In times like this, we need community even more than ever.

post #392
       It has been two weeks of hot weather -- and our shared worry about the soccer team kids trapped in a cave. Also there remains no resolution for the shoddy situation at the USA border that has made life even harsher for immigrants who are fleeing horrific situations and who were separated from their children with no warning.  How can it be that there are no reliable records or notification to parents where their kids would be sent! This is beyond cruelty for thousands of kids.

      However, at least yesterday evening on this ridge was a good day for community -- at an annual post 4th of July picnic, with music making (not country or bluegrass) on the lawn, and, some fireworks, though I had left by then. The weather was perfect -- so I left, before the wonderful light was all gone, in order to get a few more photos at my pond.  

welcome sign

      
 My photos at the picnic were very random, but I hope they are of interest even to those of you who don't know the people. This is the first year I have been able to join in the fun connected to the 4th.. 

arriving

later, looking back from the family cemetery

the "hamburger cooking" host

tending to a bee sting

recent Morehead State graduate and musician! Bravo!

thanks for all the prep work done!!

"snappers"

anticipation

Two pond area photos: 

       I got so absorbed in the photos that I was taking from the car window (using the car as a tripod in the evening light) that, yes, I must have had the headlights on because I ended up not able to start my car.  Blush, blush, blush !!   Thanks, J, for the jump start today!  

Here is the photo I made with my iPhone to show what I was doing while the car lights were on, by mistake:

The camera is resting on my trusty bean bag placed on the open window next to the driver's seat.

 Again, I am delighted to be able to share these photos, in honor of community and family. I thought it a wonderful occasion. As always, thanks to everyone for letting me take a few informal photos.

Note: if I may, I'd like to speak up, apart from my art and Appalachia and only because I have this way of presenting my concerns. I remain upset that our democracy is under such enormous strain, including the choice of another Supreme Court judge who seems to be selected because he (or she) is just like several judges already on the bench. How boring is that when everyone's decision can be predicted! Brings to mind the phrase "rubber stamp". I always thought that having nine justices of great talent works best if there were to be a lot of interpretation possiblities that benefit from multiple perspectives. Otherwise, why bother to have a supreme court in the first place! I have seen the table where the nine sit in a room that is totally private to discuss the decisions they are reaching during the term.  When I was there, it felt impressive and condusive to thoughtful consideration.  By now I imagine it to have a dimension that might be considered a brawl. These are all brilliant people, but I guess that never guarantees open minds -- or a willingness to acknowledge a common good. 

a work in progress

post #357
     I am still feeling contemplative these days and truth seeking. I am not able to understand how it's all right to fan the flames of differences between people. Or how we can possibly imagine that more guns will bring anything except tragedies. The framers of our constitution certainly never envisioned AK47s. I am grateful as always for conversations with friends, an opportunity to speak our ideas out loud and be listened to.  Every year of my life there is so much more to figure out. No sense in getting stuck on some unexamined point of view!
      I always love to look around me, to discover what there is, and literally see other points of view. I want to post some photos this week that might show the way I work. Sometimes a certain photo might not be particularly striking, but it is on the way to seeing whatever is there more clearly. I hope to make more sense eventually from what I am saying now.

 

across that same road, from Margie and George's porch

a detail from the photo above

another detail nearby

Three more photos, somewhat connected by subject matter or texture or design:

a nearby field

another morning fog in the same field

a morning web

the harpist after the recent Cave Run Symphony orchestra concert, and her magnificant harp

                                             Thank you, Elaine Humphreys Cook


     There's nothing like the creative mind of a child to see things in new ways: thank you, Thea!  The world needs all of us to keep using our creative minds to go beyond our perceived limits of imagining what our inner worlds could encompass.

        I do feel I will have more to say and see on what I am mulling over in this post so inadequately. Thank you, dear readers, for your patience.

words and wishes

post #324
       First, a photo of our biggest snow....some cold times but no real snow times here in Eastern Kentucky, and only one snow day for the schools. (I meant to post this last week.)

 
         The main item to share this week is news from a college roommate/close friend who lives in Massachusetts and who has been part of a women's choral group for years. I then share some fairly recent photos of mine which speak to me in connection to the song:

          ....In chorus, we are now preparing for our annual contest in May... which is a bit stressful, although I really love the experience.  We did have a special performance for the other choruses in our region a few weeks ago that I'd thought I'd share. We were asked to be part of the Saturday night show.  Normally, we would sing a standard set of our acapella music ... but this year the director wanted to make a statement about the chaos and negativity that is so much a part of the news and everything going on. We taught the audience (about 500) Dona Nobis Pacem (which most of them actually knew, but they were delighted to sing it together with us ... with renewed feeling), and followed it by "Light One Candle" by Peter Yarrow.  We turned out the lights in the auditorium on this one and started with one voice and one candle, then two more, then 4 more (this is where I joined), then chunks of the chorus, each with a candle (all battery operated not real, but they looked real).  In the last chorus of the song, about 20 or so chorus members came down off the risers with their candles and handed them to members of the audience. I couldn't believe the responses from the listeners -- the tears -- the notes -- and the personal comments. Probably one of the most satisfying things we've done. 

Wow, thanks, Beth, for sharing this story about the power of art. I know you rarely ever write, so receiving your email [recently] was already a treat. Then I loved imagining your choral experience. Despite my being a Peter, Paul and Mary fan, I have to confess that I not really familiar with the song you sang, with candles, so I am including the lyrics next on today's post. I would have been a puddle if I'd had the opportunity to be in your audience that day. Even watching this YouTube (despite the opening ad) did me in.

Light one candle for the Maccabee children
With thanks their light didn't die;
Light one candle for the pain they endured
When their right to exist was denied;
Light one candle for the terrible sacrifice
Justice and freedom demand;
And light one candle for the wisdom to know
That the peacemaker's time is at hand!

Chorus:
Don't let the light go out,
It's lasted for so many years!
Don't let the light go out!
Let it shine through our love and our tears!

Light one candle for the strength that we need
To never become our own foe;
Light one candle for those who are suff'ring
A pain they learned so long ago;
Light one candle for all we believe in,
That anger not tear us apart;
And light one candle to bind us together
With peace as the song in our heart!

[Chorus:]

What is the memory that's valued so highly
That we keep it alive in that flame?
What's the commitment to those who have died?
We cry out "they've not died in vain,"
We have come this far, always believing
That justice will somehow prevail;
This is the burden, This is the promise,
This is why we will not fail!

[Chorus:]

Don't let the light go out!
Don't let the light go out!
Don't let the light go out! 

cardinal flower, at the pond, a favorite photo of mine

Mother Jones, who fought tirelessly for the West Virginia coal miners

singing a beloved song from the sixties with other Appalachian Volunteers at a recent gathering

Not one of my photos, but I feel it directly expresses why we do speak out for freedom and justice

and for community where each person can find support.

 

more about Morehead, a multi-faceted community!

post #250
       Another annual special event in this northeast corner of Kentucky is the Cave Run Storytelling Festival, which always takes place the last weekend in September in two big tents on the shores of Cave Run Lake. This year's 17th annual festival is again under the auspices of the Morehead Tourism Commission.
       I was there to help yesterday with the food booth sponsored by the Morehead Chapter of KFTC (Kentuckians for the Commonwealth) but I made a few photos when I could. We had periods of rain, which our area needs badly, but after so many dry weeks, it was hard not to wonder why we didn't have just two more nice days of sun. 
        First to be shown: the two big tents and the lake during a presentation by one of the 8 fantastic national storytellers there for the weekend. (That said because the whole crowd is inside the tent!)  On Thursdays and Fridays, both tents are in use, with school groups coming from all around to enjoy hearing good stories really well told.

Leatherwood Tent, used all three days

overlooking Cave Run Lake

 

listening in comfort -- when it wasn't raining

 

Can you find the storyteller on the front stage??

listening, I believe, to Donald Davis!!  Is that right, Mary Jane??

      For the next "chapter" of this blog, I decided to show the action during the prep time for the KFTC booth.  Lisa had some help from their 5 month old son, and I thought they were both amazing. The homemade pies were ultimately priced at $3 a slice, because they were definitely gourmet.  Thanks, Joy!  The cushaw squash pie was even made with a homegrown cushaw.  I don't know yet how much we raised in support of KFTC, but it all helps in building an even better Kentucky.

      I will end today with two versions of the same photo that I took in our yard, of the trusty green well pump.  It gets used occasionally, but luckily we don't have to rely on it.  I was experimenting with how to see it, and I will continue to experiment. It seems to be the only way I ever learn anything. Any comments about seeing something in new ways are always welcome.  

A

B

       Now I have to finish this post for today because this afternoon the Cave Run Symphony Orchestra is giving one of its four performances of the year, at the Morehead Conference Center at 3 pm, and I want to be there.  Community members, a guest conductor and two days of rehearsals can provide a very rich sound and I say bravo to all!
        I guess this whole post is a shameless effort to continue to show the diversity and community involvement in Morehead and the area after the recent harsh spotlight on the community in the national and even the international press. Progress is a lurch here, a lurch there, and it requires people talking with each other and believing in possiblities. 
        Thanks as always for visiting here.  Ann

Kentucky Folk Art's A DAY IN THE COUNTRY

post #234
       Yesterday was overcast and therefore not too warm -- a great day for a Folk Art Fair outdoors and for the annual gathering of renowned folk artists in the Morehead Conference Center.  The new exhibit at the Kentucky Folk Art Center nearby, called "Come We to the Summer," is wonderful.  I took just a few photos at the exhibit and inside the Conf. Center and on the street between them, photos meant just to share the experience; they are not meant to be art works in themselves! (NOTE on 6/14: redid both these photos with my better camera yesterday.)

 two of my favorite pieces, by Lonnie and Twyla Money, in the exhibit

butterflies in a bottle!

       For some reason, this last piece I am showing from the exhibit really caught my fancy. I didn't have my good camera with me at the time, so I have not done the work justice.  I was lucky enough to be able to talk to the artist himself later when I was next in the Conference Center where the folk artists each had a display area.  We talked some about the emotions connected to hanging out laundry. I too love to take photos of laundry in the sun, and he had an additional laundry work of art at his "booth".  NOTE: will redo this laundry photo on next week's blog.  Please take a look!

         Of course I asked for permission to take his photo, with a Lincoln sculpture he had sold that day.  Thank you, Robbie Mueller (www.folkartkentucky.com)!
      

       Outside I visited the booth of an Elliott County artist, Linda Johnson, who is fearless with a needle and thread.  I love her granny doll, based on her own grandmother, which is not for sale.  She needed to bring her to a family reunion happening today and tomorrow. The doll's hair is in a bun in the back, and her slip is designed to show below the dress, just like for real.

        And I ask you, what is the fun of a folk art fair without some singing and strumming!  Here are two photos of Thomas Albert, who brings so much energy to his playing -- and whom I have known since he was a youngster.  I caught him with his "wry look", and then while he was performing with a friend.  I missed a good photo of an earlier group featuring Jesse Wells from Morehead State University's Kentucky Center for Traditional Music.

      All in all, a very good day.  I will share more next week, but I am off soon to Berea, Kentucky, for the memorial celebration for Jean Ritchie, one of Kentucky's musical treasures, who died last week at age 92.  Such a generous spirit.  Her Appalachian dulcimer playing, her songs, her beautiful voice, and her kindness will long resonate in these parts.