T plays.
She has another show coming up.
It messes with her head.
Fall
Fall arrive late this year. Couple of weeks late. Been warm.
When the the leaves finally turned, a big wind storm came and blew them all away.
Got a few photos before they were gone.
Winter’s Coming
Normally, starting in September, I take the trailer to a local sawmill once a week or so and bring home a load of firewood. By the time of first frost I have a winter’s worth put by. Been doing this for nearly 20 years. I know the sawmill owner, his wife, watched their kids grow up; though I only see any of them a few times a year, every fall.
Sound is Time Tangible
Justin Boyd: Sound and Time from Walley Films on Vimeo.
Justin Boyd, Department Chair of Sculpture and Integrated Media at Southwest School of Art, shares his connection with sound and how he uses it to create original works of art. Inspired by his sensitivity to sound at a very young age, Boyd has been recording and working with sound and music since the mid 90s. Boyd actively captures field recordings for integration of sound with found objects. This documentary was produced in association with Southwest School of Art. Learn more about their BFA program at http://www.swschool.org.
Sound seems one of the few ways to experience time. A semi-conscious, second tier sense, drifting along the margins – shadow, not light. The soundtrack to our film, as it were.
Like most semi-conscious senses, it’s tapped directly into memory. I remember the squeak and bang of the screen door of my grandmother’s house, always the same one-two rhythm.
I remember the sound of our mothers calling us home for dinner in the evenings, when I and my buddies were out fooling around in the twilight up in the mountains of the Carolinas. It was like a call to prayer at dusk. Each of us was tuned to a different call, but we knew them all.
I remember the metallic chimes of the ice cream truck, three blocks away.
Crows.
Whippoorwills. And Quail.
Fiddle music, long after dark.
Cat’s Paws
Steve Earley in Spartina
A long time ago, when I asked why puffs of wind coursing across the water were called “cat’s paws,” I was told it’s because the wind makes patterns on the surface shaped like a cat’s paw. Sounded reasonable.
Well, obviously, this is wrong. And clearly an explanation made up by someone who never set foot on a sailboat once their whole life.
Not a Schooner, a Yawl, Y’all
Spartina in the slip
Steve warned me about the wine festival going on next door.
Leaving the mountains before daylight (I am sooo not a morning person), then driving east a couple of hours with nothing but a pot of coffee for breakfast, then headlong into the blinding rising sun, only to arrive in a city already unnavigable on any day, but now with barricaded streets (“Now With Even More Unnavigabilty!”), well dang. Every street within four blocks of Spartina was garrisoned by petulant orange cones blockading the precious oenophiles, barring passage. Tired of circling the block, I bounced over a concrete median into a parking garage, waving at the not overly amused patrolman. He was there for the overtime – getting paid to block the road, not write tickets – and we both knew that.
MASCF 2013 ~ Race Day and Sunday Sailing
Video from the Mid-Atlantic Small Craft Festival
clips from the race and sailing with the girls on Sunday
Wrapping up posts from the festival with clips shot during the race on Saturday. We were late leaving the dock, and wind was very light, so we were about 100 yards back when the starting gun went off. No worries, had no intension of competing; just wanted to be in position to take good pictures.
There was a little more wind on Sunday, though most folks cleared out early. Too bad, as it was a fine day to be on the water. Emily took the tiller again, and got her first taste of what it feels like when a puff comes along and makes things more exciting. I think she was hooked.
When we got back to the dock, which was all but cleared out, there was a smartly dressed couple waiting for us. Robert Benic and his girlfriend Tania had driven out from DC hoping to see some Melonseeds. Robert began building one back in Spring of 2012, and is now working on framing and interior, and doing a great job. It’s his first boat build, ever. We really enjoyed talking with them, and they got to see the boats in person they had come to know on the web.
On Saturday, we met a father and son who had been building a Melonseed together, and are on the downhill side of the project, and very excited to finish. They, too, had come out to see some in person. They had come to know all the other builder resources on the web, just as I did, and knew Aeon and Caesura now, too. It was fun for them to see the boats in real life. You could see that seeing the boats in the water, in use, was recharging their desire to finish, already imagining themselves in the boat sailing. It’s what keeps you going.
One of the really nice things about sharing is you get so much back. All the builders who helped me through my project are still well-known to me, and some are now good friends. It’s a very supportive group, and it’s nice to be able to pass that same spirit along to others, and share in their challenges and enthusiasm again. That sense of accomplishment when you finally work through a problem is really rewarding. No doubt they’ll do the same for others that come behind.
Great seeing everyone. Next year.