This place is famous for its programs and its campus. People from all over the country come for two week courses on glass blowing, paper making, ceramics, jewelry, woodworking, and other crafts. We toured the facility and enjoyed the beautiful setting for the “dorms” and cafeteria. It’s pretty inviting.
Well, whaddya know? After I lost the last election my opponents used as the theme song at their victory party “Hit the Road, Jack”. At first that seemed sort of less than gracious and sore-winnerish, but in retrospect it was insightful…even prophetic. It was a great idea!
Since then, between bouts of work on our place near Boxley and around the house, and designing our next small home, we have been “hitting the road” and having a blast each time.
We have been from Key West, to Vancouver Island, from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco, and all places between. Traveling by car and tent camping allows us to visit the quiet, remote, spectacular places that stick to your memory bank like oil to a pelican.
But one thing has been missing. It is well known that sharing a delight makes it sweeter. We have wanted to bring friends along to have a window seat view of what we see, taste, feel, hear, and “grok” about a place. I like to compare all the places we visit to our wonderful town of Fayetteville using the scientific metrics of emotion, specifically using the qualitative factors of hipness, artistry, authenticity, productivity, and freedom of expression. Throw these ingredients into a pot, let them blend themselves, bake at low heat for 50 years and you can get some very interesting quirks of civic evolution. From Port Townsend, Washington, to Berea, Kentucky, to Jerome, Arizona, to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to Fayetteville, Arkansas, you can find one-off communities that are a joy to visit. And the landscapes between these places are even more amazing.
(Speaking of Berea, Ky., you MUST go to Wikipedia and read about Cassius M. Clay, emancipationist, 1810-1903. You will not believe this story)
So here we are, going through St. Louis on the way to Little Compton, Rhode Island, on to New Hampshire to Maine, to New Brunswick, to Nova Scotia, across southeast Canada, to Niagra Falls, toward home again.
Ah. The Arch has come into view. Our Gateway to the East and whatever is out there.
What fun!
Dan