HarryG's BLOG

Home again.

My lovely wife Linda and I just returned from a two-week trip to Macon, Ga, then Rock Hill, SC, then Clemmons, NC, back to Macon, and finally home to Shreveport. We put over 2,000 miles on the Santa Fe (which performed wonderfully well, very comfortable ride, 25.6 mpg).
We had a lot of fun seeing all the relatives, especially the three grandchildren who are all extremely good-looking and highly intelligent because they all are lucky enough to take after their paternal grandfather. We did a lot of fun things, but going with sister-in-law Janet, her hubby Robert, and their daughter Dee to Seagrove, NC to visit some of their 109 pottery shops stands out. We bought some nice pottery, and I learned a lot I didn't know about pottery. Seagrove, NC claims to have the largest community of working potters in America. Something to do with having a lot of pottery clay available in the area. Old-time potters dug their own clay in their backyard. Everyone we visited said now they buy it in bulk from places like Michigan or Wisconsin. Traditions die, I guess.
      We all went to the NC Pottery Center there, where they have works by most of the local potters, as well as a museum and pottery showroom. All around are posted signs "Please do not touch the pottery", "Please do not handle the pottery", etc. The girls were working their way along one wall of the museum area, while Robert and I got ahead of them. I rounded the corner and came to a display of unglazed pottery, plus various types of glazes. Here there was a sign "Feel free to handle and feel the different pottery types". One of the displayed pieces was a plate broken in half. I, of course, immediately saw an opportunity here to have a bit of fun. I picked the plate up and went around the corner back into the museum area where the girls were. Showing them the broken plate, I had this worried look on my face and said, "Look what happened! I just picked this up, and it broke apart." The horrified looks on my wife's and Janet's faces were priceless. My wife said, "Go put it back!"...as if that would solve anything. Janet said, "I hope that wasn't expensive." She could envision my having to pay hundreds of $$ since I broke it. Many pieces were available for purchase, most at hefty prices. At that point, I broke into a big smile and explained it was all okay. But I sure got them! (I could say the devil made me do it, but anyone who knows me would know that I just have that sort of a sense of humor.    )
      Anyway, we had a great trip. I'm back and way behind on all my emails and thanking folks for their reviews of my work. I'll try to get caught up asap.

Cheers!

Harry