The Tennessee Transplants Pt. 1

MOTS

Well, it's been a year and a week since we moved to Jonesborough, TN and I've only had taken the time to write a blog post once. ONCE!  That's pitiful! I actually really miss keeping the blog, and my lack of posting is not an indication that there is nothing going on, Au contraire, mon frere!  It's been the exact opposite!  We are busier and happier and more involved with friends and adventures here in this little bitty town than we have ever been before!  Also, I was suffering (until recently) from a sad case of the Computer Science Professor's Wife having woefully inadequate and antiquated technology.  I have no technical excuse at all now not to get back to the blog!

Let's play a little "Year In Review" shall we?

     August: 

• Moved to historic JBO, TN, population around 5,000 
• Jay began teaching at East Tennessee State University
• We attended the Jonesborough Farmer's Market Farm to Table Dinner and numerous Friday Night Music On the Square (MOTS) and began to go to the Saturday morning Cash Mobs (which paid off BIG TIME in December!)

Farm Dinner

Cash Mob

September:

• Benefit Bocce for Friends of the Library (we made it to the Semi's)
• First close encounter with alpacas on National Alpaca Farm Days and the gateway drug to what has become a near obsession with fiber, and first exposure to spinning and our dear friends Bob and Pam Dunn
• Field trip to Greensboro, NC (and a trip down college memory lane) to buy an Egg Yolk Chicken Coop for our girls, who were pretty ticked off at the lack of swanky digs after we moved.

Pink Pam Spinning

Bocce

Alpaca Farm

Egg Yolk

October:

• Began spinning after very patient Louise from Dry Creek Alpacas loaned me her spare wheel and gave me a spinning lesson
• Bought spinning wheel (named "Eileen") at SAFF
• Enjoyed the National Storytelling Festival as a resident for the first time (SQUEE!)
• Watched our first appalachian autumn descend upon us

Autumn!!

Eileen

Hot Mess Handspun

November:

• The Jonesborough Novelty Band Christmas Carol Jamboree ushered in the season, along with the town tree lighting ceremony.  
• We were most thankful for being here and having been made welcome with our dear friends Terry and Sandy Countermine and Jeff and Peggy Fabozzi on Turkey Day.

JNB Singalong

Tree Lighting

December:

• We hunted down and dragged back our very own Christmas Tree 
• We rode on the Jonesborough Novelty Band (JNB) Float in the town Parade
• We volunteered at the Progressive Dinner "Dessert House"  to benefit The Heritage Alliance
• Saw our first snowfall

JNB Progressive Dinner

Tree Capture

Christmas Parade

Snow on the Deck

January:

• Brought the continuation of Cari's High Fiber Christmas gift - Jay schlepping me all over Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia and Western North Carolina to yarn and fiber stores
• Meeting and starting a weekly Sit 'n Bitch with my friend and Crochet Goddess Deb Burger at the Jonesborough General Store and Eatery
• Seeing more snow (!!!!)



Jay enjoying Yarn Shop



Skirting class

• Attending my first fiber skirting class at Echoview Fiber Mill and meeting the beautiful, kind and gracious Marcia Kummerle (our goat mama mentor... but I'm getting ahead of myself) 

  

  Snow

   

There you have it.  Quick trip through the first six months here.  I plan on doing the next 6 months, from February to the present, then start doing more focused posts going forward.  Watch this space!!

Small Town, Big Story

Music on the Square, 2012

Well, we've been in Jonesborough a week shy of 7 months.  A lot has happened, and I have not taken the time to write about any of it!  We didn't get the house we thought we would, but we got a bigger one, even if it's not right in the thick of things, we can walk to downtown, weather permitting.  Eventually we want to be close to the historic district, but that's a plan we still need to work on manifesting.  We've forged strong friendships along with strengthening the existing ones, and are so very grateful and happy to be here. I have posts half-written in my head about all kinds of things, but today I want to focus on a brewing controversy here in our little town.  I wrote this piece in response to an endeavor by the town to brand itself.  It's way too long for a letter to the editor, but I'm happy with my work and wanted it to be seen in it's entirety, even if it's by the 6 whole people who read my blog, and none of the people who can actually DO something about what I feel so strongly about.  Here it is, all 800+ words of it.  The 250-word version is being sent to the Jonesborough Herald and Tribune, and with luck it'll get published next Tuesday when the new issue comes out.

I’d like to offer my opinion and perspective on the new Town of Jonesborough Logo. My husband and I started coming to Storytelling in 2001. We fell in love with both the festival and the town so much that we moved here 7 months ago. I believe that the Logo Committee’s “concession and compromise” described in the February 19th edition of the H&T is laudable, but it also short-changes the town by settling for a less than adequate design. This is both an emotional and a business decision that will have an impact for years to come.


Bill Bledsoe’s design was spot-on. Here’s why: The artwork and font is quintessential Jonesborough. It captures the history, the whimsy and the folksiness of the town without being cutesy or cloying. Bledsoe has been capturing the magic of this town for years with his posters, ornaments and the like. The motto, “Small Town, Big Story” depicts the spirit of the town without creating a self-limiting label. It draws one in. It makes one ask, “Really? What story?” Further, “Small Town” denotes Jonesborough Days Parade, Contra Dancing, Wild Game Dinners, Christmas Tree Lightings, Cash Mobs, Friends of the Library Bocce Tournaments, The Repertory Theater, Music on the Square, The Yarn Exchange and Kiwanis Club Spaghetti Dinners. All are things that we love about life in a small town. “Big Story” denotes the founding of the State of Franklin, Boone and Crockett, Jackson and Johnson, Abolitionist Newletters, the Underground Railroad and of course, the National Storytelling Festival and Jonesborough’s own story, “I Am Home”.

The Hillhouse design, on the other hand, captures almost nothing about the spirit of the town. It has no nuance, no ‘soul’. Parts of it may be “accurate,” but it’s cold. The font is fussy (which Jonesborough isn’t) the flame is obscure, and the logo is at once arrogant, self-limiting and a bit desperate. It almost screams “World’s Biggest Ball of Twine”. It makes Jonesborough sound like a one trick pony. The flame is symbolic of storytelling. It’s also symbolic of the Tomb of the Unknowns, the Methodist Church and the Olympics. The slogan puts Jonesborough in a box. It says “that’s all this town has to offer” and that’s just not true. If you have to explain why the flame is relevant, or that the arts or B&Bs each tell a story, you’ve missed the mark. If you define the town so literally by Storytelling, you’ve limited your potential pool of visitors. Not everyone cares about storytelling, or even knows what it is. Eyes have glazed over for years when we try to explain to friends why we’d willingly drive for 13 hours to sit in a folding chair in a circus tent for three days. Let’s face it, even some long-time residents loathe storytelling and wish it wasn’t here. If all I knew about Jonesborough was “Storytelling” and I didn’t have an open mind, I’d pass it by for something that didn’t sound so one-dimensional.

I’d like to provide an example of a small town that has found a way to use their logo to draw people in without restricting itself to one particular interest or focus. Black Mountain, North Carolina has a wonderful logo of a wooden rocking chair a-la The Cracker Barrel and the motto “America’s Front Porch.” It makes you want to come and sit on their porch a while, and see what the town has to offer. It doesn’t say “Artsy town outside of Asheville” It invites you to come and discover that for yourself.

A logo is a significant monetary investment for this town. It’s going on marketing materials, promotional items, signage and the like. It needs to be intriguing, interesting and capture the spirit of the town. No element of a logo should have to be explained. You’ve lost an opportunity that you’ll likely never get back if you have to sit and explain it all to a potential visitor. A logo is akin to a wonderfully balanced meal at a great restaurant. The flavors are balanced, they marry, they mingle and make you want more. Bledsoe’s design, as-is, has the right balance. It’s WHO WE ARE. Hillhouse’s design is an all-you-can-eat buffet where you end up with sweet potato casserole, sushi, crème brulee and pickles on your plate. Jonesborough deserves better. I’d like for the committee to reconsider using the elements in Hillhouse’s design and use Bledsoe’s. There is no shame in it. It’s a business decision and an emotional one. Just like a romantic relationship, sometimes you have to have one that doesn’t work and isn’t what you want, to help you find what does work and IS what you want. Sometimes in business you have to realize that you have been going down the wrong path and need to change before you’ve lost too much to go back.

farm to table dinner, Aug 2012

Moving: The Ultimate Test of Living Green

Graduation Day

February 2012 brought with us the culmination of "Five Year Plan." After completing both his Master's and Doctoral Degrees, as well as surviving both a thyroidectomy and a surgery to remove a massive pituitary tumor within 6 months of his defense, Jay was offered a faculty position at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee.  He starts work on my birthday in August.  We'll be living in the Town of Jonesborough.  With all the joy and excitement that come along with seeing a goal met and a dream beginning to coalesce, comes the reality:  HOLY CRAP, we have to MOVE!!! (I'm not the one with the PhD, people, so it took me a while to really have it sink in that we won't just magically appear in the new place complete with chickens and cats.

How does this fit with the theme of the blog?  Well, I try to keep it about living in a 'green' and eco-responsible way.  Apparently moving is the both the Ultimate Test of Living Green, as well as a good opportunity to not only talk the green talk, but also walk the green walk.  Let's start with the basics:  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  It turns out that they're all connected.

1. Reduce.  Those of you who know us know that we live in a pretty tiny house.  Less than 800 square feet inside, with a substantially sized glassed-in porch that we don't count as living space. What genius thought that glassing in a sun porch in Florida was a good idea is beyond me. The house we're buying (We've named it "Little Boone") is slightly larger at just over 1100 sq. ft.   We already don't have what we consider to be a lot of stuff, but probably had kept a little more than we might have otherwise because in our minds 'the next house will be bigger.'  Well, yes... but not enough to really count.  So we've been reducing like crazy.  I've gone through just about every room in the house and have found things I think we can live without.  The hardest decisions for me were shoes and pens.  I expected to have some separation anxiety and guilt over the culling of the shoes. I loves me some shoes, people! None are crazy cute heels. All are cute, sensible and comfy. Merrills, Chacos, Keens, OH MY!  I probably should have taken the opportunity to count the ones that made the cut, but I forgot, and now the winter-ish ones are packed. Oh, Darn.  Now we'll never know how many I have (and stop calling me Imelda!) The pens, now, were a surprise.  It wasn't that I was somehow emotionally attached to the pens.  I just didn't want to be environmentally irresponsible and throw out perfectly good pens, and who would buy a used pen at the thrift store?? But how many pens do two people in the age of digital communication really need?  My reduction in pens and other associated writing implements resulted in the use of another of the Three R's: reuse.  I gave them to a school teacher for use in the classroom.  As a former teacher, I get how much of your own money you spend on basics, so I felt much better that my reduction was someone else's gain, and that I didn't have to clog up a landfill with half-used gel-pens from my paper journaling phase.

2. Reuse.  This one was a bit easier.  We had a need to reduce, and we knew a lot of our stuff was re-usable.  One of the girls at our favorite local  Tea Shop, TeBella Tea Company, was getting her very first apartment.  I'm not the maternal type, generally, but if I had wanted a daughter to call my own, Brooke would be it.  She's smart, strong, hard-working and responsible.  She manages to be all those things and also be just the sweetest kid on earth.  She also needed "stuff."  And boy did we have stuff to spare. While I was doing my Reducing, I kept a "Brooke Box," and managed to fill it several times over with all kinds of kitchen supplies as well as our kitchen table and chairs.  By reducing the amount of stuff we were having to move, Brooke is able to reuse some of it.  Warms the cockles of my hippie green heart, it does.

3. Recycle.  I had fun with this one.  I recycled a bunch of old t-shirts into yarn a while back, and realized how many crafty activities can benefit from recycling.  Right around the time we started getting ready to move, a really cool business opened up in Ybor City.  It's called Tampa Upcycle.  Morgan takes in all kinds of supplies that crafters and artist no longer need and provides a place for them to live until another crafter or artist comes by and gives them a home. She puts it best on her website: "Tampa Upcycle is an arts and crafts supplies boutique that collects and offers used (and some new) art supplies such as paints, canvasses and brushes, sewing supplies such as fabrics, notions, and patterns, and craft supplies such as scrapbooking papers and embellishments, yarns and tools with “pay-as-you-wish” pricing. The idea is to have a central location where indie artists, designers and crafters can find materials that can be repurposed and made into something new. Everything from partially used paints to vintage sheets to cereal boxes."   Isn't that just the coolest? It appeals to me on so many levels. Another box was soon filled with Tampa Upcycle stuff.  I took every scrap of wrapping paper, gift bags, little glass bottles, and all kinds of crafty supplies up there and donated them.  I would love to be a part of something community-minded like that when we move.  I recently took a class to reacquaint myself with my decades-old sewing machine at Tampa Upcycle offered by Tampa FreeSkool.  FreeSkool is  community based education in action.  Basically, if you have something you know how to do, and can teach it to others for free, you are encouraged to do so.  Things like beer making, to friend-making, to yoga, to fun with compost.  Recycling your knowledge, in a way, and making it available to those who want to learn for themselves.  This is something else I'd love to get going in Tennessee, if it doesn't already exist. 

Little Boone

We will also be re-using and recycling the Little Boone house.  Built in roughly 1941, it's a bungalow style home at the top of a little hill on Boone Street, across the street from the Visitor's Center, Town Hall and the Library.  Our good friends Terry and Sandy own it, and I've actually been calling it "the house we'll live in when we move to Jonesborough" for close to ten years.  Go figure.  You can't see it in this photo, but it has a green (!!!) tin roof, and sits on a nice big yard that is just waiting for a chicken coop, worm composter, daylilies, a square foot herb garden and a hydroponic farm. Because it's small, we'll continue trying to live minimally, and reduce our footprint.  I love the idea of living in a house with history.  We will be in walking distance of the Old Towne Pancake House, Main Street, with the Farmer's Market, The Storytelling Center, and Music on the Square.  There is a shop called Boxcar Betty's Eco Depot and another called Hands Around the World that feature upcycled and hand made items. Add to this a Lavender Store, a Cupcake Shop and Artisan Chocolates. The only thing I think we're really going to mourn is a cup of really good loose leaf tea.  There are two really good restaurants in town, and another opening soon, but nobody serves good tea. We might have to change that!