Spring 2016

​I discovered this armless lady-dude cookie jar at the Good Will in West St. Paul. Was tempted to buy it, but $19.95 was too many cookies for me. 

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Don't you love this? How often do you see an "official" sign with a sense of humor? Found at a rest stop in Iowa along I-29.

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Stick horses are still a thing in Nebraska, apparently! As well they should be. A toy that requires imagination AND movement. 

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A cat looming on its hind legs like Sasquatch, reaching for a whimsical ball of yarn on a spring. A plate of what looks to be cheese. A supine companion. And—what's this? Sasquatch Cat's tail is resting on a book. WHY???

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This sign was on the wall at my dad's nursing home in Windom. So just who is this Positive Dog? Does it live inside us or among us? Maybe it doesn't matter. The sign definitely makes me want to smile real and laugh big, so mission accomplished. 

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​Something about the tone of this sign reminded me of this soap wrapper at a hotel I stayed at last year. Imperative yet innocent, sincere yet a tad silly. Well done.

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I found this in the Good Will Outlet in St. Paul. The outlets are crazy places—big bins overflowing with all the stuff that didn't sell at the regular Good Will stores. And yet, in all the shabbiness and chaos, little messages of hope are everywhere.

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A bizarre offering at my local Cub Foods. For 69 cents, I bought it. It was basically a chocolate-covered marshmallow on a stick, with fruit snacks for eyes, nose, and mouth. Tasty it was not.

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This from a magazine in a waiting room—I don't remember which magazine, but it was mainstream. These "Sophistipups" aren't in the same league as Cerberus (the three-headed hound who guards the gates of Hades) but they still send a shiver down my spine. Would you want to wear that thing around your wrist?

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​Proving yet again that you never know what awaits you when you open a door...This horse was in one of the classrooms (not mine) at the Rochester Technical College, site of the Young Author, Young Artist Conference I took part in recently. I later found out that the classroom was used for veterinary science, so the horse makes perfect sense. If I'd been a kid in that room, though, I would have been sorely tempted to climb on top. Some of my happiest times as a kid were in our grove, pretending that an old fuel tank was my trusty steed.