The Avant Garden

Summer seems to finally be here.

I've been to Bent Creek several times  (I have a good dog-vomit story to tell, but you have to call or e-mail me for details -- it's too shocking and appalling for The Avant Garden) and fixed up the last hump in the Roadside Serpent, which had fallen, and redid the Row of Delicates, with this one a favorite:
The big rock in the middle is touching the ground ...

This is a better photo, courtesy of  www.mistyblueridges.com:

I also fixed up three-quarters of the Bent Creek Sculpture Walk, including TOBS; The Original Bent Serpent:
Last year that tree knocked him over ...

Most of my time, though, has been spent in the River behind my house, playing with the rocks I know best. They are putting on quite a show for me this summer, as you can see from the Where Rocks Come From page I built. I think it's quite funny.

We had a power surge of some sort that killed a lot of stuff I had uploaded but not saved, so here I go, right back to it. My back has improved a wee bit, I hope, though I have not touched a rock of significance since the one I picked up Tuesday that messed me up. It wasn't a big rock, it was just awkwardly done.

Anyway,
Formerly the 'New Bent Serpent,' now the 'Roadside Serpent' ...Sunday morning I went back to Bent Creek and fixed up this Serpent. He used to be called "The New Bent Serpent," as I had "The Original Bent Serpent" further downstream, then I began calling him the "Roadside Serpent," because he is one of the few things I have done that can be seen from the gravel road that runs through Bent Creek. The local material is great.

I'd been googling  about looking at balances and decided to do a few delicates myself. I did a row of five, of which this was a favorite:

Later I rec'd an e-mail from a local photographer who had stumbled upon the Row of Delicates and taken a photo of her own:

She graciously gave me permission to use it. She also posted some on her Web site:  www.mistyblueridges.com, which I highly recommend you visit if you like photography, the Blue Ridge Mountains or both.

Now it's a wet Saturday morning, a good time to rest my back, but I hope to get back to some rocks tomorrow. Or the next day. Or the next week. We'll see.

I've been having a good time with rocks and gravity of late. On May 7 I went to Bent Creek in the rain and played for several hours. A thing I had done a long time ago had completely fallen victim to high water, so I had plenty fo material and decided to build a row of connecting arches all the way across. Which I did, but decided to give them a moment to play in three dimensions:
T'was dark 'neath those rhododendrons ... 

During that week, I finished my wife's "Yoga Pit." She wanted a flat, level spot by the River to do her morning yoga. So I made her a two-metre-in-diameter sandy spot with a little stack to watch over her:
Anthropologists will scratch their heads over this in 1000 years ...

I have also been working in the driftwood forest:
A work in progess, but pretty cool, I think ...

though with my back so sore lately all I can do is gather floating material from the River. I have quite a few pieces that need planting. If you, or someone you know, can operate post-hole diggers, please come on by and I will put you to work. Work is fun in the Avant Garden.

Sunday, May 14, I went back to Bent Creek for more fun and games and found that the aforementioned "row of connecting arches all the way across which took a moment to play in three dimensions on the way" was still standing after a whole week in water. Quite proud, I was. 

I finally nailed this thing:
A new favorite thing ...

For now, it's named simply "3Arches1Pedestal," but I was listening to the mighty Black Flag when working on it. The first time I tried and failed, I think I was trying to build it in the wrong place. The second time, I had an insecure pedestal that I didn't have the rocks or time to fix. Today I came home from work-work early and rounded up the rocks necessary and it stood on the second drop of the keystones.

Here's a detail shot, with two of this guy's buddies in the background:
More difficult than it looks, it was ...

Last Thursday I decided it was time to take the nude out of the garden and replace her with a 3-2-1 Arch again:
This will be part of the Permanent Collection

I think a 3-2-1 Arch should always be standing somewhere in the Avant Garden, though now that I have that one standing there I want to move it.

I wonder what the Guinness Book of World records for "most arches on a pedestal" is. I might give it a run if it isn't a dozen or so ...

I have been hurrying from one task to another, as storms were supposedly on the way. And yesterday, I decided to get one more stack in the River done before it supposedly stormed overnight:
There were some scary moments for my toes-in-sandals ...

This is the remnants of the cross I did on Easter morning. I hadn't seen the Sun all day, but it popped out when I was finished, so I decided to fix up Rob's River Arch again. Rob and I estimate this is the 11th or 12th rendition:
Not perfect, but a storm was a-brewin' and kids needed feedin' ...

This jaunt in the River marked the beginning of sandal season for good.

So today, the storm is actually here. It can't be very strong -- it was three days late -- but lightning is about, so I had best turn this thing off. I hope to have a weekend worth 100 photographs.