Festival!

We had such a good festival at the Pred/Sword Amphitheatre last weekend. This year the festival was named MilesFest, because the sad anniversary was this past week and Miles was part of almost every festival we've had in Celo since the beginning (almost 20 years ago). Here's Emma with a newly-created toast-faced puppet. There was a lot more going on than I've got pictures of, but here are a few samples.

Jason Cade and Rob McMacken, a.k.a. Hog-Eyed Man.

Polly and Bob, onstage together again.

The Bob Early Jazz/Funk Bank tearing it up.

I don't have pictures of the play, because I was in the play, but this is what it looked like from stage when Margot's dance crew was doing the hustle as an offering to the toast gods.

Mitch and Bobby pumpin' the jam.

Jody and friends played live rock and roll to inspire live dancing (which is always best).

Late-night dancing with puppets.

Festive Parakeets

We're having a festival today at Jody's festival grounds. There will be children carrying cardboard parakeets and who-knows-what-else.

Another pretty view

No story here, just another pretty picture. This is from the road up to Clingman's Peak, just at the outskirts of Mt. Mitchell State Park.

Nancy is 60!

The wonderful Raskin family (with a few friends) at Nancy's high-altitude birthday party. Randy made a spectacular chocolate cake with ganche and mocha butter cream frosting -- and then carefully packed it a long way up Woody's Ridge. There was even hot coffee to go with it.

One-hundred and fifty heads are better than one

Garlic is not really as good as ten mothers (as some have claimed), but it's very, very good. This bounty was planted from Miles's last crop. Another gift.

Bamboo canoes

So this wood class at Penland spent last week making canoes from plywood (ribs), split bamboo (shell), and plastic bags and spray adhesive (skin). They are meant to be somewhat ephemeral, but when they launched them in the North Toe on Friday, they behaved just like canoes.

Yeah, plastic bags.

Here's one during the skinning process. A student commented that this canoe has the Ingles advantage.

No baby here

Dick Kennedy sent over this picture of a high chair that has been mysteriously installed on the bridge that takes 19E across the South Toe.