Maria and I navigated the snow and wind and got to an art show co-hosted by our friend Anne Dambrowski, an artist known and loved around here for the remarkable masks she makes and wears in town parades.

This was her first art show and long overdue.

Maria went wild for her “Orange Cat,” so I snuck off to buy it for her while she was busy talking to Anne.

At the same time, she thought I coveted the “White Bird.” I did, but I also used it as a ruse to distract her while I snuck off to buy the Orange Cat.

She had the same idea, and there was a hilarious Marx Brothers routine as we each snuck around trying to buy what the other person wanted.

We knew the other was up to something, but we couldn’t quite figure it out.

I won the scramble – she is not as devious as I am and can’t ever hide a lie –  and bought both because I loved them and wanted to keep her from spending the money.

They were both inexpensive.

We’ll sort it out later. She bought me a beautiful heart-shaped and hand-painted ceramic bowl.

The bottom line is that we both love each of these pieces and Anne’s terrific show. These will add a nice and fresh dimension to our walls; we’re already plotting where to hang them.

We also love going to art shows together. It is one of the things that bind us and we don’t get to do it often enough in small rural towns.

I can pick both of them up after the show on the Ides of March. I will, of course, post photos of where they land. We agree that this is just what the living room needs.