The Small Town Crafter

As  we drove through the alpine roads of Colorado, I had John Denver to thank most. He sang about Colorado through my cassette player many years ago. Part of the charm of coming here to the States, was to be able to visit The Centennial State.  Sketchbook was out often, everything seemed sketchable.  This was right below our hotel. Our little porch faced the creek, we slept to the sounds of a gushing stream and woke up to it. Inspite of the water been so cold, my daughter had a gala time in it. She jumped and splashed and seemed oblivious to the chill factor. She, and other kids. Colorado was everything Denver's songs promised. We biked through winding paths, with mountains and skiing slopes right in front of us. Picturesque vistas has picnic benches facing them, so we stopped and munched on some snacks.  Sketched a quick one, something we witness often at home. Some daddy advice from Daddy is on the cards for B almost every day. So, ...

I should start this post with a hashtag 'latergram' . Yes, about 9 months late. But I figured at least this year's event has not started yet. Last year's trip to India was awesome, to say the least. I met my family after many years, and we had some killer holidays to Kohima and Darjeeling. I got busy with my sketchbook quite a bit and was happy with the output. Thanks to my brother, we were privy to a government guesthouse on top of a hill, surrounded by hills. The Jafpu ranges, to be particular. The ombre shades of blue, brown and green were a treat to the eyes. The sketchbook was out soon enough and I tried capturing some fleeting hilly moments on it. The festival was unlike anything I could have imagined. Dozens of women and men in the most exotic costumes were all around. Clothes and jewelry made out of feathers, beads, leather and loom woven. The headgears were so eye catching. On the main arena, there was a dance competition happening. There were no lo...