One day in Durham...

....I decided to take a little walk. I knew I needed my strength for this little walkabout so I stopped for food. Not many things can fuel the spirit like an old fashioned burger. I'm talking about a freshly ground, hand-pattied burger...oh yeah. The little shop close to my house re-opened after being closed for a couple of years & I couldn't be more happy. Business is booming & TJ (the new owner) seems to be settling into the neighborhood like he's been here forever. King's Sandwich shop is located across from the old Durham Bulls ballpark. You know the one, well, you do if you've ever seen the movie "Bull Durham". Anyway, I don't have a great pic of the outside of his little cinder block building, but I have something even better.

I know, I know. Not good for me, but soooo good to me.

Here's link to his very modest website, but with business booming the way it is I'm sure he doesn't have the time, nor the need for a fancy schmancy website. His website reflects the old fashioned values of his business. Simple and to the point. Freshly squeezed lemonade, yummy thick shakes & malts with whipped cream & a cherry on top. Most everything home made, except the fries, but I actually like these frozen fries. They're very nicely cooked & much better than the somewhat wobbly crinkle fries served at the same establishment by TJ's predecessor.

If you're in the area check him out at King's Sandwich Shop

After stuffing myself unabashedly at the picnic table I moved a little further down the street. My walk takes me between 2 buildings perched like guarding bulldogs. This is Measurment Inc. I'm not exactly sure how to explain what "they" do in these buildings, but it's basically a company that provides & scores achievement tests. You know..like those awful ones you used to have to take in school. Yeah, that's kinda what they do; I think.

I have several friends that work behind those foreboding facades, but they rarely talk about their work. Are they trying to forget their exhausting day, or is it some top secret facility posing as an innocent testing company housed in an historic building?

Nah..they probably just want to forget about work....right Eric...Joe.... James......hello?

Well..moving on. Maybe it some weird testing facility for these crazy snake trees.

Seriously. Forget about a dark alley at night. I wouldn't want to walk up to these trees in the dark with only the moonlight to point out the writhing, slithering snakes draped lavishly onto the boughs like some type of medieval boa. tee hee...git it?? Boa...snake?? Any one?? No one?? OK, maybe not so clever.

How crazy is that?? I'm not sure what type of trees they are, but only 3 of the probably dozen or so have these "snake" pods. The leaves & umbrella effect appears to be similar to a mimosa, but no one plants mimosas around here on purpose, no more than they would plant kudzu.

Well, to finish up my walk & this insanely long post:

Some friends hula-hooping in front of the neighborhood watering hole. They tried to teach me, but I didn't do so great. How cool are the lighted hula hoops?????

It's Major!!!!

It's Major, the bull. More on him later.

I've been MIA for a while. Trying to get some things straight in my mind & other wise, but I decided that I was going to try to do both.

I really haven't been bending metal very much at all. I don't know if it's the shortage of silver on my bench or the shortage of imagination in my head...probably both. I've been in my little cocoon for a while, but am slowly trying to poke out my head to take a look around. My bench is now cluttered with watercolors, pencils & paper. I've gone back to my original artistic outlet which is painting & mixed media. I was never good at either, but I find the comfort & ease very healing right now. I've tried to put saw to metal, but have found myself at a loss for inspiration. It'll come back sometime, but I'm enjoying my time with paper & glue.

Even though I'm not smithing as much, I thought I'll still open a little bit of my life to you. It'll just be random things, maybe about Durham, maybe about the heat, maybe about how the darned cicadas won't stop screaming at me!!

Seriously. What's going on??

Between the cicadas & the cardinals, who have decided that my yard will be their new commune, it's never quiet in my house. I really don't mind because it's almost like being back home, but those cicadas.... All day & all night. Those are some crazy little party bugs that like to leave their "jackets" all over the place.

Anyway, I just wanted to pop in & say "hey". I intend to post more often, though it shouldn't be too hard to post more than once every 2 months. I'll show you a little bit of my town & a little snippet of my life.

Y'all play purty!!

Pam