Midsummer Night's Eve

"if these shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended . . . "

Such wonderful words, that have inspired such art. Ilove Midsummer, and remember many happy trips out west with my mom and dad,where we looked at fossil shops, and reconstructed forts. I loved Wyoming with its Jackalopes and Little America, and the mainstay of my Native American doll and silver jewelry collection came from those trips. There was a store we visited called The Boardwalk in Wyoming every year. The dolls there were real works of art, and I also used to find old comp dolls and old store stock, including tiny ethnic bisque babies from Germany and occuped Japan. We were nervous to get there on time; the elderly owner used to let us in, but the younger workers closed at five on the dot. Sometimes, we couldn't make it. We loved the rock tumbling places, and there was a great little craftstore loaded with old store stock one year near Billings that had all kinds of folk dolls. My first peanut doll, a cowby mounted on a tiny peace of driftwood was from there.

We visited the inn at The Grand Canyon, The Petrfied Forest, Old Spanish Town in Albuquerque, Old London Bridge in Lake Havasu, and the memories are as vivid as anything I see on a daily basis. One year we went to Colorado Springs and Yellow Stone, and we stayed in a cabin. A bear came right up my mom's window and looked her in the eye. Dad said it was professional courtesy. Very funny, sort of our totem of the cave bear moment. The dolls and souvenirs from these trips form the heart of the museum collection. I can't wait to display them all with their stories.