Kia Ora! …..and many thanks to all of you who came out for my lecture here in New Zealand!
In a couple hours I am headed to the Christchurch airport for my 23 hour trip home. I’ve had a wonderful 2nd visit to New Zealand, in Wellington, Rotorua, and Auckland. When I get home (and catch my breath) I’ll post photos from my Lord of the Rings tour, and my visit to Hobbiton.
Many of us use Quilting, Crafting, Sewing, and Creative Making, to center ourselves in a crazy world. Many of us travel to beautiful places or conferences to push the Reset button in our busy lives. Going to a quilt festival does both!
My two favorite things on this trip (besides the Quilt Symposium, of course!) were attending the WOW show in Wellington, and visiting Hobbiton. For both experiences, I had a big happy smile on my face the whole time, just marveling at the creativity expressed in creating these fantasy worlds.
It was a pretty miserable cold rainy day when I went to Hobbiton, but I borrowed an umbrella and tramped up and down the Hobbit paths, immersing myself in the experience. Eventually I got to the place where I felt like I was really in another time and place, and my escape from reality was complete. I slept like a baby that night, and had lovely dreams.
This kind of experience explains the growing popularity of CosPlay, but it also underlines our need to get out in Nature to reconnect with our Humanity. The Hobbit Shire is immersed in the beauty of Nature, and to dream of such a life – even for an hour or two – helps us to reconnect with our top priorities as human beings who are just a part of this beautiful world we live in.
Next year in Nov. 2018, I am going to celebrate my 60th birthday with the Polar Bears, and YOU are invited to join me! This will be my 4th trip to photograph the polar bears in Churchill, and we are going to have a birthday dinner party out on the tundra at night. Reservations are open now and payment plans are available! See here for more details.
sharing your Passion for Fabric…
Luana
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Travel Calendar:
Oct 27 – Nov 2 – Quilt Market & Festival – Houston
Nov 8-13 – Color Marketing Group – Portland OR
Dec 29 2017 – Jan 5 2018 – Tanzania Africa Wildlife Migration Tour
Feb 22-25, 2018 – QuiltCon – Pasadena, California
Nov 14-20, 2018 – POLAR BEAR Tour – Join me in Churchill!
