Uphill idealist

What happens when you combine canvas, acrylic paint and an open invitation for people to come and create? Community happens. Earlier in 2015, I was in the midst of considering a practical way to prayerfully observe the season of Advent and my first inclination was to do something creative. In my own heart, I was longing for some space to rest and reflect upon the season of Advent, where hope, peace, joy and love reside. Through the social networking site, Meetup, I started a group called, "Buffalo Artists Share" and set some dates for a group to gather at a local church to work on an Advent mural project. (For the lesson plan on how to make a canvas mural, email: eastman_tara@yahoo.com.) Church members as well as folks from the Meetup group were invited, over a period of three weeks to come and paint, eat some lunch and get to know each other. The most engaged participants in the project, turned out to be from the general public.  Over four weeks, the p...

Earlier this week I had the chance to wander down Hertel Ave. in North Buffalo and came upon a store called "The House of Olives" . The store was filled with metal barrels fill of fancy flavored olive oil and various kinds of vinegar. Each barrels was set up with a sample bottle and little tasting cups for unlimited sampling of their supply of oils and vinegar. I smelled and was amazed at the variety of the flavors available. This place could make cooking really fun! After my friend encouraged me to taste the vinegar -I did and was surprised at it's sweetness, but I was also taken aback by something else. While I expected the olive oil to be think and oily (after all it is oil), the flavored vinegar was incredibly sweet but it also was thick and syrupy. It's consistency I discovered, from the gentleman filling the small bottles for gift sets, made it necessary for him to slow down in filling them. No matter how he tried to hurry, the vinegar syrup would only pour so...