Every year we get the kids' faces painted at the same stand by a woman who is an incredible artist. Think art deco peacock feathers. Think dragons blowing purple fire and sparks.

Every year we play at the fountain. Well, I sit at the top of the fountain and calmly eat my lunch while the kids play. It is amazing to me to look at the long slope down to the fountain and remember how terrified I was when David tried to traverse it at three and how easy it looks now. I love all the kids running in and out of the giant fountain, getting soaked and not worrying about it. This year my mom bought the kids giant bubble blowers and they became a nexus of fun blowing bubbles for littler kids.

Every year the food gets easier and easier. I used to have to bring everything my family was going to eat in one heavy backpack. Picky gluten-free children made the cornucopia of Folklife food no fun. This year I packed some cheese and meat and the kids ate that with delicious gluten-free biscuits. Then they had ice cream and chocolate covered strawberries.

I like artists--craftspeople, musicians, dancers. I love being around people who have a vision and create. Every year it gets easier to negotiate the kids while we visit the craft booths and negotiate the kids at the craft booths. This year David bought a turtle and lizard from the Hmong bean bag works, who have been making these creatures in shiny colors since I was a kid, and Rose got a mask made of silverware from the Spoonman. Stay tuned for Halloween when she plans to put all her Spoonman purchases into one costume.

I have always liked folk music. To be in a place where there are enough people for a Pete Seeger sing along is like my version of church. I listened to sea shanties, blues, twenties swing, country western, Cajun, soul, and Mr. Hirsch (the children's elementary music teacher) singing children's folk. David actually volunteered to act out Woody Guthrie's "I'm Going to Mail Myself to You."

And of course, there's the dancing. I would dance all day all four days if I could. We did one step, two step, lindy, swing, jazz, blues, Cajun, and waltz. I love dancing to a live band, honoring their music with my movement. I love having such a large community of dance buddies, so I knew at least a dozen people at every dance venue, and they all ran up to me and said, Happy Folklife! I love seeing all the people I don't know checking it out and trying.

Sure, it's crowded, the disaffected youth are a little intimidating, and the cross current of Celtic music in one ear and the drum circle in another can be a bit much. But it's free if you need it to be, it's great people watching, it's not far from my house, and it enriches my soul. I am a friend of Folklife.