The Slow Lane

L and I attended a concert at the Ashe Arts Center and enjoyed one of the best concerts I’ve ever attended. Ken K. switched easily from hammered dulcimer to fiddle.  I did not know that a hammered dulcimer could sound like multiple instruments playing at once.  The tone was most pleasant even though at times the composition could be intense.  There were about 100 people at the Arts Center and when asked how many played the hammered dulcimer, there may have been 20 or more hands. 

But not only did Ken K. play solo pieces, he had also invited some “locals” to join him.  There was a couple (Ruth and Steve Smith).  Ruth played the hammered dulcimer and Steve played guitar (and banjo for one piece).  The trio performed beautiful music together.  There was also another “local” (Michael Bell) who played hammered dulcimer and piano.  These “locals” were also very good musicians and performed well together.  I was very impressed by Michael Bell’s ability to switch back and forth between the piano and dulcimer.

Another “local” (who teaches people to play hammered dulcimer, name not remembered) joined the other four for a finale piece.  There were 3 hammered dulcimers, one fiddle, and one banjo/guitar. 

With my total lack of musical ability, I just don’t understand how anyone can be so talented and skilled in musical performance, but I’m sure glad other people have figured it out and are willing to share it.  The other thing about this concert is that the volume was just right for my hearing aids to work at their best. 

Ken Kolodner is a musician who plays all over the US.  If he’s performing near you, I recommend you go hear him.  At least check out his website:   http://www.kenkolodner.com/

Last weekend, L and I had a great time hosting a visit from our granddaughters.  They enjoyed  playing and cooling off in the sprinkler.

What can be more fun than helping Grandma make bisquits?  The bisquits were part of the lunch for both girls’ families and it’s clear the girls like eating bisquits also.  One of our family favorites is bisquits with butter and a slice of tomato.  The girls like bisquits better in other ways, including “plain”.

Grandpa and granddaughters take a break while all three of us are holding our “lovies”.

I invited Ulncle Bo to ride with me to the mountains this week.  I picked him up Wednesday morning in Burlington about 9:00.  We stopped in Wilkesboro for lunch and made it to our place about 12:30.  After the trailer and Blazer were unloaded, we looked at the garden and around the house to see what we had done since Bo and Calvin were there in October a couple of years ago.  Then we settled in to enjoy the cool air and nice breeze.  We were sitting on the deck about 4:30 when L called.  It was 75 degrees at that point on the deck with a good breeze.  L reported that in Raleigh it was 98 to 102 degrees.  What a nice difference!  Wednesday night we ate good seafood at Mountainaire.  Thursday morning we ate Ashe county cheese toast and at lunch, we ate family style at Shatley Springs.  It was a nice relaxing couple of days for both of us.

Bo is using his cane as he walks and still recovers from falling and breaking his leg in November.  He’s slowly regaining strength and stamina to get back to two of the things he loves to do, ball room dancing and playing golf.

One of his life-long activities is crocheting.  After he broke his leg, Bo hasn’t been able to dance or play golf, but he has continued to crochet.  He recently was interviewed about his crocheting for a news feature on High Point TV called “Roy’s Folks”.  He says it was 1 minute and 51 seconds long.  He also said the TV interview did not show 2 of his prized crocheted  pieces: “The Last Supper” and “The Lord’s Prayer”.  He now has them framed and I took these pictures. 

Bo’s crocheting is a special gift and his crocheted artwork has been generously given to many special people and donated for fundraising projects to many agencies, such as Hospice, who have provided help to many more people.  Occasionally, he has taken orders and sold some pieces, but primarily it has brought much pleasure to him and served as a way for him to give to others.

We had a good visit.

The annual “Christmas in July” festival was held on July 3 this year as July 4 was on Sunday. On Friday, we went with neighbors Sue and Jim, Sybil and Billy to the Ashe Outreach Fish Fry and stopped back in West Jefferson for the opening of the festival and listened to the music for a while.

Then L and I went back on Saturday and walked up and down the 2 streets with vendor booths including some local agencies and service agencies. There were a lot of craft booths. We were hungry by 11:30 and I got my big Polish sausage for lunch. The music stage was busy with one group/band after another and so was the dance stage. There were lots of people at the festival.

We like going to Como and we like going to reunions. We did both three times in June.  In addition, we visited with aunts, cousins, friends, and former college roommates for each of us who were not at either reunion.  I made a fourth trip to Como to get corn and we got that in the freezer the next day.  We enjoyed it all, but we agree that it was a busier schedule than we want to maintain on a two-week  basis.

The first reunion was Homecoming at Buckhorn Baptist Church.  This is L’s home church and the church where we got married.  L saw many people she had not seen for years, and we saw many family and friends.  The event was well planned and executed with about 400 in attendance. 

The second reunion was the “Howell Get-Together” at the Como community building.  This is an annual event in June on the Saturday nearest Jake Howell’s birthday.  It was begun when his children were the next generation.  This year his grandchildren, L and her cousins, were the oldest of those attending.  The first picture is of the cousins who were present this year, including R. who lives in Austin, Texas. 

The second picture is of the cousins and spouses who were present.

The third picture is of  the children of the cousins and  their families.

It is always good to see everybody and to eat the good food brought by all the good cooks in the family.  For my part, I have especially enjoyed John’s black walnut cake.

The third reunion was L’s 50th high school class reunion.  This is an event that puts your age in perspective.  It’s hard not to feel old.  This event was held at Whitley’s restaurant in Murfreesboro.  Members of the classes of ’59 and ’61 were invited.  Many memories were revisited.