Goodbye Summer

The seasons are shifting, even though it can sometimes be a little difficult to tell what time of year it is in Berkeley. Today we had a cool breeze that really put a hint of fall in the air for me.

Depending on your temperament, the end of summer is either poignant, a time for reflection on the late-night porch dinners with friends, perhaps, or is bracing, a time to gear up and get organized for school days or the eventual holiday season.

But one thing summer's memoirists and winter's warriors can agree on is a sale at Castle in the Air. Whether you want a hand-bound journal or album to record your memories of summertime's parties or a day-planner to get your schedule sorted, we've got it at the shop and it's on sale this weekend. The store will be joining many of our neighbors along Fourth Street this Saturday in the annual Summer Sidewalk Sale, with discounts of 40-60%. What's more, our shop will have its own sale on Friday and Sunday, with 25% off nearly everything in the store (excluding classes and selected items).

With all the shops bringing their wares to the sidewalk to mingle with shoppers and the live music along Fourth Street, it's like our own little summer sendoff. Hope to see you there!

Hooligans

Summer means summer camp, and my younger daughter keeps coming back from her day camp hikes in the Berkeley hills with wild turkey feathers she finds on the trail. Of course, kids aren't the only little creatures having summertime adventures. The turkeys themselves have waddled down from the woods at the top of the hills and are wreaking havoc on the UC campus and in the streets and gardens all over Berkeley and the neighboring towns. They're a bit like our local raccoons, who run in packs and aren't afraid of people, animals, or cars. In fact, the turkeys like to climb up on top of cars and leave scratches and little souvenirs on the hoods. For a university town, Berkeley comes up a bit short in the hooligan department, so the turkeys are filling a need by stirring up all kinds of trouble and I love it!

This painting is one of mine from when I co-taught an illustration class on Edward Lear's Owl and the Pussycat with Caron Dunn. Seems these fellows can play both sides of the law.

Spinning Back to Summer

This coming Saturday and Monday, Castle in the Air is hosting two day-long sold-out classes in the marvelous art of the paper pinwheel, taught by John McRae. John was inspired to create a small collection of whirligigs after a visit to Ulla Milbrath's house, where he saw an antique lithograph of a pinwheel vendor. At the time the picture of this merchant was drawn, the spinning paper contraptions were popular children's toys. The word "whirligig" is much older though, coming from the verb "to hurl," and in the 15th century was used to describe a way of vomiting!

John's pinwheels were part of our window display all summer, and people came into the store to admire and play with them. Summer has been over for weeks, but a hot day like this is enough to distract us from Christmas preparation and take us all back to the dog days.