Vermont Has Been Great — But I Miss “Home” and My Friends

Well, three more days and I head out.  Sorry that this blog hasn’t been updated in a few weeks…I’ve been busy.

Norwich for contra dancing (no I didn’t dance, I shot); Montpelier for a meeting with the Secretary of State (it wasn’t planned, i dropped by); Barre to pick out stone with Louis; Northhampton, East Corinth, Windsor, Washington, Barnard, Chelsea…well, you get the picture…I’ve been to alot of places in this state.

It’s been a good trip…but I’ll be glad to get “home” to Asheville next week.

Before I go any further, I gotta give a big shout out to Bonnie, Louis and Josh.  They were great about opening their home to this tired ol’ traveler and made me feel as though I belonged.  Even had to harvest some veggies and peel apples a couple times to “pay” for my supper.  Tried to get buy with “singing for my supper”, but they weren’t having any of that…can’t blame them.

Learned alot while staying with them.  Got into alot of conversations that deal with life’s details…details that to me aren’t worth the energy it takes to discuss them…but it was good to be a part of a family that focuses almost as much on the details of life as I focus on the broadbrush to things.

Also learned from Josh.  I learned to not always take things at face value, but to ask the deeper question of “why”.  I’ll be forever grateful to him for that.  Louis taught me about art and details.  I had the chance to spend some time with him in his shop as he worked creating.  He never tired of my dumb questions and he always gave me thoughtful answers.  Bonnie was great about holding up a mirror and letting me see me as other see me…she has a talent as a therapist that will go along ways towards helping people grothe box.

Folks, in general, have been great here in Vermont.  Ran across a few “cantankerous” people…but then I found a few cranky folks in Virginia, Texas, Missouri and some of the other states I’ve travelled.

Geographically, the area here in Vermont isn’t much different than the geography in western Virginia or western North Carolina…mountains, plenty of hardwood trees and valleys.  If I had to narrow down the one thing geographically that was different, it’s the valleys.  They’re alot more narrow here than elsewhere.

It’s been a good several weeks here.  I’ve made some new friends, learned some new ways to look at life…and got some great photos.

Paradise City Arts Festival in Mass is using some of my photos in their marketing stuff; there’s an artist’s group here that is talking like they want me to come back up in the spring and help them with a photo shoot for a book they’re pulling together, and some other neat things have happened.

Hate to make this short, but I understand there’s a karaoke going on tonight at the local hang-out.  I’ve gotta go see what Larry, Darryl and Darryl look like in real life.

Have a great day!

Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice…Beetlejuice

“A tourist doesn’t know where he’s been, a traveler doesn’t know where he’s going.  I kinda like that.  It’s the quote you’ll see on the header of each page of this blog as well as the “tagline” in my semi-regular newsletter.  I don’t know much about the history of the quote, I’ll have to look that up someday; in the meantime, I like it.

These days I find myself in Vermont.  The land of maple syrup, Green Mountain Boys, Bob Newhart and Beetlejuice.  Remember him from the late 80’s movie of the same name?

That movie was filmed in East Corinth, about 14 miles from where I’m sitting as I write this.  Had a chance to go to East Corinth recently and look around some.  Those folks are missing a gold-mine it seems.  They’re not doing anything to capitalize on the movie’s popularity and if you don’t know where you are, there’s nothing in town to tell you what happened there.

Well, almost nothing.  Remember the town “model” that was used by Deitz’s company to sell his idea of turning “Winter   River” into a tourist trap?  Well, that model is now proudly displayed in the East Corinth library.

Just to refresh your memory, in the opening scenes of the movie, there’s a great helicopter shot of the town.  At the end of the clip, the camera zooms in on a building (the one you see here with this blog post) and a spider of some sort comes crawling over the top of the structure…it’s miniature, remember?

The bridge that the Maitland’s drove their car from is still around…that’s the picture of the covered bridge you see in this blog.  I’ve been told though, it’s changed a little in the 20 some years since the movie was shot.

The folks in town are nice enough to strangers.  But it kind of seems like they’re tired of folks asking, where was ’so-and-so-scene-from-the-movie-shot’.  When I made the mistake of asking, the clerk at the little country store rolled her eyes at me like it had been the one millionth time she had been asked and pointed out the door and said, “Up the hill aways”.

I have no idea how far “aways” is.  Twenty miles here in Vermont is like 60 miles anywhere else.  You can’t get anywhere in a hurry cause every county seat, or “shire” as it’s called here, is connected by a two-lane road.  And most of the time, the two lane road is a dirt road.  Actually only 20% of the roads here are paved.

Anyways, I got back in the car and headed out “aways” and took the photos that you see here.  You can see more at www.journeyamerica.org/places/beetlejuice.

So the next time you happen to be in Vermont, be sure to grab a cup of coffee and follow Route 113 towards East Corinth.  The scenery is great, it’s a pleasant drive over a two lane dirt road and the folks there are friendly…as long as you don’t ask them anything about the movie.

Asheville to Hot Springs

Good trip!  Ben dropped me off at the station in Asheville and I got to hang out with a couple of guys that were heading to New York.  Not much happening at the Greyhound station in Asheville after dark.  I wonder what the others would be like.

The ride into Knoxville was ok.  Not many people on the bus, but wouldn’t ya know…as soon as I finally was able to get some sleep, we pulled into Knoxville…for a 15 minute layover and a bus change and then on to Roanoke.

Got to Roanoke at zero dark thirty and mom and “Duck” was waiting for me.  Was good to see a couple of friendly faces after the ride.  We stopped and got a great breakfast and then heading on out to Hot Springs.  Mom and Duck were cool and made several unplanned stops so that I could get some shots along the way.  I’ll be posting them later this weekend, so be sure to check out the “Hot Springs” gallery under the places listing on the navbar.

Hot Springs

Had a good time with Mom.  She’s 80 something years old (she’d kill me if I told you that she’s 85, so I won’t tell you that).  I hope that I have half her energy when I’m her age.  Also, I hope I have half her wisdom and knowledge.  The changes she’s seen in her life have been tremendous.  I doubt very seriously if theres ever been another generation like hers that has seen so many different changes.  I doubt there ever will be again.

The shoot at The Homestead went real well.  I’ll be posting those pics later also, so be sure to check them out sometime.  The realtors were super people…really went out of their way to make this ol’ boy feel like a part of the team.

Got to spend a few extra days with Mom and we did the “touristy” thing.  Also got to see the marker at Pop’s grave and spend a few minutes there.  Again, it was good to see Mom and spend some time with her.  It’s amazing how you don’t appreciate your folks until later in life.  I like what Mark Twain said one time:  ”When I was fifteen, my old man was the dumbest man in the world.  When I hit twenty, I was surprised at how much he had learned in five years”.  I’m kinda like that…I never appreciated the knowledge and wisdom that Mom has…she sure has learned alot over my life time.

Hot Springs to Vermont

Got back to the bus station on Monday and set out for Vermont.   A few stops along the way before hitting D.C.  Nothing eventful until I got to D.C. and the transit police wanted to confiscate my camera.  Seems that to them I looked like a terroist and they didn’t like the idea that I was taking pictures around the bus depot.  I guess they never realized that the terrorists probably have all the pictures of the bus station they want and since I looked like a gentle ol’ guy, they wanted to exercise their training on me.

Wouldn’t let ‘em.  Now don’t misunderstand.  I understand there are some bad people in the world and they want to do some bad things to Americans.  But come on.  If we let our lives be shut down and let transportation security stop people for taking pictures…then the bad guys have won!  I kept the camera…didn’t give it to him.  Right about now, I think he’s hassling some little ol’ lady about the knitting in her bag.

Coming into New York, had a great view of lower Manhattan.  Also had something else.

I realized just how much this little journey I’ve been on for awhile can mean.  Within an eight day period I went from sharing a cigarette with a homeless guy in Pritchard Park in NC* to having breakfast at The Homestead in Hot Springs to watching the sun come up over the Statue of Liberty.  And yah, I wish there was this school teacher lady in Georgia that could’ve seen it all with me.

Well, on into Vermont and I’ve been here two days.  Not much difference between this part of Vermont and western North Carolina or western Virginia.  Same mountains, ‘cept here they’re the Green Mountains instead of Blue Ridge or Smokys.  Same autumn colors turning on the leaves, ‘cept there’s a bunch more of them here.

Been spending a couple days just hanging out and still resting up from the trip…have gotten some great shots of the town and surroundings though.  Louis (the guy whose family I’m staying with) is a stonemason.  He makes garden fountains for the rich and famous.  Been able to watch him work some and it’s interesting to see him turn an old rock into a work of art…almost as fascinating as watching James turn a glass rod into a work of art.

Guess I’d better wrap this up for now…I hear the coffee pot brewing and that’s my signal for another cup.

I’ll fill you in some more later on what’s going on.  In the meantime…

“Have a great day!”

*NOTE:  In the real world people DO share cigarettes with strangers.  I got busted one time in Georgia by a couple of little old ladies who thought I was ripping off a homeless guy when he and I shared a cigarette…so I had to throw this in just in case they’re reading.

Asheville to Hot Springs

Good trip!  Ben dropped me off at the station in Asheville and I got to hang out with a couple of guys that were heading to New York.  Not much happening at the Greyhound station in Asheville after dark.  I wonder what the others would be like.

The ride into Knoxville was ok.  Not many people on the bus, but wouldn’t ya know…as soon as I finally was able to get some sleep, we pulled into Knoxville…for a 15 minute layover and a bus change and then on to Roanoke.

Got to Roanoke at zero dark thirty and mom and “Duck” was waiting for me.  Was good to see a couple of friendly faces after the ride.  We stopped and got a great breakfast and then heading on out to Hot Springs.  Mom and Duck were cool and made several unplanned stops so that I could get some shots along the way.  I’ll be posting them later this weekend, so be sure to check out the “Hot Springs” gallery under the places listing on the navbar.

Hot Springs

Had a good time with Mom.  She’s 80 something years old (she’d kill me if I told you that she’s 85, so I won’t tell you that).  I hope that I have half her energy when I’m her age.  Also, I hope I have half her wisdom and knowledge.  The changes she’s seen in her life have been tremendous.  I doubt very seriously if theres ever been another generation like hers that has seen so many different changes.  I doubt there ever will be again.

The shoot at The Homestead went real well.  I’ll be posting those pics later also, so be sure to check them out sometime.  The realtors were super people…really went out of their way to make this ol’ boy feel like a part of the team.

Got to spend a few extra days with Mom and we did the “touristy” thing.  Also got to see the marker at Pop’s grave and spend a few minutes there.  Again, it was good to see Mom and spend some time with her.  It’s amazing how you don’t appreciate your folks until later in life.  I like what Mark Twain said one time:  ”When I was fifteen, my old man was the dumbest man in the world.  When I hit twenty, I was surprised at how much he had learned in five years”.  I’m kinda like that…I never appreciated the knowledge and wisdom that Mom has…she sure has learned alot over my life time.

Hot Springs to Vermont

Got back to the bus station on Monday and set out for Vermont.   A few stops along the way before hitting D.C.  Nothing eventful until I got to D.C. and the transit police wanted to confiscate my camera.  Seems that to them I looked like a terroist and they didn’t like the idea that I was taking pictures around the bus depot.  I guess they never realized that the terrorists probably have all the pictures of the bus station they want and since I looked like a gentle ol’ guy, they wanted to exercise their training on me.

Wouldn’t let ‘em.  Now don’t misunderstand.  I understand there are some bad people in the world and they want to do some bad things to Americans.  But come on.  If we let our lives be shut down and let transportation security stop people for taking pictures…then the bad guys have won!  I kept the camera…didn’t give it to him.  Right about now, I think he’s hassling some little ol’ lady about the knitting in her bag.

Coming into New York, had a great view of lower Manhattan.  Also had something else.

I realized just how much this little journey I’ve been on for awhile can mean.  Within an eight day period I went from sharing a cigarette with a homeless guy in Pritchard Park in NC* to having breakfast at The Homestead in Hot Springs to watching the sun come up over the Statue of Liberty.  And yah, I wish there was this school teacher lady in Georgia that could’ve seen it all with me.

Well, on into Vermont and I’ve been here two days.  Not much difference between this part of Vermont and western North Carolina or western Virginia.  Same mountains, ‘cept here they’re the Green Mountains instead of Blue Ridge or Smokys.  Same autumn colors turning on the leaves, ‘cept there’s a bunch more of them here.

Been spending a couple days just hanging out and still resting up from the trip…have gotten some great shots of the town and surroundings though.  Louis (the guy whose family I’m staying with) is a stonemason.  He makes garden fountains for the rich and famous.  Been able to watch him work some and it’s interesting to see him turn an old rock into a work of art…almost as fascinating as watching James turn a glass rod into a work of art.

Guess I’d better wrap this up for now…I hear the coffee pot brewing and that’s my signal for another cup.

I’ll fill you in some more later on what’s going on.  In the meantime…

“Have a great day!”

*NOTE:  In the real world people DO share cigarettes with strangers.  I got busted one time in Georgia by a couple of little old ladies who thought I was ripping off a homeless guy when he and I shared a cigarette…so I had to throw this in just in case they’re reading.

RACISM: It’s not just about skin color anymore

Recently a friend of mine posted something on her wall that got people talking.  She asked about racism.  She seemed to think that since the ugliness and violence of racism that happened in the 50s and 60s (and earlier and later) wasn’t occuring now, that racism must be a thing of the past…and she asked for others’ opinions.

And it got me to thinking.  I think that racism is still around.  It’s just not as in-your-face as it was when I was younger or before.  Racism has continued, but it has gotten more refined…and more subtle.  Racism has gone from downtown to uptown.  I think people that voted for Barak Obama simply because he’s black are as racist as those who didn’t vote for him simply because he’s black. 

But I’m not sure racism is the major problem we have.  I think it’s “meism”.  Yah, I know there is no such word as “meism”, but it best fits what I’m trying to describe.

“Meism” is when I expect and almost demand that others think the way I think, act the way I act and believe the way I believe.  And I get my feathers ruffled when they don’t meet my demands. 

I’ve witnessed my share of this in my life.  The groups that exclude people because of a difference in style and not a difference in substance; the people that are shunned because their life experiences have given them a different set of filters to see the world through; the immature little college twits who think they have the solution just because they have a sheepskin on the wall.  All these are racists too…but they don’t prejudge because of a difference in skin color, they prejudge because of a difference in age, sex, lifestyle or any other thing that doesn’t fit within their narrow, limited perspective of this thing we call life.

And meism just doesn’t affect the young college twits.  Older folks can have a bad case of it too. 

One time I was given a lift to a Veterans hospital for a checkup by an older lady.  When we walked into the hospital, I happened to see some buddies there and we spoke a minute and “talked trash” like we usually do when we get together…and she observed all this.  Later she told me she was glad that she had brought me and she was glad to have had a chance to see me with…as she put it, “your kind of people”.  MMmm…what is my kind of people?  Ol’ grizzled vets that have seen some of the sorrier sides of life…some of it our fault…but much of it not?  Isn’t compaing one group of people (older peace-loving females) to another group (younger, male military veterans) the same thing as classifying people into “my kind” and “your kind”?  Isn’t that somehow a form of racism?

Or personality types.  I’m a in-your-face-type-person.  When I come into a room, you know I’m there.  Not because I have a great magnetic personality…but because I’m loud.  There’s plenty of people that can stand in a room of a hundred folks and you never know they’re around.  Does that make me better…or worse…than the wall-flowers?  Nope.  But to judge me (or anyone) because of a difference in style is just as bone-headed as judging someone because of the difference in the tone of their skin.

I recently had a photo used by CNN and I was interviewed by one of their reporters.  The reporter asked me about Asheville and what I liked about it and what made Asheville, to me, different than some other towns and places I’ve lived in.  I told them that Asheville seems to allow people the freedom to be who they are without fear, hate, anger or prejudice.  The “suits” fit right in alongside the homeless.  The folks with dreadlocks sit at the drum circle right next to grandmothers.  Everyone’s minds…and hearts…are open.

This same idea about Asheville was recently laid out in an article in The Washington Post.  I’ll try to send you a copy of it if you want.

So what’s the bottom line?  Well, I think we need to continue to work on racism.  But we also need to work on all the other “meisms” that do more to keep people apart than to draw them together.  I wish I could say that the church is the place that is starting this revolution, but it’s not.  Eleven o’clock on Sunday morning is still the most segregated hour in the week as Martin Luther King said over 40 years ago.  And not just segregated by color…but segregated by belief, creed, dogma and yah, style of worship and the personality of the worshippers.

Me?  I’m gonna get me a cup of coffee, write Merriam-Webster with my idea of a new word for their dictionary and then go find someone with dreadlocks and hug’em.

You have a good day, yah hear?

Experience. Dream. Risk…Go Live Now!

Didn’t write this…but I wish I had’ve:

Experience.  Dream.  Risk.  Close your eyes and jump.  Enjoy the freefall.  Choose exhilaration over comfort.  Choose magic over predictability.  Choose potential over safety.  Wake up to the magic of everyday life.  Make friends with your intuition.  Trust yhour gut.  Discover the beauty of uncertainty.  Know yourself fully before you make promises to another.  Make millions of mistakes so that you will know how to choose what you really need.  Know when to hold on and when to let go.  Love hard and often and without reservation.  Seek knowledge.  Open yourself to possibility.  Keep your heart open, your head high and your spirit free.  Embrace your darkness along with your light.  Be wrong every once in a while, and don’t be afraid to admit it.  Awaken to the brilliance in ordinary moments.  Tell the truth about youself no matter what the cost.  Own your reality without apology.  See goodness in the world.  Be Bold.  Be Fierce.  Be grateful.  Be wild, crazy and gloriously free.  Be you!

 Go now and live.

29,603

Remember the other day when this lil ol’ blog almost hit 20,000 readers for the day?

I won a cup of coffee on that.  I think I’m going to make another bet with my buddy today.

Just checked the stats before I shut down the computer and grabbed the camera.  Yep, it see it right…29,603 viewers so far today and apparently still climbing.

I’m going to enjoy the coffee I have this morning as a result of winning this little bet with him.

“Have a nice day!”

UPDATE; I guess 8pm on the east coast is the end of the day for WordPress.  Anyways, here’s a screen shot of my stats page at about 8:15 this evening.  I doubt if I’ll ever see these kind of figures again, but it would be nice! 

Yup…73889 visitors during the last 24 hours.

Have a great evening!

Ass Glarts. No, I mean Glass Arts

If you’re even in Asheville, NC take a few minutes of your time and stop by and visit my buddy James.  Just a few short miles east of Asheville you turn left just past the Veterans Hospital.  Follow the narrow, winding, two-lane-country-road for about two miles and then turn left on the last dirt road you see and stay on it for another mile or so.

If you’ve followed these directions you will have found yourself at James glass blowing studio.  Well, glass blowing isn’t his term, it’s mine.  The correct term is “lampworking”.  Heck, I probably have that wrong too…maybe it’s something like “boro lampworking”.

Anyway James makes glass.  Glass pendants.  Glass marbles and orbs.  Glass bracelets.  Just about anything that can be made out of glass, James makes it.  You can see some of his artwork by clicking here.  James has his work in some pretty “hifalutin” galleries and stores.  The Met (i.e., The Metropolitan Opera) has some of his work there as do some of the “boutique” galleries in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.  But James isn’t content to settle there and rest on what’s he’s accomplished.

He’s a firm believer in making every piece of glass with care and making sure that nothing but quality glass goes out of his shop.  Actually, to the point of being obnoxious.  The other day I was trying to help him pack up some glass pendants for shipment somewhere and almost every other one that I would pick up and pack he’d reject.  I couldn’t see anything wrong with them…but to his trained eye and his demand that “good enough” is never enough, he was pretty selective in what went out of his shop.

James, his wife Suzanne and their two kids are active in “The Body”.  The Body is a non-denominational church in town that reaches out to the transients, homeless, weirdos and well, just about everyone else in Asheville.  If it’s Wednesday night or Sunday morning, you’ll find the family at The Body….meeting their friends, singing songs of praise and worship and just enjoying being around folks who are alot like themselves.

So, if you’re ever in Asheville, hang a left just past the Blue Ridge Parkway, follow the road until you see the cars.  James’ll be in the shop making his glass.  He’ll leave the light on for ya!

TO READ A GOOD ARTICLE BY JOE, A BUDDY OF MINE IN TUSCON, CLICK HERE

Free Posters — Possibly a Limited Time and Limited Quantity

Yah…you red the hedline right…FREE POSTERS.  You can download them at my gallery, www.JourneyAmerica.org and all you have to do is print them out.  If you want them full size (20″x30″) and don’t have a printer that can handle that, I’d suggest Sam’s Club.  They’re quick and inexpensive. 

So why am I giving away posters?  Simple:  Because I can.

I spent the past couple of months here in Asheville takin LOTS of pictures.  I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to look at the mountains, the town and the people through the lens of my camers.  It hasn’t always been a pretty thing to look at, but more often than not, it has.

So giving these posters away is just my way of saying “thanks” to the folks here in western North Carolina who tolerate me shoving a camera in their faces.  And doing it when it wasn’t always convenient for them.

I’m going to add to the poster collection as time permits and I take some more photos.  So keep coming back to the gallery and checking them out.  I’m distributing these posters under what’s called the Common Concerns Licensing Agreement.  What that means is this:  you’re free to take download any of the posters you want and to keep them or pass them on.  Heck, I wouldn’t mind if you told your friends about this deal.  Let them in on the fun too.

The only stipulation behind version of Common Concerns that I’m operating under is that you cannot modify the image in anyway AND if you use it on a website, magazine/newspaper article, blog or something else, you need to make sure to give me the photo credit.  Something like, “Photo by Jerry Nelson/www.JourneyAmerica.org” would be nice.

Enjoy your posters!

giejbm8f2d

So What Do the “Experts” Say?

You know, we’ve got alot of “experts” running around today.  Talking about the economy, war, weather, global warming and so on.

Whenever I hear someone…usually a college educated twit who has never experienced the real world…quote an “expert”, I cringe. 

Over the years, experts have said some pretty ludicrous things:

• “… after a few more flashes in the pan, we shall hear very little more of Edison or his electric lamp. Every claim he makes has been tested and proved impracticable.”
  - New York Times, 16th January 1880
•  ”Professor Goddard … does not know the relation of action to reaction … he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in our high schools”
  - New York Times, 13th January 1920
• “Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible
  - Lord Kelvin, British physicist, 1895.
•  ”There is no likelihood that man can ever tap the power of the atom”
  - Robert Millikan, Nobel Prize physicist, 1923.

and my favorite:

“I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.”
- Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.

Yep…as far as this ol’ boy can tell, if you want to make a million dollars easy…find out what the “experts” are saying and then bet the other way.