Savannah, GA to the Outer Banks of NC

Hello All,
it’s been a while since have written.  The weather has been beautiful and I have been caught up in a whirlwind of family and fine art.

On Wednesday night Jill and I were talking about Savannah, GA and our impressions of the town. Jill commented that unlike New Orleans were she was raised, Savannah gave her a very strong and disturbing sense of the presence of slavery. I proposed that maybe this is because unlike Savannah, New orleans always had a large population of free blacks as well as slaves. She agreed that was possible. I agree with her that I also feel a stronger presence of slavery in Savannah and Charleston, SC than I do in New Orleans, LA. Would anyone like to comment?

On Thursday Jill was up early and off to work. Our visit was short but sweet. It was great to see her. There was a cool breeze blowing and all the windows were open and i slept very well. I got up and made some miso and seaweed and ate some fruit and called local theaters about scenic design work. I reached one that said they only use rental sets but please send my resume by email for future reference. I left messages for others. Then packed everything into my van and drove to downtown Durham,NC to explore. There was not much going on but I walked around and took some photos of some great old buildings. I was walking back to my car and I saw a small storefront theater and gave them my resume. They were excited to ge tit but they are a small operation. After that i browsed in a big used bookstore and bought a copy of the Shipping News and White Boy Shuffle. I have read the former before as it’;s about Newfoundland I think it will be fun to read again while I am there. The later just looks really funny and quirky. Then I found the North Carolina Central University Art Museum and enjoyed looking at the collection. The security guard and i had an interesting conversation. He said they don’t get many visitors but he enjoyed the art. We had a great talk about the art. I enjoyed the Museum. It was all by black artists and included some interesting student work and pieces by famous black artists and craftsmen. (It’s a black college) I enjoyed being the minority. Then I drove to the local park and sat in the shade and lunch on sardines, goat cheese, crackers and apples while listening to World Reggae ( Putamayo Collection) Then I drove to Chapel Hill to the Ackland Art Museum. They had some interesting Chinese pieces and a great show about the garden that incorporated lots of different artists and styles from Picasso to contemporary japanese pop artists. There was an interesting movie about insects and amphibians hunting and eating. It was similar to Microcosmos. In another gallery they had two sculptures by Rodin and some interesting Impressionist paintings. I realized time had flown and it was 4 pm and I was expected for dinner with my Aunt Polly, Uncle Bob and cousin Cabell Garbee at 6. Traffic around the Triangle area is tough and I got caught for awhile but made dinner. We had a big salad with fresh produce from the Farmers market and then we drove back to Durham to see the dance troupe Pilobolus perform the other night at the American Dance Festival and it was one of the best dance performances I have ever seen.  The inventive choreography, the strength and grace of the dancers along with the production was amazing. It was sold out and I was up in the nosebleeds but it was still amazing. Then back to Cabell’s to sleep. We had a wonderful thunderstorm during the night and slept deeply to the sound of the rain.

Durham, NC

In the morning we had sausage and sliced tomatoes and toast for breakfast then Cabell collects and traded in military vehicles and trucks and went to change a cv boot and the truck he wants to drive to the beach. I spoke to some more theaters and they all seemed to have resident designers or the staff was on vacation but I sent out resumes and photos to all of the theaters on my list. After awhile Cabell’s brother Barksdale (usually referred to as Bdale) and his wife Karen, and children Elizabeth and Robert . We all sat around d and traded news. Cabell cooked some pork chops on the grill and we had more fresh veggies with them and then Cabell and I headed out to meet up with my friend Janet who works at the Duke (University) Integrated Medical Facility) She acupuncturist and traditional chinese healer. Cabell is in transition from highway engineer to massage therapist. Janet invited us to attend an informal drink and snack event at the Duke Center. I haven’t seen Janet since 2006 and it was great to see her. He have been friends for a long time. She looks good and the Duke Center is doing interesting work and she has great coworkers. They are working to integrate traditional and non traditional healing. Cool stuff a nd the Center is gorgeous! We met her coworkers walked the Labyrinth and the headed out to a Greek Place (Nikos) for beer and appetizers. Very good pita and dips (especially the eggplant) and the Greek sausage. The chocolate mousse cake looked good so we split a piece. We walked around a store and window shopped and then drove to a place that sells only popsicles, but it was closed. we headed for Whole Foods but ended up in Ben and Jerry’s and I sampled the new Cocoanut Junk Ice cream, Good stuff! Then home to bed.

Saturday morning I packed the van with food picked up my cousin’s daughter Elizabeth and we headed to the beach. We had a great conversation about her violin playing, cooking and her life in Colorado. We listened to reggae, Juno soundtrack, Nick Drake and the Flaming Lips. Stopped for supplies and about 4 hours later drove up to the Garbee graves beach house in Southern Shores on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. We unpacked and went for a swim and the water is a perfect cool temp with waves and a swam a bit and then noticed a solid sheet of rain headed up the beach at us. So we ran back to the house and it poured. I jumped into the pool and swam in the rain until I heard thunder and then retreated into the house. I love the rain (in case you haven’t noticed!) Then I moved BEYOND under the house and got the refrigerator going and the screens in the windows and all my gear sorted and food stowed. Dinner was fresh tomatiila salsa made by Elizabeth. Beautiful boiled shrimp, summer squash, tomatoes, and little red potatoes. Then we cut into a perfectly ripe cantaloupe that rode in my van that I was smelling and lusting after all afternoon! It was great. Then we all swam and chatted and soon to bed. I popped the top on BEYOND and can open it almost all the way under the house. I wiggled into the top bunk were I have just enough head room to turn over. There was a cool breeze and I slept under a blanket! What a life!

Outer Banks, NC

Sunday morning
Cabell and Elizabeth made biscuits from scratch, sausage tomatoes, Graves jam ( some off you know that the Graves make wonderful jams and apple butter on their farm and lodge in Northern Virginia) hot tea and cantaloupe. Then off to the beach for a swim and soon my brother and his wife Martha and my nieces Estill and Winfree, Martha’s mother Joan and her friend Jack showed up, bringing the family total to 14! We swam in the ocean and the pool and then made sandwiches for lunch ( Good salty Virginia ham) more fresh cucumbers and tomatoes, pickles and chips and salsa! As you can tell me love our food!
Then conversations about theater, art, computers, rockets and engineering. Bdale and I drove to the hardware store for odds and ends to make small repairs and he pointed out the house were we used to stay when I was about 10 years old. The beach has changed so much! Jockey’s Ridge (huge sand dune) is much smaller but people still fly kites fro m the top. The Wright brother Memorial is hard to spot for all the big houses. Lots of chain stores and restaurants. Even a mall! So different from my memories. i was nostaglizing about when we were kids going the Winks store and buying Wink soda( it’s like Fresca) or if they were out Orange Crush. Bdale says they are still in business! So were drove up the old beach road which still looks a lot like the Outer Bank i remember and there was Wink’s in the same building and they still sell Wink soda! So i bought some and a couple of Moon pies! What a trip down memory lane for me. Took me right back to when I was ten!
We did some repair work and visited with the Patterson family who are non related friends who have also come to stay. They are six. We have quite a crowd in 2 houses and 1 BEYOND! it’s al good fun. Dinner was Cabell’s fresh grilled tuna, rice, peas, salad and peaches and blueberries for dessert. We are eating like royalty! I am finally making time to write again.

I have posted pictures of Savannah in my public photo gallery.

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