Peace Festival

Jeff, Lily and I went to the Bishop Arts District in Dallas for the Peace Festival. Sept 21 is the International Day of Peace. Friday night, I had met Karen Blessen, the Pulitzer Prize winning Dallas artist who illustrated the book "Peace One Day" which is about the struggle to create an international day of peace. She said I would love the Bishop Arts District where it was held. That same night after talking with her, I came home to find an email from my friend Jyoti Subramanian. She and her daughter Meena were going to be telling stories there too. When Sunday arrived we had beautiful weather & some free time, so off we went for an adventure.

What a FUN afternoon! Also there to tell stories & emcee was Traphene Hickman, a delightful storyteller and Gene & Peggy Helmick-Richardson, a married couple who often do tandem tales together, but instead on this day each told one wonderful story. I was invited to share one of Traphenes' favorite stories about the "walk-off people". I enjoyed every single story, it is very hard to single one out as a favorite, for they all had a specialness to them. Meena is (i think) in the sixth grade this year and she has really developed into a gifted, wonderful storyteller over the last three years. When she and her mom tell a tandem tale from India together - it's magic!

The art galleries & funky shops at the Bishop Arts District are top-notch! It is a bit of a drive from Plano, so weekends are best for driving down there - lot less traffic then. I definitely plan on visiting the area again.