Monster Mash

The doll artist and her husband purely enjoyed a week’s visit with our soon to be 15-year-old grandson, Gurion. We did a variety of things one-on-one individually and also the three of us, especially sharing meals, childhood stories, celebrating year 48 of Bundles but also 250 Celebration of Chester, VT. Spreading the joy here.

Gurion helped his Poppy paste up historical pictures to exhibit at St. Luke’s where we have worshipped for 42 years. He mowed the lawn, helped put up another watering troth for a raised garden bed, weatherproofed our Adirondack chairs and repaired my Burma Shave signs. Never touched his lacrosse stock. Perhaps best was he took pictures around Chester with his photographer grandfather who later showed him how to edit and Photoshop them.

Ironically he was not here for two of my four visitors, who purchased Calico Paper Dolls. Who invented these? Gurion when he was just a boy and was quick to ask about those long-lost commissions although we paid him for his work here. He is brilliant in offering marketing ideas. Why not have kids paste up on the paper doll their personal face they design? Wow! Then we talked about creating a doll that was part human and part animal.

What I have neglected to share in this story so far is that Gurion was gifted with a laptop computer by our rector’s husband who had been doing carpentry work on the back of the house. Well, that was the beginning of the end. Mr. Pokemon became a serious game upload chief and had to be monitored after lengthy computer visits. On one break, he visited all the dolls, sharing with me his favorites. I began to imagine Gurion convincing a couple dolls, maybe Gretchen and Wendy, to go onto the computer after we had gone to bed to Photoshop a monster face on a doll neither of them liked. He had learned how to do this with Poppy’s guidance and sent it to his mother. She must have thought we scared him to death. No, we just loved him to death!