by Sonja Hakala

For the gardeners in Carding, Vermont, the first week of June is as close to perfect as you can get. The temps in the mornings are cool enough to invite a sweater or light jacket, and the cooler temps keep the black flies at bay for a little while.

Edie now started each day by strolling among the plantings in her backyard with her second cup of tea while her cocker spaniel, Nearly, snuffled about from mole hole to chipmunk den and back again.

Edie’s favorite plant at this time of the year was the creeping Veronica spilling over the decorative rocks she collected every time she got near the Corvus River. The petals of the pale blue flowers were delicately edged in white with lines of a deeper blue streaking their interiors.

Once they started, the tiny blooms—no bigger than the fingernail on Edie’s pinky—hurried through their life span, opening to greet the morning then closing as the sun set. She turned them up with her hand, smiling at the gift each one represented.

“I need to draw you,” she said out loud. 

So far, Edie had not told anyone about her latest creative pursuit. She could just imagine the eye rolls when her friends and family found out she was pursuing yet another hobby.

But colored pencils, paper and pens were so much easier to carry around than a sewing machine, cutting mat, scissors, fabric and thread, the equipment you need for quilting. In fact, Edie now kept a small set of drawing utensils and supplies in the leather backpack she used as a purse, filling stray minutes with what she thought of as “her scribblings.”

It was the work of a moment to fetch a small glass of water from the kitchen and fill it with snips of the creeping Veronica.

While Nearly kept watch from his favorite prone position on her back step, Edie settled her porch chair at her sturdy outdoor table. It didn’t take long before she was deeply engrossed in the minutia of the tiny blue flowers and their delicately pointed leaves. 

She knew she had to be quick because creeping Veronica does not take well to being cut, and the diminutive blooms already showed signs of closing. That’s why she never knew that her best friend, Ruth Goodwin, had rounded the corner of the house until Nearly barked.

“Hey, I didn’t know you had taken up drawing,” Ruth said.

Much to her irritation, Edie felt a blush creep over her cheeks, and she laid her hands over her paper.

“It’s not much,” Edie said. “I’m just a beginner.”

Ruth pulled out a chair and sat down. “Are you taking lessons anywhere?”

“Oh well, just a couple of things online. Wil introduced me to YouTube as a resource, and I’ve found some drawing lessons there.” Edie started to close her pad but Ruth reached out to stop her.

“I’ve been trying my hand at colored pencils myself,” she said. “Do you suppose this is an aging thing?”

“Really? How long have you been doing that?” Edie asked.

“Well, I’d been thinking about it for a while. But what really got me going in earnest was that comment you made on our way to our last quilt retreat about all the stuff you have to lug around when you want to quilt with friends,” Ruth said. “I love to sew but I’ve formed a real aversion to lugging stuff here and there. Working for the post office, I do enough of lugging.”

“I made that comment?” Edie’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “I thought you made that comment. It’s what got me to thinking about picking up the drawing I used to do when I was younger.”

“Did I?” The two friends looked at one another and then started laughing.

“Do you mind if I get my pencils from the car and join you?” Ruth asked.

Edie stood up. “I’ll get the tea ready, and meet you right back here.”

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The Carding Chronicles are short stories written by author Sonja Hakala about the Vermont town that no one can quite find on a map. They feature the characters in the four Carding novels.

The Carding books are available from Amazon and the Chronicles appear here, on this website, every Monday. Hope to see you next week.