Robin Russell sips a chai latte while reading the novel “In Country” by Bobbie Ann Mason on Thursday at Longbranch Cafe and Bakery.

“I love coming here,” she said. “It just feels like being in my own living room.”

Russell said she comes to the local restaurant and bakery about once a week. The retired school social worker said she stopped in Thursday because she had some time to kill before picking her granddaughter up from preschool.

This time she sat beneath a set of paintings from the series, “The Art of Friendship” by local artists Jan York and Susan Addington.

“I find the eyes very interesting,” Russell said.

She pointed out a painting dated November 2016 with political paraphernalia around the frame. Tears are gathered in the corners of the portrait’s eyes.

“That’s how I feel too,” she said.

Editor-in-Chief Anna Spoerre can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @annaspoerre. 

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