Adrian Rice & Fanjoy-Labrenz at Hickory Museum of Art

These two artists joined together to light the candle of wonder again in Hickory last night   Actually, they set the stage for a couple of stunning performances.  One by a High School student, Katya Bengston, who opened the door for the evening, with her poem that set the bar extremely high for those who followed.  Then came the virtuoso work of Alyn Mearns who interpreted Chopin’s mazurkas on his acoustic guitar and escorted patrons of the show along with him into a slightly different dimension.

The other high school students, led by their instructor, Molly Rice, presented professional performances of their own original poetry written in response to the pictures of the exhibition.  Finally, Adrian Rice, Writer-in-Residence of Cataba Valley Community College, and now associate professor at Lenoir-Rhyne University, both in Hickory, read from his published work in “Hickory Haiku” interspersed with observations of some of the differences he notices between the United States and Ireland, such as our “wonderful” weather and  our beautiful skies that we don’t have to keep lifting up as we walk beneath them, and of course, our militant robins, huge birds that are apparently much larger than their Irish counterparts, along with many, many other amazing and delightful differences.   

Katya Bengston

At any rate it was a good evening, followed by a quick stop at the Crescent Moon for craft beers and burrito sandwiches.  Another good night in Hickory.                                      

Joara Discussion in Hickory, NC.

David Moore, professor of archaeology at Warren Wilson College in Black Mountain, NC,  came to Hickory March 23, 2011, to talk about the excavation in progress at Joara (ge WAR ruh), which is near Hickory.

The talk took place at the Catawby Science Center near the "practice ruins" in the center which is used by children to learn archaeological concepts and begin developing the practice of those skills.

Joara was a Catawba Indian settlement which was occupied by Spanish expeditionary forces in the 1500's.  It has been largely "worked" by volunteers with grants from the National Science Foundation and other agencies.  People from around Hickory have volunteered to work at the mounds of Joara each summer and have learned and contributed to discoveries there.

Doug Ammons in Hickory, NC, at CVCC

Doug Ammons was here in Hickory this week at CVCC speaking of some of his experiences.

I saw his presentations titled:  "Spirituality and the Natural World" and 

"Adventure as Art:  The psychology of creating with words, photos and film."  

It was an experience for all of us.  My memories of Doug Ammons:

Intensely reflective

Quietly expressive

daringly understanding

Hot as blazes, yet so dam cooool

A plain ole’ country boy, or at least he seems so,

with a black belt in karate and a classical guitar or so,

and a whole lot of academic degrees including at least one Ph.D.

And oh yes, he drives a kayak too.  

Did I mention that?  And a camera or two and a movie machine

and TV sets for Outdoors, and National Geographic and a

whole lot more.

Speaking and listening

he does both

focused and open.

He is a why-asker.   One who looks behind the answers, turns over facts to see where they rest and ask them if they really mean what they seem to say – and then he listens to them.  And they talk to him.   

A guy who loves mysteries and regales the muses, and they love him and hang around him.  Together they explore a lot of mysteries and have ball after ball.

He dives deeply into the depths of life and discovers new horizons down there then rises swiftly, bubbling up  beyond the surface into a world which didn’t exist until just now.  The old world cascades off of his new vision like water leaving the prow of a kayak which is headed somewhere else.  Spirituality can finally shed the anchors and drag lines of religion and become something no prophet ever dreamed of.

To him "Learning" is finding out what lies beyond what you "learn"; it's not a thing you "do", it is a river you ride.  A river of no return, because you are not really "learning",  you are developing into a new being.  

Mind, body, spirit all are a three-dimensional being that is being created by you - and let me quote Doug Ammons as he spoke to us before he left:  "the greatest work of art that will ever be is what you will become.  And you are that great artist."

He is what a normal human being may look like in 500 more years.  

Mamatown – Get a Taste of Glory

When you first walk in to Mamatown you think “everybody’s squinting”, but then you realize that they’re sitting and chewing and their eyes are half closed.  Most of Mamatown’s food just slides right on down.  The rest requires a little chewing to explode those rich flavors of grilled meat and gravy from small morsels already afloat in dark, rich, saltiness.    There are  illusive hints of spices  that you know well, but can’t quite identify, until it  dawns upon you they are something perhaps known as “Thinking of Wasabi”, or  “Memories of Ginger” and  other flavors that we have all played with in our own cooking, but here in Mamatown we find them all woven into the same fabric which now lies upon our plate.

The food is not only good, but it is quick and inexpensive.  Where else can you stride through the door, go through the  buffet line, eat a meal and pay only $6.00 for all that goodness.  There are problems though:  1)  I found our waitress to be severely English-challenged (but it’s a buffet and all the entrées are well identified so that’s no big deal),   2)  No beer or wine is served but never mind, I found the food intoxicating enough.  It’s not really Fast Food.  It may start out that way but as your eyelids begin to slide on down, you start thinking of your next trip through the buffet, and then of desert, and begin to realize there is nothing more important anywhere else.

Mamatown of Hickory.  http://www.superpages.com/bp/Hickory-NC/Ye-Wei-GUAN-Chinese-Buffet-L0503093580.htm