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The Artist’s
Almanac
February 2010
download and print this installment as
a PDF
(you will need Adobe Acrobat reader to open this file, you can
get
it here free)
Winter lies too long in the country towns;
hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen.
- Willa
Cather
February is the quiet
month, unless you are in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Lent begins the
17th, against a somber background here of weatherbeaten countryside.
Piles of dirty salt line the roads, evidence of three snows in as
many weeks. On one day this week there was snow on the ground in 49
of the 50 states. Quiet snow softens both sounds and the landscape,
until it melts and the mud takes over.
Global warming
continues its retreat, even as good wife hobbles across the
frozen ground to refill the bird feeders. She hobbles because
she got too frisky with a sled in the snow, lost control and
rammed her foot into a tree. Luckily she didn’t go down head
first. Grace tried to dissuade her at the top of the slope and
here demonstrates her doubts: are you sure you know how to
do this, Grandma?
Afterwards we
built forts and had pitched snowball battles, then retired to
the house to dry out before the fire and sip hot chocolate with
marshmallows. A great winter day.
Winter is popular in
our house, as a season for reading good books and long walks in
the woods, when it is not too cold or wet. For some birds and
people winter is time to migrate. As T. S. Eliot wrote,
I read much
of the night, and go south in the winter.
Arizona Biltmore
I went to Phoenix
four days this February, as I do every winter for a conference
of foundation investment managers. But I was glad to get home
from paradise to the familiar sight of our barn in the snow. I
am thankful we have four seasons.
The Almanac this
month features a video presentation of a walk and interview in
the woods on a bright day last November along the major old
pioneer road featured in our recently published book,
Founding of the Cumberland Settlements. Join us in this
ramble on Tennessee Crossroads on the
following television channels at these times
•
WNPT Nashville – Channel 8 - Thursday Feb 25th at 7PM and Sunday
Feb 28th at 10AM
• WKNO Memphis – Thursday February 25th at 7:00 AM
• WLJT Martin – Thurs. Feb 25th at 8:00PM and Sat. Feb 27th at
11:00 AM
• WCTE Cookeville – Sat. Feb 27th at 9:00 AM
• WETP Knoxville and Tri-Cities – Sat. Feb 27th at 6:30 PM
• WCTI Chattanooga – Friday Feb 26th at 11:30PM
For those of you
beyond the signal of these stations or who miss the broadcast,
the video will go to YouTube a week or so after the air date in
Nashville. To access YouTube, you can go through the web site
www.tennesseecrossroads.org. Once the show has been
successfully uploaded to YouTube, there will be a link button
beside your info listing. Or, just go to YouTube and enter
Tennessee Crossroads and that should take you to their YouTube
channel. It takes a week or so after the airdate to get it
uploaded. Once the show is uploaded we will put a link on this
web site to the Tennessee Crossroads page or the YouTube site.
We look forward to
you joining us on this voyage of exploration.
Upcoming Events
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Art In Bloom
– March 12-13, 2010, Annual show of Gallatin Junior League at
Bluegrass Country Club, Hendersonville, Tennessee
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Bill
Puryear, Artist