Another chill

[Blurry Boston from last weekend, feeling the wind now in Providence, just less nippy but more wet.] I drove through torrential rain for my entire trip to Providence. Exhausting to stay awake while terrified because of the very low visibility and the very scary numbers of cars not using headlights. Plus, I was silly enough to leave my water in the trunk and bring no snacks and tried to listen to a book about economics on the way up. But I was delighted to finally let the parking attendant take care of my borrowed car and perfectly happy to wait in the computer room while my room was being prepared. I even got lunch brought to me and got to watch a silly talk show (but covering not silly things about women's self defense). I had a wonderful meeting at RISD's special collections where I showed Laurie some of my things, hanji- and book-ish, and then Laurie showed me books she pulled just for me, all using handmade paper. Really gorgeous work, and such a treat because I think all of them were books I had not ever seen, though I knew of most of the makers.

Lauren also joined us, and is opening Paper Connection for a special hanji lover's day tomorrow (Saturday) from 10am to 2pm. Go if you can! They are one of only three U.S. outlets for hanji. After a much-needed nap at 5pm, I drove in circles and finally unloaded and parked so that I could cook kozo and get ready for tomorrow's workshop. It's always a challenge to sort out things in unfamiliar paper studios, but I think most everything that I can do is done. Thank goodness I ran out to NYC yesterday to a couple of art supply stores to construct two more sets of student sugetas, because the large vat that I was told would be ready looks quite unready. Which means the two student bal/balteul shipped all the way from Cleveland will NOT work. But Lauren has endless resources up her sleeves, so tomorrow may surprise us.