Category Archives: Middletown

Bill Creek

Today checked out some of the Ashville scene I hadn’t visited in a while, in an attempt to reinforce our decision to move there. 1st up was a visit to the town’s botanical garden, which was a great location — hadn’t been there in 2 decades and remembered basically nothing about it. Didn’t take any pics, though. Then I went to the Woodrow Wilson College property and hiked down to Bill Creek on their trails. The wife and I rented a house for 2 years next to Bill Creek about 2 decades back, so I *thought* I was fairly familiar with its passage through college property just north of us at the time. I was wrong. I basically remembered *nothing* about what I saw down in there. It was much more beautiful and complex that I recall. Chalk up another positive for Ashville.

Below is a snapshot of Bill Creek soon after the main trail meets it. I was quickly impressed beyond before; the creek was much longer through here that I remembered, with cascades, pools, cliffs, rocky beaches, lots of stuff…

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… including numerous signs of man.

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I *do* recall this broken dam. I just didn’t remember it being so cool. And I was startled to look down into the heart of the fallen dam from my perch above to see the 4 colors of TILE reflected back up to me on a chain of triangular flags, suspended, it seemed, from old dam logs.* It was an improbable sight at this place. I *knew* it had to be a sign. I knew this had to be another TILE Falls, in effect.

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Further up the stream, 2 fallen tree trunks act as ebony and ivory style complementary bridges.

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Another beautiful and unexpected setting.

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More signs of man. This was found on a trace of a path off the main path, just before it meets the creek.

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Beach just below.

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A more interesting, rocky island there.

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Back to the dam: you can see the flags a little better in this picture.

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Some type of peculiar window at the dam.

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Dam.

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Dam.

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With the discovery of these TILE Falls, we might have made a direct link between Blue Mountain hiking mythos and Ashville. Are toy avatars also present in the latter location? Probably.

There appears to be plenty of possibilities for future toy happenings even in this small area of the Ashville neighborhood.

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* The flags appeared like this:
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major collison taking place in an important area

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Colliding visions: Coggins Farm proposal could bring major change to Riceville

More soon….

The article features our former landlord who is more than a landlord. He is a king.

This is also directly related to Bill Creek I visited the next day.

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Ashville & Blue Mountain

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Big decisions in next 6 years. Whether to remain in Blue Mtn. or move center of operations to Ashville. Above is a picture of a house in the center of the Ashville Arts District, whose future development plays a role in the decision for certain. Not 50 percent or anything like that, just a definite fraction of some kind. So what I might start doing in this blog is give updates on this District… big things are in store for it soon.

http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2014/10/06/asheville-informs-residents-innovation-districts/16837029/

We also have a chance to really develop the property we will possibly set up a modular home on. I won’t give a *lot* of details, just some. The parcel we will own will probably be a little under an acre, quite a bit of land then, and double what we have currently. We’re planning on eliminating close neighbors — ones we shared a drive with, ones whose porch is about 15 feet from our porch, and so on. We will have more *breathing space*, yet be convenient to downtown and all the amenities there.

Another area I want to study in Ashville is the Woodrow Wilson College, named after the Princeton man president. Wilson famously appears in the last shots of The Shining. He is holding down the right arm of Jack, who seems to be attempting to reveal the contents of a piece of paper held between his thumb and fingers on that hand. Is it now the mystery of Woodrow Wilson College? What of the more recent UMAPS find called the “boss glyph”? (more on that soon) Woodrow Wilson sometimes called Woody Wilson at the college.

We lived in Ashville for 3 years already. Wife grew up there. We may move back near old homestead. I remember long walks listening to Sibelius at the time. Then Sibelius (and Eno State Park) got me through the subsequent 2 years in Durham.

We got tired of Ashville before after 3 years. We went to Durham, soon to move back to Blue Mtn. Why would this time be different? We would have family in Ashville. Friends. We don’t really have that in Blue Mountain. As stated before, Blue Mountain is really Bluefield. Maybe Brammie the Bramwell dog has answers… if we can find it.

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True nature of 2130 being revealed.

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Thoughts

The wife and I spent part of the weekend in Ashville, the only other place in Ame. perhaps that we would retire in except for Blue Mountain. Blue Mountain, by the way, and I’ll only say this in a few places in this blog, is actually the Bluefield VA/WV area. To remind, we live here…

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… but are looking to move here…

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Well, if we move to Ashville, then what about the Frank and Herman Park mythology, I ask myself (and I hear the reader or readers asking me, in turn)? Isn’t this blog suppose to be all about that, and, by extension, Blue Mountain? That’s the big question. I have about 7-10 years to figure it all out; we’re “stuck” in Blue Mountain because of our jobs until then. What’s the attraction to Ashville? Well, it’s a considerably larger town, with more entertainment options. At least 4 Starbucks at last count. Lots and lots of restaurants, and, maybe most importantly, a still growing art scene, thanks in part to the oh so nifty River Arts District. As regular readers of my blog know, I’ve started a Sunklands site where I just display my collages without commercial attachments. Sitting behind them are the carrcasses, which I *know* I’ll never make any money off of but still must produce on a semi-regular basis — or, more correctly, when the time comes to make them. I *have* to make them. So I don’t think that’s going to stop, and also I must figure out the best ways to preserve my carrcasses for the future. Collages — since they’re born digital — not so worried about in that respect. And I think now that collages have the upper hand over carrcasses. Hard to explain, but a subtle shift has occurred lately with the recent creation of so many collages in the Gilatona-Lis and Falmouth series. And that is reflected in the Sunklands site’s creation. Cobbling it together is making me realize that the carrcasses, while still being produced, must remain hidden and perhaps separate from the “ordinary” (2d/flat) collages, more attached to Second Life. And that’s another thing: I believe I’ll always have a regular or semi-regular presence in a virtual world. How long it will continue to be Second life is a question I can’t answer right now. But someday it will shift to another world, and I have a feeling a much cheaper option will develop, a more parallel set-up between web and virtual world. Right now I’m pretty happy with the continued development of Collagesity and the possibility of more collages being added onto the large Falmouth series, extending its depth and breadth even further. And here’s a relatively new idea: I might lump *all* digital collages produced so far into an overarching “Embarras” (pronouced AM-braw) concept, named for the river that flows through Jasper County, Illinois and past almost all the namesake towns of the various series created so far, beginning with 2004’s Greenup.

But I might name it Ambraw, an archaic, phonetic spelling of the river.

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the dynamic duo
King Jethro & Queen Jethrine.

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Quadrobeavia

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“Mr. & Mrs. Sam Parr”

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“Parr, Sam, Mrs. & Mr.”

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Future

It came up this weekend that we might not be spending our old age in Blue Mtn., our present home and location of my sacred and beloved Frank and Herman Parks. I can’t imagine how this would be, but it might. Instead we’re thinking of Ashville, Edna’s original home. It gets 1/3rd the snow of Blue Mtn. Great mtn. town, and larger, which means more to do. Drawback — well, no Frank and Herman Parks of course. No exciting local digs like Granddaddy Mtn. and Beach Mtn. and Boulder and Denville. I’ve lived in Blue Mtn. practically all my adult life, after growing up in Mythopolis about an hour south. Mythopolis is most likely not an option to live in again. It’s a bit too warm and flat and just plain boring, although it is about the same size as Blue Mtn. and a nice enough town for what it is. A very vanilla kind of place. Another place that’s probably ruled out is Abington to the north of Blue Mtn. It’s a bit smaller, even, than Blue Mtn. and the most historic place of all the options above. But long term it has as much chance of being our future home as Mythopolis, which is to say, not much of one.  Ashville is diff.

Factors: When we get older and grayer, it’s going to get tougher to deal with Blue Mtn.’s winter ice and snow. If we fall, we could really be in trouble since there’s no one else here to take care of us. Driving is often limited in the winter. Would cost more to heat the house if we’re home. An option would be to stay part time in Ashville (winter at least) and part time in Blue Mtn. (spring, summer, fall?).

A drawback to Ashville, however, is the size of the town — it’s both a plus and a minus.

Another factor is exactly how long I can tromp through the woods willy nilly like I’ve been doing since a child, a basis for my Frank and Herman Park mythology. Presently my back is giving me issues, and although I think I will be okay, perhaps in older age I may not. Falling in the woods would present problems.

This move will not take place for 7-10 years, so there’s plenty of time for debate. On with the show!

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