Tiberius Rex and Pixie Duste

Terry met me at Stardust Video & Coffee for Dustoberfest. The place was quiet and I had finished my first sketch. I warned Terry that Dustoberfest wasn’t exactly a wild party. She had gotten dressed and insisted on stopping by. The food was actually really good. I ordered a Kielbasa with sauerkraut which came with an egg sunny side up and mashed potatoes. Washed down with a Hofbrau beer in a tall beer stein it was the perfect German meal.

When Terry arrived she got in line to order some food as well. In line she met Tiberius Rex and Pixie Duste who ordered before her. Instinctively she knew I couldn’t resist sketching a vampire. She sent them over to my table. Tiberius introduced himself asking if I was the artist. I asked them to sit across from me and immediately started sketching. Tiberius’s eyes were white with a black line surrounding the iris. It gave his gaze an unnerving snake like quality. He was the most amicable vampire I’ve ever met and he smiled so I could sketch his fangs. He was very proud of their gentle inward curvature. I admired his casket ring and magnificent snake’s head walking stick.

Pixie Duste was far more demure. Her shock of jet black hair covered her eyes and her welders glasses had bold red Xs over the lenses. As I sketched her, Tiberius did a jig with his shoulders to the music keeping her amused. They were an adorable goth couple. When the sketch was done, Tiberius said, “Look, we truly are immortal now!” he laughed and gently kissed Pixie Duste. Pixie Duste unwrapped her blood red Tootsie pop and sucked on it. They reminded me of Terry and myself when we were first dating.

It was a crisp chilly October and we went to a Pumpkin Festival a few miles up the Hudson River from New York City. I was sketching the crew of the Clearwater, a Dutch Sloop and environmental group founded by folk singer Pete Seeger. The sloop still sails the Hudson River teaching children about life in the river. The Clearwater hosted a pumpkin sail every October sailing down river and selling pumpkins off town docks. Children crawled among the pumpkins playing and trying to pick the perfect pumpkin. Terry met me for this Pumpkin Festival and we spent a wonderful day together volunteering. For the first and only time in my life I painted a few children’s faces. That evening there was a square dance and we danced the night away. We were infectiously in love and one woman actually asked Terry to tone down her “public displays of affection.” I’m glad Terry laughed off the request, we kissed and hugged each other with abandon. Who cared what other people thought!