Thursday, June 24, 2010

Paisley, Illustration Friday

I've been on a trip to nowhere, man...For the past few months, Illustration Friday's word challenges have gone unmet by yours truly. But this week's word, paisley, prompts me to tell the story about the time we were returning from a trip to San Francisco, during the height of the hippie era.
My parents were as straight as arrows, but my dad had a sense of adventure that meandered as far as his imagination could take him, maybe farther. Anyway, our family was packed in an early 60's Ford truck with a camper, heading back to Southern California, when my dad decided to give a couple of hitchhikers a ride. The details of how they met are somewhat fuzzy, but they rode all the way home with us, at least 7 hours or so. I'm sure my dad was happy to have the extra passengers to talk with, because once we arrived home in Orange County, he continued to keep them awake, projecting his collection of slides gathered from adventures in Hawaii accompanied by his usual detailed verbal descriptions. One hitchhiker, a young artist named Felicia, sat patiently with me, coloring in my coloring books during the long night and sharing her set of oil pastels with me, which she let me keep. When my dad reported to work that next morning, my mom drove our two guests to the freeway on ramp, where they waited for their next ride to San Diego.
Many years later, I have to laugh at the difference in attitudes towards hippies and hitchhikers, while hoping the two friends made it safely to their destination. I wonder who was more unnerved by the whole experience, my mom or the hitchhikers! And like I said, many of the details of this story have slowly faded, like my mom insisting they had a dog, and how I decided many years later that they relate to the word, paisley. But I'll always remember my parents' willingness to help a couple of travelers, a young artist named Felicia and how simple gestures of sharing inspired many pictures and quiet fascination with many things off the beaten path.

13 comments:

  1. Oh wow, thats an excellent story, it really is great when people from opposite walks of life can just 'be' and enjoy each other. Great illo too.

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  2. Groovy! What a fun illo! Great job. Thanks for stopping to leave a comment on my blog. Great story and what a cool memory :D

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  3. Groovy story man! Love the illustration! Great one Michele! Cool character design and fantastic colors. Hey thanks for stopping by!

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  4. This is a fantastic story and really fun illo. Thanks for sharing them both!

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  5. OOh thanks for sharing your story. You tell great stories too. he he he Who knew?? Hey so what you missed a few IF post I have too. LIfe happens! WHAT?? It does and we can always do what we want when we want. Just jump right back in when you get the chance. We will all be waiting for you with baited breathe he he he he! Thanks so much for stopping by Girly. Always great hearing from you.
    Hugs
    V

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  6. What a great illustration and I thoroughly enjoyed your post...amazing how different our generations and attitudes are..I'm so happy to hear of the kindness of the artist. What a great memory! Fun how you've added the dog in your illustration...perhaps you're leaning toward believing your mom's memory? : ) Thanks for your kind visit - you are so sweet!

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  7. this is a far-out story, i can dig it and i dooooooo! You are wonderful :)

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  8. That is such an awesome story- love the accompanying illustration as well.

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  9. excellent story, you right attitudes have changed towards hitchikers, and your illustration so right on and of course beautiful

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  10. TOOO funny, Michele, (that you hadn't seen much of those shows until you got a color tv)! That's great! I remember being on a black and white for many years..but then wow, color. Amazing. Thanks for THAT memory! Have a great rest of the week!

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  11. Hi Michele! This is great! And such a wonderful and true story you have to share! Thank you so much for the comment too! I really appreciate it!

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