In the 1960’s my best friend Linny and I would ride bikes everywhere we went.  We would ride to the College Village drugstore for hamburgers and shakes or to Thruway Shopping Center for something good from Dewey’s bakery.  (Fortunately we were both very thin!)  Sometimes we would just ride around the neighborhood looking for interesting things to do.  One summer we decided to take up tennis.  We were young and inexperienced but it was fun and we liked to compete.  I remember one particular game where I beat Linny.  After that she pursued tennis passionately and never lost again.   In fact she became such a talented player that she went on to be the N.C. state champion and later she was coaching at Wake Forest.  I think I gave up tennis when Linny got so good I couldn’t keep up with her.    One thing I didn’t give up on was making art and fortunately it is something you can keep doing all through life.  When Linny called recently she wanted me to create a floorcloth for her playroom and include her childhood cat named Ringo.  Ringo was a tabby named after her favorite Beatle.   It was great fun to catch up with my oldest friend and relive some of those childhood memories.

Ringo with flowers