The Avant Garden

can I just let it go -- the creative energy and the pain in the neck -- for a week and be a hiker or a couch tater or a NASCAR freak or something relaxing? Can I just quit making things? It has led to bad joints and chiropractors and MRIs and doctors and pills and time off work and pain pain pain. But no, I can't stop making things.

For example ... the arch on pedestal I had standing the longest -- since July, 2005 -- was at the home of a friend across the River and it was knocked over (with a little help from a riding lawnmower) by the drummer for that Southern rock band "Lynard Skynard." I am not making this up. So Rob and I went over and rebuilt it:

The ring of rocks was Rob's idea.

I also finally went over the rebuilt Rob's Arch, which had been down for over a month. It took three tries, but this one stood:
Version 21, we believe. Wind took Number 20. 

 I took a day off work this week and Rob and I went to the Sculpture Walk at the French Broad River Park in Asheville. It was beyond cool. Best of show was a tough call, but I have to go with this one:
Might do that with the bamboo we have here ...

I wish I could have seen that one when it was first installed and gone back daily to watch the green shoots and green grass slowly give way to the brown shoots and matching bamboo leaves on the ground.

Another favorite was "Pecker," which was a chicken that pecked an egg. Viewers were invited to rotate the half-carved egg and tap on a pedal which made the hen peck at it:
No connection to the John Waters' movie "Pecker" 

Behind my sewing machine, I made this poncho for my friend Lydia, who left the newspaper we both worked at for greener pastures:

Lydia -- great sense of humor, nice poncho. 

Rob and I have also made two movies but they failed to upload on YouTube. I'll try again.

Tonight I got out and did some stacking and  stuff and it felt pretty good.  This neck thing isn't killing my creativity, it just makes it really hard to keep going when things aren't going well. Enough whinging ... back to stacking or sewing or something.

but there is a big "No Wimps" sign at the front gate of the Avant Garden, so enough of that whining ... let's move on.

We went to Atlanta and stayed at my second cousin's house, and instead of sending a thank-you card, I did a garden arch for her:
Cheaper than Hallmark! 

  The tree really stole the photo. Were this a black-n-white photo, it'd be all about the tree. See what I mean:

Cool tree.The next weekend we stayed in Asheville and played. Rob came over with a buncha beaver-chewn sticks and we put them to use. I had some ropelights and found a volunteer cherry for a pedestal and we went to town on it:
No one else has one. Do they?

On Sunday, my wife and I went for a ride on the BluRP  (Blue Ridge Parkway) and we stopped at Mineral Creek in the northeastern corner of Buncombe County. Anne went for a hike while I did a bit of stacking around. She suddenly came back and asked, "Is this your handiwork up here?" and I said no, so I followed her up the trail to find what she had discovered, and it was this:
Cool surprise, aye? A tip of the Avant hat to its builders.

I thought it was about the coolest thing I had seen in two weeks. Wish I had done it. I think I am going to go back this weekend and add an rejoinder. Not a competitor, but a complement.

Sunday evening I took a photo from the Avant Garden Proper looking back towards the house:  

L to R: Tentworms-with-a-twist, Boxwood Chandelier, Red Beaver. 

I had the day off work today to await a home inspection dude from the county and I wrapped up one  project and started and finished another. Here's the Avant Daughter modeling both
Free poncho -- first come, first serve. I keep the light, tho.: 

Tonight I took one more pic of the light things in the Avant Garden Proper, with the driftwood-root thing in place: 
It's getting weird back there ...  

Now I must get back to levitation practice. That's the direction I want to go next in the Avant Garden.