Tree Sweaters in Bloomington

We started the day with breakfast at the Runcible Spoon, a quirky little restaurant whose name comes from Edward Lear's poem "The Owl and the Pussycat". It was French toast and a corned beef omelet for us, both very good, followed by a walking tour of the Indiana University campus. Adding to the beauty of the campus itself with its stately old trees turning lovely fall colors, there was a warm , wind blowing -- my favorite kind of weather. Blustery wind, crunching leaves under our feet -- I call it Winnie the Pooh weather. What a great campus, too. It made me want to go back to school sooooo bad. I'm going to seriously work on finding a way to do just that too. Whenever I get around to retiring, that's what I want to do.

We continued our walking tour in downtown Bloomington and discovered that many of the trees were embelished with "sweaters", all in the name of "Knitting to Heal", a fundraiser for domestic violence services. Local businesses and groups were asked to sponsor a tree and then local fiber artists made the sweaters out of a variety of materials -- some were patchwork, some were knitted, one was lace -- lots of different and really original creations. I was particularly touched by the effort because I work in the legal system and see the effects of domestic violence almost on a daily basis. I thought it was a very original and heartwarming project and I think a lot of the people I work with back home would think so too.

We finished our day enjoying a curry dinner with extended family and caught up on the lives, loves and intreests of two lovely young ladiess who have grown six inches each (I swear) since I saw them last year.

So, another nice day and I hope everyone who reads this had one too.