Don't Look a Gift Horse
(photograph taken in east Chatham County)
The Language of Flowers
“Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly
in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions
of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying
flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers. . . .
How did it go?
How did it go?”
(photograph taken in northeast Chatham County)
Black Double-Crested Cormorants
These seabirds, distant cousins of frigatebirds and boobies, skim Jordan lake swooping for small fish. They settle on docks and bobbing markers, spreading their wings to dry.
(photographs taken at Jordan Lake in Chatham County)
In a Twinkle
(photographs taken in Chapel Hill, Chatham County)
Framed
(photograph taken in Fearrington Village in Pittsboro)
L'artista
“Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.”
(photograph of sculptor Siglinda Scarpa was taken at her home studio located on a several-acre propery in Pittsboro)
Indefatigable
Siglinda Scarpa is founder and primary benefactor for the non-profit cat sanctuary The Goathouse Refuge nestled on her several-acre property in Pittsboro, NC. The unflagging animal activist provides a safe haven for cats that were dispossessed or scheduled for euthanasia by public shelters. A team of dedicated volunteers work year round to provide care regardless of age, medical issues or disposition until a permanent loving adoptive home is secured.
The Italian-born sculptor landed in Chatham County in the mid-1990s after emigrating from the foothills of the Italian Alps to New York to pursue her work. Her home studio is peppered with storage sheds used for work spaces and a towering hand-built outdoor oven to fire the intricate pieces. Her collection includes shelves lined with punctilious vessels reminiscent of sea anemones and sculptures perched on stands evocative of fragile pleating coral. (images of her work will be appear in the next post)
(photographs taken at the Goathouse Refuge in Pittsboro, NC)
Caught in the Crunch
(photograph taken in Chatham County)
The Next Chapter
“We don’t stop going to school when we graduate.”
(photograph of Northwood High School graduates taken at Carmichael Arena, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
Santa Critter Crossing
(photograph taken in Bynum in Chatham County, NC)
Lull Before the Storm
(photograph taken at Jordan Lake, Chatham County)
Bynum General Store: Then and Now
"Post Office in General Store and Filling Station" (above) was taken in 1939 by Marion Post Wolcott and recently made available by Yale University. The university went public with about 170,000 photographs from the Great Depression that were at one time stored within government archives. Today, the Bynum General Store serves as a community gathering spot. It's the home of the non-profit organization Bynum Front Porch perhaps best known for its music series, drawing folks from across the region for outdoor bluegrass concerts and impromptu pickin' sessions. Remnants of the post office remain inside the store, a nod to the town's history and evolution.
(photograph taken in Bynum, NC, Chatham County)