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Blog Archives:  June - December, 2007        January - June, 2008

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July 15, 2008
I've always felt a sort of "connectedness" to New England.  Ever since my first visit up this way -- a post-high-school-graduation trip to the Cape Cod summer home of my friend Nancy -- I've felt very much at home.  It's sort of odd, really, that I should feel that way, since as far as I know I have absolutely zero family connections to this region of the country.  Maybe it's the sense of history, or the emphasis that New Englanders tend to put on family; maybe I like the architecture -- just yesterday I made a comment on how much I liked the houses that were connected to barns or garages by breezeways, and how they looked like "home" to me.

We're currently staying in that agricultural area of Massachusetts very near the Connecticut state line.  In fact, today's banking errand was to Granby, Connecticut.  And that brings me to another thing that fascinates me about New England: the occasionally odd juxtaposition of old traditions with the ultra-modern.  The Bank Of America is located in a classically New England building resembling a small Colonial style home ... yet the drive-through teller speaks to you via remote camera -- a first for me.  I had to laugh!  To get there, I'd driven along winding lanes; New England, I do believe, defines "winding lanes."  I'd passed farms that were easily a couple of hundred years old.  Granby, itself, was probably incorporated back in the 1700's.  And yet the bank uses 21st Century technology not commonly used in other -- newer -- regions of the United States.

You gotta love that.

July 13, 2008
We have just finished the first weekend of the Southern Connecticut Renaissance Festival.  So far, It's been a delight:  well-organized and some of the friendliest and most helpful people we've ever worked with.  We'll be here for two more weekends, and I must say, I'm already looking forward to them!  Here's a little bit of what we saw this weekend: sword fighting, magic, knights on horseback, dancing, and general merriment.  (Click on each thumbnail for an enlargement.)

In a weekend full of nice surprises, one of the nicest was Gene, who arrived at our booth dressed in late-Medieval peasant garb with a pouch full of bones.  Bones -- the musical percussion kind, not the gravedigger kind!  Gene and I played a few tunes together and had a great time.  Also, I finally got to meet some fellow musicians that I've heard of for years: The Harper And The Minstrel (Abby and Jay Michaels) and Thyme Awaye (Geri) who is a MySpace Friend.  

Tomorrow it's off to Massachusetts, just a short ways up the road, to camp in the country, make a trip or two to Collins Tavern, visit with friends ... and rest up for weekend #2 of the Southern Connecticut Renaissance Festival.

July 8, 2008
Long before I'd ever even imagined doing a craft show in the High Country, I'd come to this area as a sightseer.  The building that houses the Highland House Ski Shop, pictured at left, has delighted me as a landmark for as long as I can remember.  It's at the intersection of Highway 105 and Highway 184; once upon a time this group of buildings was a rather lonely little beacon that signified you'd come to the road leading up to Banner Elk and Beech Mountain.  Now it's one of many buildings in a shopping area called Grandfather Village, in the shadow of Grandfather Mountain.  

Charming as the Highland House Ski Shop is, it's not the most noticeable architectural feature of the immediate area.  I'd have to say that designation belongs to a high-rise condo that is perched atop nearby Sugar Mountain.  That huge, glaring white building is visible for miles -- and while it may offer its occupants a spectacular view, it is a jarring sight to anyone else.  A monument to someone's failure to blend with the environment, it should be a mandatory field trip for every student of architecture -- Just because a thing can be done, doesn't mean it should be done.  Look at what you shouldn't do.  If you're curious about this monstrosity, you can look it up for yourself -- I don't want a picture on my website as a constant reminder that there are people out there who have such disregard for the natural world!

Greg and I went into Banner Elk for errands today, and, on a whim, we checked out the Grandfather Campground.  That's where I managed to get this photo of Grandfather's profile.  I'd almost despaired of being able to get a nice picture of Grandfather Mountain, as it seemed I was never in the right place at the right time.  

Grandfather is the highest peak in the Blue Ridge Mountains, and is certainly one of the most recognizable peaks in the world.  I read recently that there are smooth round stones, like the ones you'd find in a riverbed, near the top of Grandfather.  If they're commonly found at the bottom of a river, how'd those stones get on top of a mountain?  Geologists say that 750 million years ago, these rocks were carried by rivers and deposited in a valley.  A continental collision pushed that valley upward, making it into a mountaintop.  Amazing.

There are so many other fantastic natural features in this world, many (if not most) of them created by similarly cataclysmic events.  I once asked my father, a man of science who was a devout Christian, what his beliefs were with regard to the creation of the world -- there are Christians who flatly deny that anything on Earth can be more than a few thousand years old ... as there are scientists who offer geological evidence as proof that the Bible is false -- what did Daddy believe?  We were standing on the rim of Tallulah Gorge at the time, reading about the forces of nature which produced this deep gash in the Earth's crust anywhere from 250 to 500 million years ago.  Without hesitation, Daddy referred to the second verse of the first chapter of Genesis: "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep."  No timeline is offered, nor even implied, in this portion of the creation story, Daddy said, so it more or less rendered moot any argument by either side: the passage does not rule out the possibility of seismic events and floods which occurred hundreds of millions of years ago, thus -- in this instance, at least -- there is no dichotomy between belief in science and belief in the Bible.

Oh.  He sure had a way of explaining tough concepts in a way that even a child could understand!

July 6, 2008
The laurel pictured at left is what gives Laurel Creek its name.

We've been camped directly on the bank of Laurel Creek, near Boone, NC, for a little over a week.  We came to participate in two fine craft shows in nearby Banner Elk.  Both shows were very nice -- the promoter, Pat Fay, does a fantastic job of organizing a craft show.  As a crafter of jewelry herself, she has obviously applied her years of experience on the "circuit" to put together a show that is highly `appealing to the public and yet tailored to the needs of crafters.  All of our fellow vendors, both weekends, were so cooperative and easy to work with -- very considerate of their neighbors.

It's tough to get up at the crack of dawn, drive to the show site, set up a tent, carry in and then set up your wares -- a few hours of tough physical work precedes a show.  Then, just when your body really craves a few minutes to relax and put your feet up, the "workday" -- the actual show -- begins.  Now you need to completely shift mental gears; you must be "on" -- ready to answer questions, demonstrate your craft, whatever, all with a smile.  

So when you get to a show and find that you're going to be working alongside genuinely nice people, it's a relief.  It means that no one will have their cargo piled up in your space; no one will block the load-in area with a huge trailer; no one will whine about doing a show by him/herself and then interrupt your work flow by asking for a bunch of favors.  And then, as a complete and lovely bonus when you do a Mountaintop Promotions (Pat Fay) show, you are greeted with a big hug, personally shown to your site, and provided with coffee and breakfast goodies.  As physically demanding as the shows, by needs, are, it's easy to start with a good attitude at Pat's shows!  

Of course, our time here hasn't been all work and no play.  Yes, we're usually dead tired at the close of a craft fair day, but in this particular area, the drive to do weekday errands is pretty pleasant, surrounded, as it is, by mountains.  The weather has been mild and comparatively cool (this Florida native has had to sleep under a coverlet some nights!).  And in the evening, we occasionally build a campfire.

I'll leave you with one sorta creepy thought: the stone campfire ring pictured at right is also home to a snake -- we believe, we hope, that he is a harmless watersnake.  Of course, we had no knowledge that we were building a fire on top of someone's home when we built our first campfire!  We didn't really encounter our slithery little neighbor until after several fires.  And we can't figure out how/why he wants to live in a place that obviously gets so hot!  But now we often see him in the mornings, sunning himself on the rocks.  I'm sure he was there all along, every morning, and we just didn't notice him.  He blends in so beautifully with his environment ... but ...     Shiver.  Although he most probably is harmless, as I said before, I can't help but remember the exclamation made by my friend Eleanora Keen, many years ago: "Mebbe thet snake cain't hurtcha, but he c'n sher make ya hurtchaseff!"  

July 1, 2008
June was something of an "off" month for me, as blogging goes!  Hoping to do better in the months to come ...

So here's a brief re-cap of my activities:

After our van was finally road-worthy again -- and here's a big thank-you to the DeSoto Auto Mall in Arcadia! -- we headed off to Swannanoa, North Carolina and the Asheville East KOA, which has become our "home away from home."  

The first weekend in June, I made my seventh appearance at the Black Mountain Arts & Crafts Festival.  That show is always a delightful one to do, as Black Mountain is one of the prettiest towns we visit ... one of the most quaint, yet forward-thinking towns anywhere.  Greg and I are members of Black Mountain's Old Depot Association, which sponsors the show.  And, of course, Black Mountain is home to Song Of The Wood, our favorite dulcimer shop.  The next weekend, I made my first appearance at the Taste Of Scotland festival in Franklin, North Carolina.

Other highlights of the month included a visit to TRAC (Toe River Arts Council) galleries in Burnsville and Spruce Pine, accompanied by my cousin Norma; a surprise visit from my cousin, Richard, who lives in Hawaii; getting to see my uncle, Charlie; a spur-of-the-moment visit from my brother, Marsden, and his wife,Sheila; a trip to the Pisgah Brewery with our friends Sheryl and Bill Bragwell.  Here's a funny aside about our relationship with the Bragwells: they, like us, live in Florida, but they're way out in Pensacola, many miles and hours away from our Port Charlotte home; in fact, they're in a different time zone!  We actually see more of them outside of Florida, having run into them in North Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia over the last couple of years.

We left Western Carolina on June 28 to come into the High Country: we're staying in Boone and doing two shows in Banner Elk.  To view photos and read a little bit about this area, check out my archived blogs from June 27 and July 5, 2007.