instead I want to talk
about fireflies.
So I’m at the ADC gallery, everyone is having a lovely time,
and I decided I needed to give my poor flat feet a rest, and sat down in a
chair next to a lady in a beautiful red dress.
I had to compliment her on the dress, it was such a flattering color on
her, and next thing we knew were having a lovely conversation. She and her husband (who was an artist in the
exhibit) had traveled from Colorado and were having a lovely time on their
visit, but she had one goal that she wanted to accomplish on her visit to
Cincinnati. She wanted to see a firefly.
I was intrigued as to why and was immediately
thinking of ways to help her get that mission accomplished. They were having a lovely time on their visit
to Cincinnati, they walked along the banks, had popped in on one of the
festivals going on, and like most visitors to the city had been told they must
eat at Skyline. It was during our conversation that I learned about her
personal mission, fireflies, the flashing kind that we all know and love here
in the Midwest simply don’t exist out west, and she, having hailed from
Loveland, Colorado had never seen one and was determined to see one before she
left Cincinnati. Wait! (record scratch) YOUR FROM LOVELAND
COLORADO!!!! I couldn’t believe it! She and her husband were from Loveland,
CO. That immediately caught my attention
because I grew up in Loveland, Ohio a suburb of Cincinnati. It was destiny, I HAD to help her out!
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| Photo from cincinnatiusa.com |
I told her that she can’t come all the way out from Loveland,
CO and NOT visit Loveland, OH.
Especially since Loveland Ohio has a castle, Chateau Laroche, something truly unique. To be so close
to Loveland, OH and not visit would be a shame.
She was however in luck, she had meet me, and I immediately knew how she
could check off a few items on her list, most importantly fireflies.
I immediately took out my cell phone, looked up and texted
her the links to where they needed to go and in what order. First stop, Loveland Castle, they would be
closing at 5pm and it was the furthest away, if they got out there by 3 or 4
they would have plenty of time to explore the site and afterwards they could go
to old historic Loveland. Next, I gave
them the address to the Skyline Chili on Loveland Maderia Rd., and told them
that they should go there after exploring the castle and the City of Loveland,
as it would likely be approaching dinner time.
Last, I gave them the address to Lake Isabella. This park would be the perfect place to see
fireflies, located in Loveland, shady, next to the river, and open past dusk (because they do night
fishing at the lake). And near the expressway, so they could easily point their
car back to Cincinnati. I told her to
text me and let me know if she ended up seeing a firefly!
We continued our conversation for awhile more, and
then broke away to mingle and meet others.
It was a pleasant morning, and I truly enjoyed getting to meet so many
talented individuals. I had a wonderful time and am thankful and appreciative
of our host ADC for having put the brunch together.
But the best moment of the day came hours later when I received
a text….. from the lady in the red dress!
Her mission had been accomplished – she got to see fire flies! Better yet, they had on my suggestion made
the trip out to Loveland Castle, ate at the skyline, relaxed on the dock at
Lake Isabella and saw fireflies.
I smiled so hard when I read that text I’m pretty sure my
eyes got a little watery.
