2018-01-27 - Saturday - More Muddy Fun

Saturday we continued on with the ASC sponsored Muddy Fun classes. It was great fun and I the honor to teach a group of Americorps volunteers who were working on Habitat for Humanity houses in Charlotte after repairing hurricane damage in Houston. Good kids.

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2018-01-17 - Wednesday - Snow

Wednesday we had some snow. Charlotte snows are nice because we get all the good things like the hush during the storm, the beauty of the whitewashed landscape, and a day off. We also go back to normal a day or two later, unlike living up north where the snow hangs around for weeks sometimes.

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2017-06-17 - Saturday - Leaving Hawaii

Before leaving for the airport we took a stroll around the man-made lagoon at the hotel and visited the marina.

The lagoon was filled with calm salt water and would be great for families with small children.

The marina was large and full of very impressive boats.

While walking along the edge of the marina I saw a puffer fish. Not just any puffer fish; this one was over a foot long. I'd never seen one that large and quickly grabbed a video of it foraging.

Soon it was off to the airport to start our mind-numbing journey home. We left Honolulu at 5 pm on Saturday, arrived in Minneapolis at 5 am on Sunday, and then in Charlotte at 12 pm Sunday. We didn't get any sleep on the plane and crashed for a while when we got home.

The lagoon.

The marina.

I think it's odd that when I zoom in the audio also appears to "zoom in".

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2016-11-12 - Saturday - Potters of the Piedmont and Earth & Fire

Saturday was the fall Potters of the Piedmont sale in Greensboro. It was well-attended and as always, I enjoyed talking to, joking with, and explaining my process to the attendees. The day flew by and then I had to jump in the car and get back to Charlotte for the end of An Evening of Earth & Fire, Clayworks' annual fundraiser at Elder Gallery.

Not only were all the usual friends there, but Dave Timm was in from Michigan, and Rich Meredith came from Florida.

Dave is a long-time friend (notice I didn't say old!) from the infancy of Clayworks who is also one of my mentors. He always pushed me to try something new, to stretch, to reach. It was easy when watching him do it. He made it look easy, like, "why not try this?". I miss him, and his guidance and prodding. I also miss grabbing a plate of nachos with him at Lupie's on occasion.

Rich was a studio artist at Clayworks for a while when he was working in our area long-term. He is a great friend to many of us and of the studio. He's another one who makes it look easy and challenges you to follow him.


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2016-01-08 - More things that happened

Final catch-up.

01/01/2016:

Happy New Year! We had lots of great meals at Karen's brother Scott's house. He and Rich really lay out wonderful table.

Family around the table on New Year's Day.

01/02/2016:

Back in Charlotte and tired from the drive, we got some Chinese takeout. I felt a bit cheated by this fortune.

01/06/2016:

I've started doing my part of the annual Empty Bowls for Second Harvest Food Bank. We always make 300 bowls at Clayworks for the event so everyone is hard at work.

01/07/2016:

Our canker worm moth traps are doing their job. Last spring/summer the leaves on our maple trees looked like doilies because the canker worms had ravaged them. The flightless female moths climb the trees to lay their eggs at the top. The banding breaks the cycle by not letting them get to the top. As they only live a day or two in their adult form this is very effective.

Those wingless insects on the plastic are the moths.

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2015-07-23 - Thursday - Doe, a deer, a female deer

I was leaving on Thursday evening and stopped to photograph this doe in my neighbor's backyard. She was very calm and waited for me to get my cell phone out and start the camera app. After I took this she waited patiently while I climbed in my van, turned it around and went out of the driveway. During my three-point turn she started grazing again, so I guess I was dismissed as a threat.

The deer population has ballooned in Charlotte in recent years. If I would have waited fifteen more minutes there would probably be five or six more in the photo. They own the place; apparently we're just visiting.

For some reason that fence rail I replaced has gone swayback. I'm going to have to flip it and/or replace it.

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2015-05-08 - Friday - Stephanie's graduation preparation

Friday we all converged on Cullowhee, NC for Stephanie's graduation from Western Carolina University on Saturday. We gathered from Charlotte, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Some came by plane, some by car, and some by RV, but we all came to share the joy of Stephanie's accomplishment.

Friday was also Scott's 50th birthday so we had a cake and celebration for him. He likes lemoncello so we got him a lemoncello cake from Just Simply Delicious Cakes, Desserts, & Confections in Waynesville, and it was wonderful. Debi does all kinds of specialty cakes, too. Check out their website.

Everyone had a good time and things got a bit silly --as usual.

Relaxing after a long trip.

Stephanie has a balloon baby.

Yum... lemoncello.

The birthday boy.

One candle is all you need.

Horseplay is normal.

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2015-02-26 - Thursday - No snowman

All the snow predictions up to 6-10 inches were wrong. Shortly after it started snowing it changed to rain and sleet. We ended up with about 1-2 inches of very wet slush which is very hard to build a snowman with.

It appears Charlotte was right on the line as the north side of town got a lot more snow than we did, and just to the south it was all rain.

By sundown tonight there was hardly anything left near our house. How sad is that?

The grocery stores are the only ones that benefit from these non-storms as everyone runs out to buy milk, bread, and eggs.

I think of all the people in town that are eating all that french toast and still going to work.

Oh well.

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2015-02-25 - Wednesday - Snowing

We are having a big snowstorm (for Charlotte) tonight. Forecasters are calling for 6 to 10 inches tonight, tapering off around sunrise. That might not seem like a lot, but here in the south it can cripple the city for a day or two.

I made the mistake of going to the grocery store at about 4:00 pm and it was a madhouse. It was like Thanksgiving week, only more frantic. I generally only shop for a few days at a time and we needed some more supplies. Bad timing. I got the last package of organic chicken breasts and the last package of fresh mushrooms (a run on mushrooms? Really?) among other items that I needed to gather. Foodstuffs are in place. We're good for the next 48 hours and then some.

I don't know when it happened, but somewhere along the line age caught up with me. I used to be a big kid whenever it snowed, going from window to window checking the progress. When the kids came along I got to relive my childhood with theirs, taking them sledding and building snowmen. Coming in to make hot chocolate and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Good times.

Now the kids are gone and while I still check the windows periodically, there isn't the excitement it used to elicit. When did this happen? I don't remember tripping over some significant milestone marked 'getting old'. I don't like it.

I'm thinking about building a snowman in the morning for the heck of it. I don't have snow boots, but I do have a pair of wedgewood blue Chuck Taylors that will do for short periods.

The neighbors probably think I'm a bit of a whacko anyway, so what the heck.

Wish me luck.

2014-12-30 - Tuesday - Pots

We made it back to Charlotte after our holiday trip and settled back into the daily routine.

Tuesday I made some simple pots, but I have some plans for them. Stay tuned.

2014-11-27 - Thursday - Thanksgiving and Flood the Streets with Art

Thursday we enjoyed a family Thanksgiving with everyone at home for the day. Since I cooked a turkey, we did not attend the Charlotte Thanksgiving Day Parade as we have done in years past. That gave us more quiet time together, which was nice.

It was a good day with our daughters coming in from the NC mountains and Pennsylvania for the holiday. We laughed and ate a huge meal before crashing on the couch to watch some television. A classic American Thanksgiving.

On Thursday night I went out and placed some of my cups around town to celebrate Flood the Streets with Art.  A movement started by Scott Wong in Wisconsin that protests Black Friday and all the craziness that it entails.  Scott thought if we could leave random art around for people to take home for free it might make a difference in their holidays.

I picked some cups and spread them around south Charlotte under the cloak of night. It was very clandestine and I enjoyed the idea of random people finding my work and taking it home to use. I plan on doing more next year.

2010-05-15 Saturday - Big Day in Town

This weekend it may be hard to get anywhere in town.  Let's see, in no particular order we have:

• The Ultra Swim competition at the Aquatic Center.  Not only is this a large event, but Michael Phelps (yup, the one with all the jewelry) is going to be there.
• The NASCAR Hall of Fame opened this week and expects huge crowds this weekend with lots of drivers on hand.
• The NRA national convention is here with Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, and Chuck Norris (that's right, TV's "Walker, Texas Ranger").  Estimates say the NRA is drawing more than 70,000 people.

The thing you might not realize about all this is that it is taking place in about a six block area downtown (which Charlotte city government desperately wants us to call 'Uptown' for its more positive sound).

We have got it going on for a city the size of ours.  I am thankful that the people who are working diligently to bring these events to town are doing it for the revenue it brings to the area, but I don't have to like all the extra traffic.  I don't really mind the two times a year when we can't go out to eat because everything is full of race fans.  We can mark it on the calendar and make other plans.  Now Charlotte leaders are trying to lure the Democratic national convention.  If it happens I may have to take an Al Bundy vacation --one where I don't leave the couch for a week.

Since I'm not interested in any of this weekend's events I only have to worry which route I will take to try to wind my way to the studio today, which is just north of downtown.  Wish me luck.