A special tree

On Hwy 19-E.

Tramping around Colbert's Creek

Gib compares the map to the territory up in the Colbert's Creek watershed.

 

Here's a little waterfall on the south fork of Colbert's Creek. 

I wonder who Colbert was.

A good reminder

This suggestion from a Pred Fest past is now hanging in Paul's shed. Such possibilities are worth keeping in mind as we head into the shortest days of the year.

Hello, little cloud

S#*! My Dad Loved

A Studabaker in the Rankin St. parking deck in Asheville. This would have sent my father into a paroxysm of nostalgia.

Flavor coated

Who can resist anything that's coated with flavor?

Overlook closed

And I was so looking forward to the view.

When November comes, we remember summer

Click image to see it move.

Welcome to the Core Show

My friend Ian Henderson is part of the Penland Core Fellowship, which is kind of like a full-time work-study program. Each fall, the core fellows have a show of work they made during the year (always a highlight, you should come next year). Ian spent I-have-no-idea-how-long making this crazy machine for this year's show, and my co-worker Wes made this video (because a still picture doesn't really tell you much in this case). The only function of this piece is to provoke wonder, which it does quite well. It's made from steel wire, with porcelain gears, and it's powered by an electric fan.

The Pizza Shop returns!

 Chad Mohr and Jen Rambo reopened The Pizza Shop in Spruce Pine last night (Friday, October 28). They have renovated the old store/gas station right next door to their old location on Upper Street. They pulled off a bit of a miracle this past week. This is the dining room on Wednesday of this week.

 This is the kitchen on Wednesday.

 Here's Chad, painting lines in the parking lot on Wednesday night.

 And here's the kitchen in action on Friday night. They are serving bottled beer at the moment. Chad's first run of house-made beer will roll out for the grand opening on November 12.

 The dining room on Friday.

As part of the renovation, they created a nice kids area. My hat is off to Chad, Jen, and crew. Hey, they must be the job creators we keep hearing about!

Today's last spot of sun

Hwy. 226

Remember Summer? Farm Olympics at Green Toe Ground

Saturday, 6:20 PM

Which means it's almost rodeo time at the R-Buckle Rodeo (on Arbuckle Road).

Neurotransmitter Vesicle Recharge

Robin Dreyer, Fort Fisher State Park,  September 30. 2011, 5:17pm

It Was 20 Years Ago Today

Apparently, the 20th anniversary is the china anniversary.  Margot says it's also the coffee anniversary, but, then again, she says that about all anniversaries.  This comes from being a 2nd grade teacher.

Julia sits in with the band

The wonderful Julia Preston (daughter of Margot Atuk, Jeff Goodman, and Tom Preston) sitting in with the band at her wedding on Saturday.


The band was that old Predfest staple, The Horses of Butter (John Howard, Jody Pred, Andy Opel, and Paul Feldman) who hadn't played together in 10 years or so. They sounded great.

Brilliant

This weekend, we went to the wedding of my cousin's daughter. It was a lovely affair, but as we finished dinner we looked around and realized that there was no evidence of a wedding cake--or any dessert for that matter. So, there were some toasts, the father of the bride sang a song, the happy couple did a little dance, and just as this was ending, there were bright headlights coming up the drive (this was in rural Virginia), and out of the darkness appeared...



An ice cream truck. All ready to serve cones, sundaes, shakes, banana splits, shaved ice, the whole deal.



A good time, as they say, was had by all.

Goldenrod below Mount Mitchell

I had an experience yesterday that reinforced what I think about photography being a tool for attention. I went up to Mount Mitchell with Margot to pick blueberries - not many this year - and I purposely didn't bring my camera on our walk. I just wanted to see things without the mediation of the camera. Plus, it was raining and about to rain. On the way back, I was struck by this incredible view with flowers in the foreground against misty ridges partially obscured by fog. So, after we got to the car, I got my camera and walked back to the view, which, by now, had been replaced by socked-in fog. Alas. So I walked on a bit and came across a row of goldenrod along the edge of the path - which I suddenly saw anew as I was photographing them. What are these? Goldenrod? Are all goldenrod the same? What's the plant family? Who eats goldenrod? Etc. On returning home, I looked them up to get the Latin name and was amazed to find that there are 39 DIFFERENT SPECIES of goldenrod that grow in the Carolinas! 39! Of just goldenrod! I'm pretty sure the ones I was seeing were Solidago cutisii, very similar to the blue-stemmed goldenrod. If I'm wrong, I hope Don McLeod will visit me in a dream and tell me.

Anyway, my point is that, though we don't need any more images, the camera helped me stop and see and attend and name and wonder and burst with pleasure at the misty world. Isn't that, after all, what we're after?

Oh, yeah, by the time I returned to the scene that was the impetus for walking back with my camera, the fog had cleared, and I got the view I was originally struck by.

Those fab Levins

The amazing Levin family at Rob and Wanda's 40th wedding anniversary party.


There were stories to be told--about twins and guitars and stuff like that.

Which kind?

I wonder if this is the Van Morrison variety, the Paul Anka variety, or the Paul Simon variety?

Gratin au gardin été

Eggplant, tomato, zucchini--you know, ratatouille sans mélange.

Joie de vivre

I wonder if this was a big problem

Our correspondent Charlie Hodshon sent this while he was on the road recently. It would seem, however that if you want to dig a grave by hand, you can just go ahead and dig.

Magnanamous

Bumper sticker at Penland.

Horse Rock Knob: it's a different world up there

While the valley sweltered in the full heat of mature summer, for much of the day August 4 the top of the Blacks was all roaring wind and fog.

Summertime

Hornworm


Little dinosaur


RATATOUILLE!

(Shout it out; it's fun. All together, now...)

Evan at View Rock

Evan Raskin takes in the view.

Reduced for quick sale

Tammy I and just went through the food co-op and marked down every out-of-date item we could find, including organic balsamic vinegar (freshness dated--go figure). Most of these items will not be ordered again. Get 'em while they're lukewarm! Tell your interns! Call your cheapest friends! Take a chance on $1.00, Iranian, tarragon-flavored pickles! It's bargain time at Nine Thousand Six Hundred and Fifty Seven Things (name changed due to inventory reduction).

Used car

You could be driving this.

Farm dinner at Green Toe Ground

This could be the shortest possible distance from farm to table.

A magic night

The Sketches of South Toe Festival, a.k.a. Sketchfest was oh, so good. Pete McGuire and friends kicked it off with some tasty string-band music (but I wasn't there to take a picture). Then Polly and the Posse did a set...


...for their adoring fans.



And then it was all about the jazz.


The Early Quintet was right on time--all night.


Polly joined in and wailed on some standards.


There was dancing.


It was a magic night. Special thanks to Polly, Miles, and Bob for organizing, all the musicians for their wonderful music, everyone for coming and making it a big time, and Jody and Jennifer for generously hosting.

And the mater sandwiches kicked ass.