Dream #119….It’s dusty; Barrington is dustier than I remember. Not only that, but everything looks really funny–funny as in colorful. I know I’m in Barrington though, because I’m standing outside the Ice House Mall. I’ve shopped here enough, I should know. But instead of the dulling tan brick, the building with all my favorite stores is orange and blue! When I touch the brick, the two colors smear and leave a chalky residue on my fingers.
Walking behind the building I hear the roar of a passing train. Wait, a train passing on the old tracks? The bright green locomotive barreled by, emitting purple and pink smoke into the air. I can just make out the bright blue cubes of ice stacked inside its cars.
I continue to explore this new Barrington, walking down Applebee Street, and come face to face with one of the strangest creatures I could ever imagine. It was an apple, or so I thought at first. But this apple was tiny, more oval than round, and it was flying. As I stepped closer to this flying apple, another came towards me with a buzz. Closer now, I could see the black stripes on the its red skin. An . . . apple-bee? As soon as the thought entered my mind, their buzzing grew louder. More apple-bees were swarming towards me, so I ran.
I was running so fast, that my legs got tangled so much that I fell. It was then, facing the ground, that I realized something was odd about the sidewalk too. I peer down at the images there, images that looks like my Barrington! The Barrington drawn on the sidewalk wasn’t dusty or colored strangely, it was just how I remembered it. I stare long enough, and when I look up everything was back to normal and the chalk world was safely back on the sidewalk.
The Barrington Area Chamber of Commerce (BACC) has found a way for area artists to use the talents they honed over a lifetime of summer play and to reveal their creative side! The 2nd annual Chalk Art Festival will start Thursday, July 29th outside the Ice House Mall at 200 Applebee Street and follow the sidewalk towards Main Street. It will run through Friday, July 30th when the winners will be announced at 3pm. The winners of the four categories–8 and under, 9 to 14, 15 to 18, and group–receive a $25 gift certificate to the Ice House Mall.
To Register, visit the BACC web-site or stop by the BACC Information Tent located outside McGonigal’s Pub during Sidewalk Days. There is no charge to participate or to watch, and the first 25 entries receive a bucket of chalk pastels compliments of The Learning Express located in the Ice House Mall.
