Happy Hens

The Happy Hen isn’t a trendy cafe where creative people meet, it’s a country diner in the middle of nothing much. But it’s the perfect half way point for Serena and me to meet. And it’s warm and comfortable and the food is good and they don’t mind if you hang around for a couple of hours nursing a cup of tea.

Serena and I first met last year while on a board distributing grants to local artists. After that we seemed to continue bumping into each other until we decided it was time to have dinner. It was one of those friendships that was comfortable from the beginning. It can be hard to keep a friendship going, especially in the beginning, when you rarely get to see each other and live so far apart. It takes an effort from both people. Of course technology make it easier to keep in touch, but there’s nothing like sitting across from someone, drinking tea and talking face to face.

So we talked about art and galleries and money and spirituality and family and friendship. We talked about how a person has to change what’s inside of them, not what’s outside, in order to really change their life. We talked about how it was difficult to leave the studio for lunch (Serena’s making work for a show at the Southern Vermont Art Center in February) and how important it is to have a community of artist’s to encourage each other. We resisted a piece of home made white cake with raspberry filling and chocolate icing. (Probably not the best decision since I’m still thinking about it.) We promised to continue having lunch and the conversation.