Trout Lily Studios

There's a little river town nearby that's sort of got it figured out, I think. Once a year, this little town gets together to have a picnic, in honor of, and to celebrate, a tiny little brook trout creek.from the Mill Stream Associations http://millstreamassociation.com/?p=35 website:"Its primary goal is to be the guardian of the “Mill Stream,” protecting it and its brook trout against any potential hazard caused by water quality degradation, public use issues and/or development. They had the foresight to recognize what a unique resource the Mill Stream is and sought to spread the word through community outreach and education"I can't think of anything better to celebrate, can you?

And so, despite not being from there, Sophie and I were fortunate enough to be invited (again - I think this is the 3rd year I've done this...) to be part of the celebration by displaying our artwork.

Pour a SIP...On the way home, we agreed that ice cream was in order. I had worked at a little greasy spoon some 20 years ago in nearby Afton, and I remembered that there was an ice cream shoppe right next door. We headed on down.But alas, Lerk's is no more:

How many hours I had sweated over that tiny cast iron grill is anyone's guess. I had spent a steamy summer in college one year, churning out stacks of greasy, gooey cheeseburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches 5 nights a week every week, for what seemed a never ending line of over weight, wind-blown, sun-burned tourists coming off the river.

But now she's all locked up. I guess with all the memories of the place what they are, I should be happy, but I somewhere inside I guess I was hoping to see the place still in business.