My colleagues at ?What If! Innovation and their spouses/partners proved to be fairly adept kite pilots, as is evident from these scenes on the beach in East Hampton, N.Y. (strong winds from Igor helped, no doubt). I just watched and sketched and painted -- not an easy task with all that wind blowing around.

How fun to be on a school campus in September! Spent yesterday afternoon in Wallingford, CT, sketching at the Choate Rosemary Hall campus with a friend. I drew the Seymour St. John Chapel from across the lawn.

Last weekend, we went up to Rhinebeck, NY, for the annual Dutchess County Fair. (Between this event and Chelsea Clinton's wedding, Rhinebeck has sure seen a lot of action this year. We had dinner at the Beekman Arms, and the people at the bar were still talking about the wedding.)

Ah, county fairs, with their 4-H fun, husband-calling competitions, and unhealthy fare... I skipped the bloomin' onions in favor of my sketchbook.







The highlight of the fair was easily Rosaire's Racing Pigs. Yes, pigs, that "race" -- well, run or amble depending on their weight -- toward food: