Bear's Lair Atrium

To Lenoir-Rhyne University this afternoon to watch another in the continuing performances honoring "The Spirit of Black Mountain College".
This performance was titled “Collage in 4 Dimensions”, and it was, as the program indicated, “Inspired by the many scholars and artists who explored the dynamic link between art and education at Black Mountain College”.

It was not an entirely unscripted performance but it was very different from any normal show that you might attend. There were about 21 performances and their titles were inscribed on 21 index cards. The Leader of the group handed me the cards and asked me to shuffle them. I shuffled them three times and handed them back to her and that determined the order of the performance.


Well, to say that it was attributed to Black Mountain College indicates that it would have to be different. That there would be performances honoring Merce Cunningham and John Cage assured that it would - well, at least SEEM to be weird. And it was.

I tried to find meaning but think that was probably just one of my faults. Perhaps it was more a depiction of how life really IS rather than how things SHOULD be. It was sort of a stumble-around thing. But it worked - more or less. In a lot of ways it did resemble life, particularily life on a college campus.


It reminded us of our 16 month old granddaughter - she would have LOVED it. The rest of the audience - most of whom were college students - watched - some with understanding but most with incredulity, amusement and amazement. Their main characteristics seemed to be raised eyebrows and pursed lips.

© John Womack, 2008. All rights reserved.

Moses Cone Manor, NC

Moses Cone Manor is on the Blue Ridge Parkway around mile marker 294, on the northern edge of Blowing Rock, NC. The manor is a 20 room house on a 3,500 acre estate. But there is a lot more than just that - see http://www.brptrails.com/brp2940.htm and also http://www.virtualblueridge.com/parkway_tour/parks/293_0/
for more details. The house is modestly beautiful and so is the view from the front porch. It became part of the Park Service in 1949.








Inside are sales of art and crafts from this region. It is a fine place to find a special and different kind of gift for someone important to you





There are some 25 miles of trails including those for hiking, horseback riding and riding horse-drawn carriages. Trails wind across sun-drenched meadows, and through mountain forests. There are lakes on the estate, including Trout Lake and Bass Lake (pictured here). The grave site of Cone, his wife and a sister are in the edge of a great meadow. There are apples galore. Cone planted some 30,000 to 40,000 apple trees, including 75 species.

© John Womack, 2008. All rights reserved.

Valdese, NC Hmong Festival

The Hmong (MOWng) people are an ethnic group generally located in southern China. Large concentrations are also found in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. During the American War against Vietnam, some Hmong were recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States to attack North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces in Vietnam and Laos. Many Hmong fighters were teen-agers and preteens. When America was forced to abandon the war, large numbers of Hmong fled into Thailand and other countries. Approximately 275,000 were brought to the United States. A small number now live in Valdese, a town of about 4,500 people twenty miles west of Hickory, North Carolina.

The Valdese Hmong have begun a yearly festival. Their First Annual Festival was held this year on Sept 20, at the Old Rock School in Valdese and featured traditional Hmong costumes, singing, dancing, art and sports events. I wanted to attend because I was somewhat familiar with the Hmong from my experiences in the American war against Vietnam in which I directed hundreds of B-52 bombing missions into many areas containing Hmong people. When their leader, Vang Pao was airlifted out to the United States, the Hmong were left to face the victorious communist forces and many were massacred. Many other Hmong died in the “killing fields” of Pol Pot.

I was interested to see what the passage of a mere thirty years might have done for these people who, after all, trace their continued existence as a separate group for almost 3.000 years? Remember that they not only crossed a great ocean and traveled to the other side of the globe but also traveled from a jungle/agrarian lifestyle to a modern technological environment. What would we find? We enjoyed some of the music (some was weird!) and all of the dancing was enjoyable. It was very interesting to notice the extremely intricate hand movements used the by women dancers and to contrast that with their very simple foot movements. The craftwork was nice and original and the food was simple, inexpensive and delicious.

© John Womack, 2008. All rights reserved.