The July 4 holiday fell on a Wednesday this year which either screws up a nice long weekend or gives you a midweek vacation depending on whether you are a half empty or half full type of person. My choice was simple: take the whole week off.
I have the luxury of being on summer break. While to you that sounds like a 3 month vacation, the reality of it is I have 3 months to make a year's worth of drawings and sculptures while also trying to plan for the next semester while also going to school meetings in the summer while also delivering and picking up art from exhibits while also doing enough research to keep up with contemporary art while also catching up on a to-do list that has been building for the last 9 months. Oh and there's the 10 acres of grass to cut.
It's a busy time. But all work and no play makes me grumpy and since I finished sculpture number 8 last week....I decided to take this week off from sculpting. (I realize that's only a vacation from one thing on my list but it's a pretty labor intensive thing and it constitutes a vacation of sorts) So instead of that, I did some other things...
Spent some time with Zeke. He's turned into an excellent dog. They say dogs grow to look like their owners over time....and he's certainly got the head for that.
Spent some time with Hitchcock. Thanks to everyone who refused to buy the 4 disc set at Target. Your negligence lowered the price to $5. The summer of bargain hunting continues.
We had a pretty respectable storm. Hail, wind, the works. The power was out for a few hours. At the exact moment I gave up on the idea of a cooked meal and started making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich....the power came back on.
It was hot. Too hot to do anything for a few days. The little dogs were comatose most of that time.
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Lucky for us Uncle Daniel has a pool.
We spent the 4th with him and his crew and mom and LJ.
His kids talked him into a fireworks purchase.
So there was some of this.
And Violet's response was this. Not a fan of loud noises.
Blue and I took a day to go waterfall hunting. It was there I found the new sign I want for the sculpture studio at school.
Everything was amazing to him. Every tree was the biggest tree he'd ever seen or the biggest rock he'd ever seen. That one was one of many "biggest" rocks on the journey.
The waterfall is Pearson's Falls just north of Tryon, NC. It's more of a short walk than it is a hike. It's an easy walk on a well maintained trail.
Blue enjoying his water.
He wanted his photo taken with the waterfall.
The walk back.
Playing in the water.
He insisted on taking his own photos. This is apparently what I look like from his perspective.
After the wilderness adventure we drove up a couple of miles to Saluda, NC.
Saluda is a little stretch of Main Stree type stores and restaurants lined up along the old railroad. This is the starting point of the Saluda Grade (I think) and the inspiration for many bluegrass songs. They also celebrate Coon Dog Day here.
We stopped in Tryon on the way back just long enough to find this treasure. Now I have another project to add to that to-do list.
Blue enjoying the drive back to Laurens.
And showing off his battle scars from the hike.
A vacation from sculpture means more time to draw. I finished the four little drawings I started at the beach.
And finished a new big one too. This is a detail of the 2' x 3' wood panel.
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