January PineStraw 2022 by PineStraw Magazine

McDevitt town & country properties

Talent, Technology & Teamwork! Moore County’s Most Trusted Real Estate Team! T RAC

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SEVEN LAKES WEST • $455,000

PINEHURST • $416,000

SOUTHERN PINES • $365,000

111 RITTER DRIVE New construction underway in desirable location with 4 BR / 3 BA and beautiful finishes throughout.

7 REIN PLACE Appealing 3 BR / 2.5 BA custom-built home in quiet cul-de-sac in great Pinehurst neighborhood!

125 SKYE DRIVE Nice 4 BR / 2 BA duplex in Southern Pines location close to shopping, dining and local medical facilities.

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SEVEN LAKES WEST • $360,000

PINEHURST • $360,000

SEVEN LAKES WEST • $350,000

120 WREN TREE COURT Beautiful 3 BR / 2 BA home situated on generous, private lot w/lots of nice updates inside and out!

25 GRAY FOX RUN Single-level 3 BR / 2 BA brick home on 1.36 acres in wonderful Pinehurst location.

186 BANBRIDGE DRIVE Nice 3 BR / 2.5 BA single-level home overlooking the 11th and 12th holes of the Beacon Ridge golf course

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PINEHURST • $382,900

PINEHURST • $450,000

PINEHURST • $495,000

5 LAMPLIGHTER VILLAGE COURT Attractive well-appointed and spacious 4 BR / 4 BA townhome in popular #6 community. A must see!

190 ST. ANDREWS DRIVE Charming 3 BR/2 BA custom home on beautiful lot convenient to golf courses, shopping, and dining.

11 NORTHAM COURT Lovely custom 3 BR/2 BA home in quite location w/ spacious layout and beautiful touches throughout!

IN MOORE COUNTY REAL ESTATE FOR OVER 20 YEARS!

Luxury Properties Moore County’s Most Trusted Real Estate Team!

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SEVEN LAKES WEST • $1,400,000

PINEHURST • $1,600,000

SEVEN LAKES WEST • $600,000

328 LONGLEAF DRIVE New construction underway! Amazing 5 BR / 5 BA home on 6.64 acres in popular gated community!

423 MEYER FARM DRIVE Spectacular custom 4 BR / 4.5 BA home on 3rd hole of the north course in gated Forest Creek.

105 COOK POINT Gorgeous WATERFRONT lot on Lake Auman w/two new docks, boat lift and electric already run!

PINEHURST • $565,000

CARTHAGE • $663,000

28 BEASLEY DRIVE Amazing golf front home in nice location w/lots of space and breathtaking golf views. 3 BR/5.5 BA

TBD PEACE ROAD Great opportunity to own a beautiful 95.71 acre property 15 minutes from Pinehurst. Large portion of the property has been cleared with stumps removed and is ready for home site or pasture.

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PINEHURST • $611,000 4 BROADMOOR PLACE Immaculate single-level home w/nice open layout along the 11th fairway of Pinehurst #3. 3 BR / 2.5 BA

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PINEHURST • $1,750,000

PINEHURST • $720,000

PINEHURST • $540,000

70 BRAEMAR ROAD Impeccably maintained 4 BR/4 BA home in Fairwoods on 7. Truly one of the finest homes in Pinehurst!

160 DUNDEE ROAD Spectacular 3 BR/2 BA historic cottage near the Village of Pinehurst w/loads of charm and nice layout.

5 RED FOX RUN Beautiful single-level 4 BR / 3 BA brick home in serene location w/spacious layout and tons of curb appeal!

Re/Max Prime Properties, 5 Chinquapin Rd., Pinehurst, NC 910-295-7100 • 800-214-9007 • Re/Max Prime Properties 5 Chinquapin Rd., Pinehurst, NC

www.ThEGENTRYTEAM.COM

• 910-295-7100

January �� DEPARTMENTS 19 22 25 27 31 35 36 41 45 47 51 53 55 59 96 107 111 112

Simple Life By Jim Dodson PinePitch Good Natured By Karen Frye The Omnivorous Reader By Stephen E. Smith

Bookshelf Hometown By Bill Fields The Creators of N.C. By Wiley Cash In the Spirit By Tony Cross The Kitchen Garden By Jan Leitschuh Weekend Away By Jason Oliver Nixon Out of the Blue By Deborah Salomon Birdwatch By Susan Campbell Sporting Life By Tom Bryant Golftown Journal By Lee Pace Arts & Entertainment Calendar SandhillSeen PineNeedler By Mart Dickerson Southwords By Kate Smith

Cover photograph by Jim Moriarty, circa 1981

PineStraw

FEATURES 63 Against Desirelessness Poetry By Paul Jones 64 Le Style Mucha By Jim Moriarty Art Nouveau and a 19th century Warhol 70 On Writing at Weymouth By Kelly Mustian 72 The Legacy of Boyd House By Bill Case Weymouth’s cultural mecca turns 100 81 Just As Sam Said By Stephen E. Smith Reclaiming Weymouth’s literary legacy 85 December Almanac By Ashley Walshe The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

NOW THROUGH JANUARY 31ST ® THROUGH 31ST Refresh your NOW bed with 20% off JANUARY all DUXIANA fine European NOW THROUGH JANUARY 31ST ® Refresh with 20% offpillows, all DUXIANA fine European linensyour andbed down including duvets, cashmere Refresh your bed with 20% off all DUXIANA® fine European linens and downcontrol including pillows, cashmere throws, allergy covers and duvets, our ever-popular linens and down including ® pillows, duvets, cashmere throws, allergyDUXIANA control covers our ever-popular Traveland Pillow. throws, allergy control covers and our ever-popular DUXIANA®® Travel Pillow. DUXIANA Travel Pillow.

Coupon Code: WhiteSale2022 www.duxiana.com www.duxiana.com www.duxiana.com Offer good through January 31, 2022 only.

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Opulence of Southern Pines and DUXIANA at The Mews, 280 NW Broad Street, Downtown Southern Pines, NC 910.692.2744

at Village District, 400 Daniels Street, Raleigh, NC 919.467.1781

at Sawgrass Village, 310 Front Street Suite 815 Ponte Vedra Beach, FL 32082 904.834.7280

www.OpulenceOfSouthernPines.com Serving the Carolinas & More for Over 20 Years – Financing Available

Docent Tours Dirt Gardeners Program – twice weekly meetups Dirt Gardeners Annual Fundraiser Plant Sale Family Gardening Days

WONDERFUL 100 In 2022, we’re celebrating the 100th anniversary of our historic Boyd House by hosting the “Weymouth Wonderful 100,” a year-long series of 100 events and programs designed to foster and serve our community.

Youth & Family

Historic House, Gardens & Grounds

Weymouth Equestrians Kids Camps: Part 1 : Write Stuff and Art Start Part 2: Write On and Art Smart Young Musicians Festival Family Gardening Days Storytelling

Community & Special Events Donate $50 or more and become a Supporter. As a Supporter, you will not only be making these experiences possible for all to enjoy, but you will also enjoy discounts to them. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and home of the NC Literary Hall of Fame. All contributions are fully tax deductible.

Weymouth Equestrians Weymouth Wonderful 100 Celebration Weymouth Woods’ Party for the Pine Yoga and Soundbaths in the Gardens Sounds on the Grounds

Women of Weymouth present: St. Paddy’s Day Dinner Ladies Wine Out Strawberry Festival Supper on the Grounds Weymouth Holiday Festival and Gala Women of Weymouth Monthly Meetings and Speakers

Literary “Come Sunday” Jazz Brunches Classical Music Sundays Sounds on the Grounds Live Theatre and Dance Performances Young Musicians Festival Musicians’ Song Circle Jam Sessions

Arts & Humanities

Writers-In-Residence Program and Readings Cos Barnes Fellowship in Fiction Moore County Writers’ Competition James Boyd Book Club

Performing Arts

Freedom Park Lecture Series The Free Company Radio Plays

THREE-PART LECTURE SERIES January 16, February 13, March 13 – 2 pm Freedom Park: The Inspiring Story of How a Monument to Freedom is Built while Confederate Statues are Coming Down. In 2001, the Paul Green Foundation initiated a tribute to the African American struggle for freedom in this state. In 2021, ground was broken in the center of Raleigh for North Carolina Freedom Park, after twenty years of planning and fundraising. Designed by the late Phil Freelon (lead architect of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington), this monument project is, in the words of Dr. John Hope Franklin, “ ... a continuing reminder of ... how much more we need to do to achieve equity and justice in our society.”

Part 1: Speaker, Marsha Warren Part 2: Speaker, Reginald Hildebrand Part 3: Speaker, Reginald Hodges $15 Supporters • $20 General $40 All Three Lectures Series sponsored by Deirdre Newton

Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities 555 E. Connecticut Ave. Southern Pines, NC 28387

For more information and tickets, visit weymouthcenter.org

M A G A Z I N E Volume 18, No. 1 David Woronoff, Publisher david@thepilot.com

Find Inner Peace

Andie Stuart Rose, Creative Director andie@thepilot.com

F IN

Jim Moriarty, Editor

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jjmpinestraw@gmail.com

Alyssa Kennedy, Digital Art Director alyssamagazines@gmail.com

Lauren M. Coffey, Graphic Designer laurenmagazines@gmail.com

Emilee Phillips, Digital Content

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Explore the Outdoors

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Jim Dodson, Deborah Salomon

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

John Gessner, Laura Gingerich, Tim Sayer

CONTRIBUTORS Jenna Biter, Harry Blair, Tom Bryant, Susan Campbell, Bill Case, Mallory Cash, Wiley Cash, Tony Cross, Brianna Rolfe Cunningham, Mart Dickerson, Bill Fields, Laurel Holden, Sara King, Jan Leitschuh, Meridith Martens, Jason Oliver Nixon, Mary Novitsky, Lee Pace, Todd Pusser, Joyce Reehling, Scott Sheffield, Stephen E. Smith, Angie Tally, Kimberly Taws, Daniel Wallace, Ashley Walshe, Claudia Watson ADVERTISING SALES

YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL AT...

Ginny Trigg, Advertising Director 910.693.2481 • ginny@thepilot.com Jennie Acklin, 910.693.2515 Samantha Cunningham, 910.693.2505 Terry Hartsell, 910.693.2513 Erika Leap, 910.693.2514 ADVERTISING COORDINATOR

Emily Jolly • pilotads@thepilot.com

ADVERTISING GRAPHIC DESIGN

Mechelle Butler, Scott Yancey

A Life Plan Retirement Community Retirement should be the best time of your life. At The Village at Brookwood, you’ll find all the options you want to build the life you’ve planned. From wellness classes to an abundance of social events, you’ll find what you’ve waited for in a beautiful community.

Call to schedule a visit today! (336) 361-2611 BURLINGTON, NC

• VILLAGEATBROOKWOOD.ORG

PS Steve Anderson, Finance Director 910.693.2497 Darlene Stark, Circulation Director 910.693.2488 SUBSCRIPTIONS

910.693.2488 OWNERS

Jack Andrews, Frank Daniels Jr., Frank Daniels III, Lee Dirks, David Woronoff 145 W. Pennsylvania Avenue, Southern Pines, NC 28387 www.pinestrawmag.com ©Copyright 2022. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. PineStraw magazine is published by The Pilot LLC

PineStraw

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

BHHSPRG.COM

LUXURY

415 Fairway Drive, Southern Pines

130 Woodenbridge Lane, Pinehurst

$2,750,000 4 bed • 7/1 bath Pamela O’Hara (910) 315-3093 MLS 100297806

Dunross Manor, built by Donald Ross in 1929 in Knollwood Heights on 2.3 acres. Beautiful chefs kitchen, 1,900 sq ft workshop, carriage house, fabulous outdoor kitchen, breathtaking gardens.

$1,230,000 4 bed • 7/1 bath Ferrell Carpenter (919) 692-2635 MLS 100297740

Stunning lakefront custom home on 3rd hole of Pinehurst #9. Located within easy access to main gated entry on a secluded cul-de-sac lot.

LUXURY

341 Bracken Hill Road, Cameron

$875,000 4 bed • 3 bath Jennifer Nguyen (910) 585-2099 MLS 100297732

Beautiful home on 16.5 acres in equestrian community, The Fields. Gourmet kitchen, new appliances, open floor plan, screened porch, three car garage, and more.

114 Deerwood Lane, Pinehurst

$499,000 3 bed • 3 bath Debbie Darby (910) 783-5193

Golf Front in Pinehurst # 6. Totally renovated with new flooring/ paint/baths/lighting/ landscaping and an enclosed pool.

MLS 100299772

Pinehurst • 42 Chinquapin Road, Pinehurst, NC 28374 • 910 -295 - 5504 | Southern Pines • 167 Beverly Lane, Southern Pines, NC 28387 • 910-692-2635 ©2021 BHH Affiliates, LLC. An independently operated subsidiary of HomeServices of America, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate, and a franchisee of BHH Affiliates, LLC.

Always a Step Ahead

January, 2022 Amy Stonesifer ®

Thinking about selling your home? Contact us for a no-hassle, no-cost market analysis of your home's current value.

Serving Moore County and Surrounding Areas! 910.684.8674 | 120 N ASHE ST | SOUTHERN PINES, NC 28387

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Happy New Year!

You Inspire Us At Pinehurst Medical Clinic (PMC), our employees inspire us every day with their commitment to care for the patients we serve. This year PMC’s Employee Wellness Program (EWP) conducted a card decorating contest and discovered hidden talents among our team members. The winner of this year’s contest is Jonathan Emmons, RT-R at Pinehurst Medical Clinic Radiology. Jonathan’s design was hand-drawn all in pencil and was inspired by “How To Draw,” a book by John Gnagy. Jonathan said, “I have always liked this picture because it puts me in my dream place, snuggled away from everything, with plenty of snow for the Holidays.” We hope Jonathan’s design inspires you as it has for all of us here at Pinehurst Medical Clinic.

NEW GREENS HAVE ARRIVED

AT THE COUNTRY CLUB OF WHISPERING PINES Recent renovations at the Country Club of Whispering Pines includes an upgrade to the greens on the River course. Come enjoy the brand new Champions Bermuda grass on the River course.

WHISPERING Q NOW OPEN! Whispering Q features smoked pulled pork, pulled chicken, ribs, wings and prime rib sandwiches. Open Wed, Thurs, Sun 11am-5pm Fri & Sat 11am-7pm

2 Club House Boulevard, Whispering Pines, NC 28327 910.949.3000 • countryclubofwhisperingpines.com

SIMPLE LIFE

A Gentle Nudge Mysteries of the golfing universe

By Jim Dodson

Not long ago, the host of a popular

ILLUSTRATION BY GERRY O'NEILL

golf radio show asked me who I most enjoy playing golf with these days. We were discussing the various golfers and assorted eccentrics I’ve met, interviewed, and written about over a long and winding career.

“These days, I like to play golf with old guys,” I said without hesitation, “like my friend Harry.” “So, who is Harry?” he asked. Harry, I explained, is a gifted artist and nationally known cartoonist I’ve known for many years. He has a wry sense of humor, a beautiful tempo in his golf swing, and a refreshing take on life. Harry is 76 years old, deaf in at least one ear, losing bits of his eyesight, and battling a rogue sciatic nerve in his left leg that sometimes makes swinging a club difficult. He was once a splendid single-digit player who now aims for bogey golf, and never gets too rattled by whatever the game gives him. He accepts that bad breaks happen and are simply part of this maddening Presbyterian game, not worth fretting about. So are aging body parts that can’t propel the ball the way they once did. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Instead, Harry plays for the occasional fine shot, the rare good break, and the fellowship of his companions that includes a good bit of affectionate needling and laughter. He’s never had an ace, but holds out hope of someday shooting his age, the proverbial goal of every aging golfer. Though I’m almost a decade younger than Harry — he jokes that I am a pre-geezer in training — I love playing with him because he is a model of what I hope to be like in the rapidly shrinking years ahead: a man who has loved the game since he was a boy and loves it just as much, though differently, as an old man. He is living proof that the game can grow sweeter as the clock runs down. Golf has been part of his life since he was 10 or 11 years old and an uncle allowed him to pick a club from a barrel of used irons. He chose a battle-scarred 7-iron and the set that went with it. “It was a set of Dalton Hague clubs, really beautiful. I played with them for years bragging that I owned real Dalton Hague signature golf clubs.” He pauses and chuckles. “They turned out to be Walter Hagen clubs that had just been beaten to death. But oh, how I loved those clubs.” We often meet late in the afternoon for nine holes at a beautiful municipal course set on a wide lake well out of town, surrounded by mature hardwood forests with no houses, streets or power lines visible anywhere. We often pause to watch the action as shadows lengthen and nature reawakens — deer crossing fairways, waterfowl in flight. We rarely bother to keep a score. We just play, talk, be. PineStraw

SIMPLE LIFE

Harry’s favorite hole is the short par-4 seventh that angles down toward the lake, with an approach over a wooded cove to an elevated green backdropped by a breathtaking view of the water. He has sketched and painted it several times, aiming to get it just right. “Isn’t this something?” he’ll say with a note of quiet wonder, pausing before his approach shot that sometimes lands in the water of the cove, sometimes just feet from the pin. If nothing else, getting older also makes it easier to laugh in the face of Father Time. “That’s the easiest 69 I ever made,” Walter Hagen — aka Dalton Hague — playfully quipped upon turning 69. One afternoon not long ago, as we were watching a spectacular chevron of geese heading south for the winter over the lake from his favorite spot on the course, Harry told me a little golf story that speaks of wonder and mystery. After Harry’s mom passed away, her final wish was that Harry and his younger sister take her ashes and those of Harry’s father down to a lake in a park at Carolina Beach, where the couple first met and later married. Harry promised he would do that. His sister was a busy surgical nurse. Her unpredictable schedule repeatedly delayed their planned journey to the coast. It happened month after month. One afternoon he was playing golf with a partner who was particularly wild off the tee. “I was helping him look for his ball deep in the woods, when I stepped over a downed tree and saw a golf ball sitting on top of a rotting log — almost like someone had placed it there. I picked it up and tossed it over to my companion. But it wasn’t his ball so he

tossed it back. It was a very old ball. When I looked at it, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.” The ball’s colorful logo read Carolina Beach. One word was printed on the opposite side — Mom. “It sent chills down my spine. A day later, I drove my folks’ ashes down to Carolina Beach — four hours away — and spread them in the lake at a spot that meant so much to their life together. I felt real peace at that moment.” As he told me this, he pulled the ball out of his bag and handed it to me. “I’ve carried it with me ever since,” he explained with a very Harry-like smile. “This game, this life, is wonderfully unexplainable, isn’t it?” Simple coincidence or a gentle nudge from the golfing universe? Harry’s not sure. And neither am I. But that’s part of the wonder of this game. As we played on, hitting occasional nice shots and mishits that will never be recorded, it struck me that there was, as usual, a nice little message in Harry’s seventh-hole homily, perfectly timed for a couple “old” friends on a golden afternoon at the end of their golf season; yet another reason to be thankful for the game I aim to play just like Harry until I either shoot my age or simply fly away like geese in the autumn. PS Jim Dodson can be reached at jwdauthor@gmail.com.

Lin gets Results! toP 1 % of Moore County reaLtors toP 1 % of u.s. reaLtors

ENERGY. EXPERIENCE. EFFORT. WWW.LINHUTAFF.COM

PineStraw

Lin Hutaff’s PineHurst reaLty GrouP Village of Pinehurst | 910.528.6427 | linhutaff@pinehurst.net The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

4 AUGUSTA WAY • PINEHURST

Charming, historic, one of a kind, estate on over two acres just one and one half miles from the historic Village of Pinehurst.

Covered porches and waterfalls in secluded settings add to the charm and character of this home constructed in another era when casual entertaining was an everyday event.

The expansive patio across the back overlooks terraced stacked stone gardens leading to the POND and total privacy.

The ‘’old Parson’s Estate’’ is a rambling, all brick home set amidst beautiful gardens and waterfalls overlooking a tranquil pond.

A handsome Hunt room with complete wine cellar nearby is tucked away for private evenings.

ENERGY. EXPERIENCE. EFFORT.

Carved mill work and deep molding throughout. Many updates including new windows.

Village of Pinehurst | 910.528.6427 | linhutaff@pinehurst.net

Lin Hutaff’s PineHurst reaLty GrouP

PinePitch Monument to Freedom In 2021 ground was broken for the North Carolina Freedom Park in downtown Raleigh. Marsha Warren will speak on “Freedom Park: The Inspiring Story of How a Monument to Freedom is Built while Confederate Statures are Coming Down” on Sunday, Jan. 16, at the Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Cost is $15 for Weymouth members and $20 for nonmembers. This is part one of a three-part lecture series. For more information go to www.weymouthcenter.org.

Swing Your Partner The Carolina Pines Dance Club trips the light fantastic with swing, line, ballroom, shag and Latin dancing on Saturday, Jan. 15, at the National Athletic Village, 201 Air Tool Dr., Southern Pines. Lessons are available at 6:30 p.m. The dancing goes until 9:30 p.m. Beginners, old hands, couples and singles are all welcome. Cost is $15. For information call (724) 816-1170.

PineStraw

Tap Into This The Sandhills Repertory Theatre presents “Jerry Herman on Broadway,” with amazing tap dancing — including a medley of hits from Hello, Dolly! and much more — at the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Show dates are Jan. 9 at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., and Jan. 10 at 1 p.m. Tickets are $35 for regular seating ($45 at the door) and $75 for VIP lounge seats. Students under 12 admitted free. For information and tickets go to www.ticketmeshandhills or www.sandhillsreporg. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

TEA LEAF ASTROLOGER

Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)

If you agree to disagree with a Capricorn, you may never get the goat off your leg. But if you can learn to appreciate this stubborn Earth sign’s somewhat forceful nature — and, perhaps, let them think they’re right — then you quickly will discover that their hearts are usually in the right place. Driven by passion, Capricorns aren’t afraid to speak their minds. When life gets a little spicy in the wake of the full moon, don’t poke the fire-breathing goat.

Bluegrass Bonanza The Gibson Brothers, Leigh and Eric, perform with special guest Vickie Vaughn at 6:46 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 2, at the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center, Owens Auditorium, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. The brothers were named Entertainers of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2012 and 2013. Tickets are $40-$45 and available at www.ticketmesandhills.com.

Tea leaf “fortunes” for the rest of you: Aquarius (January 20 – February 18) Bowie said it best: Turn and face the strange. Pisces (February 19 – March 20) Sure, martyrdom works. For now. But they’re onto you. Aries (March 21 – April 19) Get your popcorn ready. Taurus (April 20 – May 20) Easy, skipper. Smooth sailing entails the whole crew. Gemini (May 21 – June 20) Ready for a miracle? Try listening. Cancer (June 21 – July 22) You’re the ringleader of your own spectacular. Dress the part. Leo (July 23 – August 22) Either road will take you there. Virgo (August 23 – September 22) My sources say no. Libra (September 23 – October 22) It’s OK to circle back. Not all journeys are linear.

Warm Up Those Pipes You can fight off the cold weather with a red-hot aria or two at the beginning and at the end of the month. The Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St. in Southern Pines, will show the Met Opera performances of Cinderella at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 1, and Rigoletto at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29. For more information visit www.sunrisetheater.com. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Scorpio (October 23 – November 21) Use your words. Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21) The stars are in your favor this month. Mostly. PS Zora Stellanova has been divining with tea leaves since Game of Thrones’ Starbucks cup mishap of 2019. While she’s not exactly a medium, she’s far from average. She lives in the N.C. foothills with her Sphynx cat, Lyla. PineStraw

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G O O D NAT U R E D

New Year, New You

A West Coast Lifestyle Boutique

Maintain a healthy microbiome

By Karen Frye our body is home to more than 100 trillion micro-organisms. They live on your skin and in every nook and cranny. It is like a community made up of bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. This is your microbiome. It’s unique to you — a gumbo based on your genes, where you live, what you eat, your age, the amount of stress you have, even what you touch. A healthy biome is critical to good overall health. The largest number of micro-organisms are found in your intestinal tract and directly impact digestive health and how your body absorbs nutrients. The bacteria that make up your microbiome also regulate your immune system — about 80 percent of your immune system is located in the gut. Keeping the microbiome healthy and functioning well not only helps to prevent everyday ailments like colds and flu, it prevents more serious issues, too: oral health, bone health, heart health, vulnerability to allergies, even mental health issues like anxiety and depression. Balance of the flora in the intestines is essential for longterm good health from head to toe. When the microbiome becomes unbalanced (dysbiosis), it can cause intestinal inflammation, leading to leaky gut (an unhealthy intestinal lining). There are a few key players that contribute to this condition. The first, of course, is genetics. Next is what we eat. Processed foods made with little attention to what’s good for the body are a major contributor to the state of health in the microbiome. Stress is also a contributing factor. It affects everything! And some medications, like antibiotics, can disrupt the terrain of the gut that leads to an imbalance of good and bad bacteria. You can improve your gut health by taking a good probiotic supplement — a huge category in the health world these days. You can add more fermented foods to your daily diet and increase the fiber you consume daily. Chia seeds are a personal favorite. Try to eat as many organic foods as possible to lessen the body’s exposure to chemicals used in the growing process. Avoid fast food, eat more fresh fruits and vegetables. Add in more good fats like olive oil. Diets that are high in sugar and low in fiber are devastating to the microbiome. Artificial sweeteners can have a toxic effect on the friendly bacteria in the gut. Exercise is very beneficial to a healthy microbiome, increasing the diversity of beneficial species. Avoid environmental toxins. Lastly, sleep well and reduce stress. A healthy microbiome is a major part of a happy, healthy life. PS Karen Frye is the owner and founder of Nature’s Own and teaches yoga at the Bikram Yoga Studio.

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Village of Pinehurst • 910.295.3905 PineStraw

THE OMNIVOROUS READER

Retracing Washington’s Footsteps

Touring a nation divided, then and now By Stephen E. Smith

When historian Nathaniel Phil-

brick decided upon the title Travels with George for his most recent book, he took on a hefty obligation. In three words he employed two significant allusions. First, “Travels with” references Travels with Charley, Steinbeck’s classic travelogue (Charley was Steinbeck’s pet poodle) in which the author of Grapes of Wrath takes a thoughtful look at a sedate 1960s America. Second, the name “George” alludes to the George in American history — George Washington.

Oh, no, you might groan, not another book about Washington. His diaries are available in a four-volume set, there are numerous explications of his writings, and we are inundated with scholarly biographies. Barring newly discovered facets of Washington’s life or a passing reassessment of his faults and virtues, what is there left to say about the man? But if new material were unearthed, Philbrick would likely write about it. He is the author of a dozen popular histories and has a following among middlebrow readers who thrive on fascinating facts about our country’s origins. His works are perceptive and relevant and always worth reading. Travels with George is no exception. The title immediately divides the book into two distinct narratives that Philbrick skillfully intertwines. The first is the “tour.” When Washington became president in 1789, he found America divided into two factions. There were no Republican or Democrat parties, but the country was split by two opposing views of how the government should function: citizens who favored the Constitution (Federalists) and those who didn’t (Anti-Federalists). If the country were to be united, there was one man who possessed the prestige to encourage a sense of unity. So, it was that Washington set out on a 1789-1791 jour-

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

ney that would take him from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in the North to Savannah, Georgia, in the South. He embarked on his tour in a fancy horse-drawn coach (the chariot) and kept a sketchy commentary of his journey. Philbrick and his wife travel by car with their dog, Dora, a red, bushy-tailed Nova Scotia retriever. The physical America they encounter would, of course, be unrecognizable to Washington, but the divisions that trouble our politics would not be foreign to his understanding of democracy. Washington spurned undue adoration. He was not fond of crowds and military honor guards, and he avoided both whenever possible. But he was also sensitive to social and political slights. When Gov. John Hancock of Massachusetts avoided dining with Washington, the first president never forgot the snub. Moreover, the Washington most Americans think they know — Parson Weems’ godlike contrivance — has little in common with the Father of Our Country. “This is the Washington who was capable of punishing an enslaved worker who repeatedly attempted to escape by selling him to the sugar plantations in the Caribbean,” Philbrick writes. “This is the Washington who in the days before leaving for the Constitutional Convention had an enslaved house servant whipped for repeatedly walking across the freshly planted lawn in front of Mount Vernon.” A particularly ghastly example of Washington’s cruelty was his habit of having living teeth pulled from jaws of his slaves and implanted in his own toothless head. The new president completed his tour of the Middle Atlantic states and New England before turning his attention to the states south of Virginia, a part of the country with which he was unfamiliar. Once in North Carolina, he spent the night in Tarboro and left early the next morning to avoid the dust that would be kicked up by a company of local cavalry that planned to escort him to New Bern. When he reached “a trifling place called Greenville,” the PineStraw

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riders — and the dust — caught up with him. “By that point Washington had entered a landscape that was new and utterly strange to him,” Philbrick writes, “the domain of the longleaf pine — a species of tree most of us in the twenty-first century have never seen but that in the eighteenth century covered an estimated ninety million acres, all the way south from North Carolina to Florida and as far west as Texas.” Washington found the North Carolina landscape a bit unsettling. The longleaf forests were dense and shadowy, and he wrote that the landscape was “the most barren country I ever beheld,” but conceded that “the appearances of it are agreeable, resembling a lawn well covered with evergreens and a good verdure below from a broom of coarse grass which having sprung since the burning of the woods, had a neat and handsome look. . . .” Washington was feted at balls and celebrations. He endured flea-infested beds in dilapidated taverns and the adulation of the ever-present paramilitary escorts. He even inspired a little romantic speculation when he visited with Nathanael Greene’s widow at Mulberry Grove Plantation outside Savannah. From there he passed through Augusta, Camden, Salisbury and Old Salem before returning to Mount Vernon. The second component of Travels with George is not a comparison and contrast with Washington’s tours, but is more a mildly political semi-narrative supported by documents, maps and photographs. The Philbricks and their dog are agreeable company — their perceptions are folksy and laced with wit and intriguing observations — but inevitably, Philbrick must address the political divisions that trouble contemporary America. After visiting Greene’s plantation, Philbrick wrote: “I was tempted to believe that a monster had been born in Mulberry Grove. But it was worse than that. A monster is singular and slayable. What haunts America is more pervasive, more stubborn, and often invisible. It is the legacy of slavery, and it is everywhere.” Reinforcing this point of view, Philbrick quotes from observations Washington made in his farewell address to the nation. What troubled Washington was what might happen if a president’s priority was to divide rather than unite the American people: “It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration,” Washington wrote. “It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions.” Washington might well have been writing about America at this moment, and readers who find themselves agreeing politically with Philbrick and Washington are likely to experience Travels with George as a pleasant and reassuring read. Those who disagree probably won’t make it beyond the preface. PS Stephen E. Smith is a retired professor and the author of seven books of poetry and prose. He’s the recipient of the Poetry Northwest Young Poet’s Prize, the Zoe Kincaid Brockman Prize for poetry and four North Carolina Press Awards. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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BOOKSHELF

January Books

FICTION The Maid, by Nita Prose A charmingly eccentric hotel maid discovers a guest murdered in his bed. Solving the mystery will turn her once orderly world upside down in this utterly original debut novel. Molly Gray struggles with social skills and misreads the intentions of others, but her obsessive love of cleaning and proper etiquette make her delight in her job as a hotel maid. Molly’s orderly life is upended the day she finds infamous and wealthy Charles Black dead in his bed. Her unusual demeanor has the police targeting her as their lead suspect. This Clue-like, locked-room mystery explores what it means to be the same as everyone else and, yet, entirely different. The Final Case, by David Guterson From the award-winning, bestselling author of Snow Falling on Cedars comes a moving father-son story that is also a taut courtroom drama and a bold examination of privilege, power and how to live a meaningful life. A girl dies one late, rainy night a few feet from the back door of her home. The girl, Abeba, was born in Ethiopia. Her adoptive parents are conservative, white fundamentalist Christians and are charged with her murder. The Final Case is an astute examination of justice and injustice. Mouth to Mouth, by Antoine Wilson In a first-class lounge at JFK airport, our narrator listens as Jeff Cook, a former classmate he only vaguely remembers, shares the uncanny story of his adult life — a life that changed course years before, when he resuscitated a drowning man, a renowned art dealer, and begins to surreptitiously visit his Beverly Hills gallery. The dealer does not recognize him but casts his legendary eye on Jeff and sees something worthy. He takes the younger man under his wing, initiating him into his world, where knowledge, taste and access are currency; a world where value is constantly shifting and calling into question what is real, and what matters. The paths of the two men come together and diverge in dizzying ways until the novel’s staggering ending. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

How High We Go in the Dark, by Sequoia Nagamatsu A spellbinding debut that follows a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague. From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead to interstellar starships, Nagamatsu takes readers on a wildly original and compassionate journey, spanning continents, centuries and even celestial bodies to tell a story about the resilience of the human spirit, our infinite capacity to dream, and the connective threads that tie us all together in the universe. Violeta, by Isabel Allende This sweeping novel from the New York Times bestselling author of A Long Petal of the Sea tells the epic story of Violeta Del Valle, a woman whose life spans 100 years and bears witness to the greatest upheavals of the 20th century. Her life is marked by extraordinary events. The ripples of the Great War are still being felt, even as the Spanish flu arrives on the shores of her South American homeland almost at the moment of her birth. She tells her story in the form of a letter to someone she loves above all others, recounting times of devastating heartbreak and passionate affairs, poverty and wealth, terrible loss and immense joy. NONFICTION The Vanished Collection, by Pauline Baer de Perignon It all started with a list of paintings — the names of the masters whose works once belonged to her great-grandfather, Jules Strauss — Renoir, Monet, Degas, Tiepolo and more. Pauline Baer de Perignon knew little to nothing about Strauss, or about his vanished, precious art collection. But the list drove her on a frenzied trail of research in the archives of the Louvre and the Dresden museums, through Gestapo records, to a consultation with Nobel laureate Patrick Modiano. What happened in 1942? And what became of the collection after Nazis seized her great-grandparents’ elegant Paris apartment? PineStraw

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BOOKSHELF

CHILDREN’S BOOKS Show the World!, by Angela Dalton It’s a powerful thing to have even one person believe in you. A gift of this powerful little book would encourage anyone to make the world their canvas. (Ages 4-7.) Dinosaurs on Kitty Island, by Michael Slack Awwwww! The kitties on Kitty island are so cute . . . or are they? When the dinosaurs come to play, they’ll see just who is cute and cuddly after all. This perfect read-aloud will have everyone giggling. (Ages 3-6.) Twisty-Turny House, by Lisa Mantchev Everyone has their proper place in the twistyturny house. The cats are upstairs and the dogs are downstairs until one day a bold cat ventures down the stairs and opens the door for everyone to discover the wonders the whole house has to offer. A sweet story of sharing, misconceptions and new experiences. (Ages 4-7.) Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne January is a great time to snuggle up with a classic, and this stunning new edition of the stories of a silly old bear is the perfect choice. The complete text of the 1926 classic is accompanied by full color versions of the original illustrations by E. H. Shepherd. (Ages 4-10.) PS Compiled by Kimberly Daniels Taws and Angie Tally. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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HOMETOWN

The Suds Chronicles When a cold one comes in downright handy

By Bill Fields

Some

PHOTOGRAPH BY BILL FIELDS

people abstain from alcohol during January, but I don’t think I will be one of them this year.

After getting a COVID-19 breakthrough infection in November and isolating at home for 10 days, one of my first stops upon recovering was for a beer in the tap room of my local — and excellent — craft brewery, Aspetuck Brew Lab. Along with the comfort of seeing familiar faces was the welcome taste of my favorite, Turbidity Lucidity, an American IPA. The brewery says of TuLu that “this citrusy smooth, crushable IPA is capped off with a double dose of dry-hops and Simcoe and Mosaic lupulin power. Citrus-forward and crisp.” I just know that I like it. The pleasure of that pint, the first I’d had in two weeks or so because I got sick, started me thinking about my beer life. It started with a sly (or so I thought) sampling of my father’s stash. I was 12, and Dad was in the hospital for a few days. While Mom visited him one evening, I built up the nerve to open one of the Budweisers on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. So bitter and unappealing was the taste, I doubt if I consumed 2 ounces of the lager. I poured out the rest and put the empty in the outside trash can. I figured Dad wouldn’t notice there were now four cans in the fridge instead of five. “I see you’ve been into my beer,” he said upon coming home. “Didn’t like it,” I replied. That would change in the ensuing years. I wasn’t much of an underage drinker — Dad being a police officer probably had something to do with that — but sure wouldn’t refuse an occasional beer from a friend when we left the Castle of Dreams disco on Tuesday teen night. Upon turning 18 in 1977, a couple of friends and I were happyhour regulars on Fridays at 21 Club on West New Hampshire Avenue in downtown Southern Pines. A cool, dimly lit place on a

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

hot summer evening with $1.50 pitchers of Bud to pour into frosted mugs just about defined high living at that point in our lives. Quantity trumped quality when it came to beer consumption during college in Chapel Hill, whether at Troll’s, Harrison’s or He’s Not Here. Only the place with the great name has survived the decades, but I’ll always remember a Friday afternoon journalism “class” at Harrison’s with the visiting journalist Tom Wicker. The North Carolina native, UNC graduate and New York Timesman held court for three Heinekens and lots of stories before excusing himself to attend another engagement. I painfully had (way) more than three beers on a Saturday evening in 1985 in Cincinnati, prior to photographing the final round of the LPGA Championship the next day. Nancy Lopez won the tournament by a whopping eight strokes. My victory was making it through the hot afternoon despite a lethal hangover. It was a valuable lesson for the rest of my years on the golf tournament photography trail: all things in moderation, particularly on Saturday night. I’ve had beers in the den of Curtis Strange, the first person I knew to have a keg in his home (being on the Michelob staff had its advantages, and there was no doubt he believed in the product). I drank a Rolling Rock on Arnold Palmer’s jet and went to a chickenand-beer place (it’s a thing) with my South Korean hosts on a business trip there. Working at the Tokyo Olympics last year, our activities were restricted because of the pandemic. Fortunately, there was a 7-Eleven in our hotel complex that wasn’t off limits. A 7-Eleven in Japan is stocked with many items, including different kinds of beer, which wasn’t a bad thing to have on hand while watching Olympic rowing or table tennis at night on the Japanese channels. That Yebisu tasted much better than the Budweiser I had 50 years earlier. PS Southern Pines native Bill Fields, who writes about golf and other things, moved north in 1986 but hasn’t lost his accent. PineStraw

T H E C R E AT O R S O F N. C .

Salt of the Earth Building a business together

By Wiley Cash • Photographs by Mallory Cash

The interior of the building is warm

and smells like the ocean. The walls and ceiling are constructed of white corrugated plastic sheets, all of them glowing beneath the bright noonday sun. Nets hang from the ceiling above tables that hold large wooden trays, their bottoms lined with thick, restaurant-grade plastic.

Jason Zombron looks down into one of the trays of white crystals that seem to have arranged themselves in haphazard patterns. If you stare long enough, it appears that the ocean is in each tray, dozens of tides frozen in time, doing their best to return to their previous form. After all, just a few days ago, this salt was floating somewhere in the Atlantic, but now it has made its way here to a piece of land in Burgaw, North Carolina, where Jason and his wife, Jeanette Philips, own and operate Sea Love Sea Salt. Jason picks up a small shovel and scoops up a load of crystals, which have hardened into countless geometric shapes, from squares to pyramids. Jeanette stands nearby. “I never get tired of this,” she says, her voice quiet as if she’s whispering a prayer. “Every time I witness it happen, it takes my breath away. It sits here with the sun and the heat until it’s ready to be harvested. We’re not doing anything to make this happen.” While heat and evaporation are the final steps in creating salt, Jeanette and Jason actually do a lot to make it happen before it gets to that point. The venture begins in Wrightsville Beach, where, in a process and at a location that Jason and Jeanette are wisely hesitant to disclose, water is extracted from the ocean and pumped into a 275-gallon tank on the back of a trailer. From there, the water is transported to rural Burgaw and the 3-acre farm that Jason and Jeanette own. The water is then pumped from the trailer to a second tank, where gravity takes over and the real work begins. Jason and Jeanette fill tray after tray with water, kinking the hose to stop the flow while arranging the full trays on tables throughout the salt house. The trays will sit in the heat however long it takes for the water to evaporate, leaving nothing but the salt behind. The labor can be taxing, and that’s before the harvesting and the blending of salt with other ingredients even begins, but Jeanette and Jason delight in the work. After all, the chance to spend as much time together as possible is what led them to step into the business of making salt. “Whatever business we set out on, it had to get us together,” Jason says. “That was the most important thing.”

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“It feels great because we’re passionate about this,” Jeanette adds. “And it’s the first time we’ve gotten to do something creative together.” The two met on a blind date in Asheville. At the time, Jeanette was working in public health, and Jason was in sales for an outdoor provisions company. They both traveled a lot, and they wanted to spend more time together. Jeanette’s sister lived in Seattle, and so the young couple set their wagons west. They made a life in the Northwest, forging successful careers and raising two young children, and they soon realized that they were both interested in food, the growing of it, the preparing of it, and, of course, the eating of it. They also began experimenting with various ways of using different kinds of salts in their cooking. While they loved living in the Northwest, they began to feel hemmed in by their careers and schedules and missed the sense of community they’d felt in the South. Jeanette was born and raised in Decatur, Georgia, and Jason just outside of Washington, D.C. “We wanted to live close to the water,” Jason says. When they moved to Wilmington a couple of years ago, they began to look for a shared business opportunity they could devote themselves to. They learned that Amanda Jacobs, the founder of Sea Love Sea Salt, was looking to sell her growing business. When they met with Amanda, Jeanette brought along a salt recipe she had developed back in Seattle. While there were other suitors who wanted to purchase the business, “No one else brought Amanda a salt,” Jeanette says. Since purchasing the company, Jeanette and Jason have worked to develop new salts to add to a lineup that already includes citrus, Sriracha, rosemary, dill pickle and others. Two flavors they brought with them from their experiences in Seattle are herb and fennel, and they regularly test various salts at local farmers markets in Wilmington, tracking the responses of their customers. They also have a thriving connection with numerous local restaurants and breweries, most of whom pride themselves on sourcing local products, as do Jason and Jeanette. Almost all their salts are flavored with North Carolina-grown produce. Aside from developing new salts, Jeanette and Jason are planning to develop the land where the business sits. While it contains the salt house and a warehouse, they are building a hoop house to double their capacity — important during the winter, when the time it takes for water to evaporate goes from 10 days in the summer to as long as three weeks in the colder months, when days are shorter. They are planning to host farm-to-table meals featuring local chefs and artists, and are thinking of other creative ways to invite the community to this wooded, quiet piece of land. Jason pours scoops of salt into fine mesh bags that he hangs from the ceiling, salt that could have begun on the other side of the world, now suspended from the rafters in rural North Carolina. “People come here for the ocean,” he says. “This is giving them the chance to taste it.” PS Wiley Cash is the Alumni Author-in-Residence at the University of North Carolina-Asheville. His new novel, When Ghosts Come Home, is available wherever books are sold.

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IN THE SPIRIT

Starting Over

Embracing the flavor of zero ABV drinks By Tony Cross

I’ve always had a weird

relationship with January. Part of me likens the month to 31 Sundays. It’s the day after a raging Saturday night; everything is kind of fuzzy; I’ve come down from the big high that was the holidays and all the excess that comes with it. The other part of me (probably my organs) is looking forward to getting back on track with diet and exercise. I never stopped any of that, but last month I doubled down on the debauchery, so they kind of canceled each other out. Kind of. This January, I am taking the month off from spirits and am focusing on the year ahead as clear-headed as I can be. I hate February, too, but will have my half-filled bottles of whiskey and rum to see me through. If you’re like me and are taking a sabbatical — or maybe you’re pregnant or maybe you and alcohol don’t have a great relationship — here are some zero-proof drinks that can cheer you up after the big comedown. There are quite a few syrups and such to be made with these drinks, so be prepared. Of course, they’re delicious in spirit-based cocktails, too.

PHOTOGRAPH BY TONY CROSS

LA LUZ

Jon Feuersanger, 2019, Death & Co. NYC, New York Hot off the press! The folks over at Death & Co. have just released their newest cocktail book, Welcome Home. Admittedly, I have not been able to read all of it, but when I first opened the book to skim through it, what did catch my eye was the addition to their repertoire of low- and no-ABV cocktails. The first ingredient in this drink is verjus. Verjus is the juice of unripened grapes. It’s usually acidic and can be dry. You can order it online and get it within the week. The Christmas crunch is over, right? As an alternative to using citrus juices, verjus can be a great base in a non-alcoholic cocktail. It’s also terrific as a balancer in cocktails with spirits in them. Feuersanger writes of his mocktail, “No-ABV The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

drinks can be challenging. Ingredients interact differently with alcohol. I looked to Hawaii to inspire this summery drink. The tartness of the pineapple pulp cordial plays with the acidity and sweetness of the passion fruit purée and gives the drink the weight of a Gimlet or Sidecar. It sounds sweet, but it goes down easy.”

La Luz 1 3/4 ounces Fusion verjus blanc 1 ounce pineapple pulp cordial (recipe below) 1/2 ounce Perfect Purée passion fruit purée 1/4 ounce fresh lime juice 1 dash orange blossom water 1 lime wheel (garnish) Shake all ingredients with ice, then double strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with lime wedge. Pineapple Pulp Cordial

450 grams unbleached cane sugar 450 grams filtered water 100 grams pineapple pulp (left over from juicing pineapple) Malic acid Citric acid Combine the sugar, water, and pineapple pulp in a blender and process until the sugar has dissolved. Strain the mixture through a paper coffee filter or Superbag (available on modernistpantry.com). Calculate 2 percent of the weight of the above mixture to get X grams of malic acid. Calculate 3 percent of the above mixture to get Y grams of citric acid. Pour X and Y into a storage container and refrigerate until ready to use, up to two weeks.

BUSINESS CASUAL

Jon Mateer, 2019, Death & Co. NYC, New York Yes, I know — that last drink was a doozy. Fear not. This one doesn’t involve much math, but you will probably need to order a few ingredients online. The first is Giffard’s Aperitif syrup. It’s a great substitute for Campari or Cappelletti Aperitivo — red and bitter. This aperitif has flavors of bitter oranges, gentian root and spice. As a side note, you can enjoy this with sparkling water and an orange slice and be A-OK. PineStraw

Resolve to Build Yourself Up

IN THE SPIRIT

Business Casual 1 1/4 ounces Giffard Aperitif syrup 3/4 ounce chilled brewed black tea 1 ounce red verjus syrup (recipe below) 1 teaspoon cane sugar syrup (recipe below) 1 orange half wheel (garnish) Stir all the ingredients over ice, then strain into a double old-fashioned glass over 1 large ice cube. Garnish with the orange half wheel. Red Verjus Syrup

130 grams red verjus 60 grams vanilla syrup (see below) 31.5 grams cinnamon syrup (see below) In a bowl, whisk together all the ingredients until combined. Transfer to a storage container and refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 weeks. Sign up for live classes at HotAsanaStudio.com or use our on-demand classes on HotAsanaOnline.com 910-692-YOGA (9642)

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Vanilla Syrup

500 grams simple syrup (equal parts sugar and distilled water) 2 grams vanilla extract Combine in a storage container and shake. Refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 weeks Cinnamon Syrup*

500 grams simple syrup 15 grams crushed cinnamon sticks Blend together and pour into a storage container to sit overnight in refrigerator. Strain out solids the next morning, and refrigerate syrup, up to 2 weeks. *(The Death & Co. recipe is a bit much, this is a simpler version.) Cane Sugar Syrup

300 grams unbleached cane sugar 150 grams filtered water

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Combine the sugar and water in a blender and process until the sugar has dissolved. Pour into a storage container and refrigerate until ready to use, up to 2 weeks. PS Tony Cross is a bartender (well, ex-bartender) who runs cocktail catering company Reverie Cocktails in Southern Pines.

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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THE KITCHEN GARDEN

Backyard Beekeeping Buzzing around the basics

By Jan Leitschuh

Fancy a new hobby for the new year?

There is a sweet and time-honored pastime that goes hand-in-beeglove with home gardening — apiculture. A beehive in the yard offers multiple benefits. Backyard beekeeping can plump your culinary garden’s quality and volume, with a delicious honey chaser. Intrigued? Your timing is impeccable. Bee school is in session. Beginning beekeeping basics will be explored Thursday nights in Vass, from Jan. 20 through Feb. 24. Taught by Erin McDermott-Terry of the North Carolina State University apiculture program, the course will help you get your hive up and running. As a keeper of bees, you’d join the likes of such famous people as Sir Edmund Hillary, Sylvia Plath, Henry Fonda, Leo Tolstoy, Martha Stewart (of course!) and, er . . . Sherlock Holmes. According to the Cornell University College of Agriculture, since 52 percent of United States homeowners describe their neighborhood as suburban (and only 27 percent identify as urban, with 21 percent as rural), new beekeepers are more likely to live in a suburban neighborhood. Since a typical hive only requires a few square feet, almost every backyard has more than enough space for a hive. Home beekeeper Kim Geddes became interested after reading news reports of declining bees. “I read an announcement in the paper about beginning beekeeping classes offered near my home, so I decided to enroll,” said Geddes, an engineer who lives just outside Pinehurst. “After taking the classes, I was eager to get started.” Geddes fell hard for bees and has kept them in her backyard for three years now. “I love all kinds of animals, and I’m also committed to conservation endeavors, so beekeeping seemed like a good fit for my interests,” she said. During her first year of beekeeping, she noticed her backyard kitchen garden becoming more productive due to the increased pollination. “It’s pretty common that home gardeners, when they get bees, notice a marked improvement in their produce,” said Calvin Terry Sr., of Midnight Bee Supply in Vass. Honeybees forage flowers for two reasons: pollen for protein and nectar for carbohydrates. Veggies and fruits require pollination to set fruit. In cucumbers, for example, a female flower needs 8-12 pollinator visits in a single day to produce a decent fruit. It was friendship and opportunity that led avid Southern Pines gardener Cameron Sadler into beekeeping. When friend and beekeeper Marcia Bryant sold her farm to move to Penick Village, she asked Sadler if she would like to house the produc-

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

tive-but-now-homeless hives at her place. “I said I’d love to have the apiary at my farm if she would be willing to teach me,” said Sadler, who recently retired from Mondelez International and is also Master of Foxhounds with the Moore County Hounds. Besides Bryant and Sadler, neighboring friend Desiree MacSorley also works the apiary. Sadler later bought her first nuc (a small core colony of bees) from Midnight Bee Supply in Vass. She enjoys the win-win of beekeeping and gardening. Her flowers helped produce sweet honey, and the bees increased the productivity of her veggie gardens. “I grow a kitchen garden because I love to have really fresh produce, fruit and herbs to eat and cook with,” she said. “I absolutely believe my garden and my bees’ prosperity is due to the positive interaction of the bees with the plants.” Sold on the idea of a bee yard in the kitchen garden but somewhat intimidated? Feel like you might need ongoing support? The local arm of the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association (NCSBA), the Moore County Beekeepers chapter, welcomes newcomers and meets monthly in Southern Pines on the second Tuesday of every month, according to Master Beekeeper Hugh Madison. While backyard bees aren’t cuddly like livestock, their proponents can be ardent. “It’s hard to describe the attachment that a beekeeper forms with their bees,” said Geddes. “I felt a sense of pride seeing my girls work so hard in the garden that I provided to nourish them. “I got into beekeeping because I wanted to address the decline in bee population,” she added. “I had failed to recognize the benefits that I would enjoy by raising bees — not just the sense of pride in addressing a conservation issue, but I was amazed to discover that my row crops produced almost double the yield.” And the sweet finale for Geddes? “This past year, I bottled 40 pounds of honey!” PS Jan Leitschuh is a local gardener, avid eater of fresh produce and cofounder of Sandhills Farm to Table. Resources: The Vass Bee School, Thursdays, Jan. 20-Feb. 24, $80/ person or $140/couple. For more information visit midnightbeesupply. coursestorm.com. For N.C. State’s online BEES courses and other counties bee schools, visit https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/calendar/courses-bee-schools. The Moore County Beekeepers chapter holds meetings on the second Tuesday of every month at 6:45 p.m. at the John Boyd VFW Post on Page Street in Southern Pines. All are welcome. Visit the chapter’s Facebook page. PineStraw

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W E E K E N D A WA Y

Falling for Folly

The Madcap Cottage gents decamp for a winter escape

By Jason Oliver Nixon

There is something about

a beach town after the season winds down, and the endless streams of SUV-driving visitors pack up and head back to lands farther afield (aka, New Jersey). The air chills. Restaurants resume a sense of normalcy without those tiresome, we-aren’t-on-Open Table waits. The music tones down a notch, and the locals actually say hello.

For a decade I lived year-round in the Hamptons, and every Labor Day, the vibe would shift seismically. For the better. Granted, our coffers were full from the go-go summer season just behind us, so everyone was happy, flush, and ready to hibernate. And there would be no more of those all-too-frequent Range Rover road rage incidents in front of the must-have doughnuts joint until next Memorial Day. Folly Beach in South Carolina boasts that certain off-season magic, too. My partner, John Loecke, and I had visited this vest pocketsized beach town briefly in the summer, and it bristles with energy. Think fun, funky and just a dash honkytonk. Rooftop terraces pack in the crowds. The groovy al fresco Mexican eatery Chico Feo hosts

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

hipsters 6-deep at the bar ordering dinner (try the mahi-mahi tacos and pozole if you brave the July hordes), and “Park Here!” placards are as ubiquitous as teens in bikinis with ice cream cones. But come fall, as we discovered, the pace slows, and by winter the place has largely cleared out. In November, John and I craved some time away — a long weekend to read books, sit by a fire, walk on the beach and cook — and, on a whim, we decided to try a wintertime Folly. We rented a 1920s-era cottage, Camp Huron, that we had spotted on Instagram, and the house lived up to its billing. Perfectly situated mere blocks from the action but plunked smack upon a postcard-perfect marsh and the Folly River, Camp Huron proved to be the ideal home base. Think an atmospheric white clapboard, one-story cottage with creaky painted-wood floors, two charming bedrooms, a perfect kitchen, clawfoot tubs, a record player, a firepit and barbecue grill, and a front porch kitted out with party lights. And Hollywood-worthy sunsets. Says John, “Imagine stepping into the past but with all of the mod-cons, heaps of thoughtful touches, and lightning-fast Wi-Fi. Fluffy towels. Stacks of wood for the marsh-facing firepit. Elvis on the record player. And wonderful rocking chairs on the front porch. Truly, a small slice of heaven.” The barrier island’s two-blocks-long main drag, Center Street, showcases relaxed, colorful eateries (take note of Taco Boy and Jack of Cups Saloon, in particular) and the usual assortment of beach PineStraw

W E E K E N D A WA Y

gear shops and bars. It’s an ideal walking town. In the mornings, we grabbed a coffee at nearby, always-open Bert’s Market with its endless assortment of fresh sandwiches, barbecue and sushi (and oh! the corn dogs). One evening, we stopped at a terrific seafood food truck near the bridge, Crosby’s Fish and Shrimp Co., and picked up fresh, fresh fish and sat on Camp Huron’s back deck bundled up with heaps of candles. Kicking up the camp experience, we paired our meal with a big bottle of Prosecco and Swiss chocolate s’mores. There was a full constellation of stars overhead, and the occasional trawler passed by in the distance with lights flickering. John and I walked the dark-sand beach. We read Nancy Mitford and Caleb Carr — and considered Death in Venice. With to-go sandwiches in tow from Bert’s, we plunked down on the long strands in scarves and sweaters for a lengthy picnic lunch.

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And we spent a stellar day in nearby, more buttoned-up Charleston and environs. We had biscuits at Callie’s. We shopped for vintage finds at the always-inspirational Antiques of South Windermere. Exploration of idyllic Mt. Pleasant was followed by cocktails at the wonderful Post House Inn. At sunset, we headed back to our restorative beachside retreat for another dinner under the stars paired with a superlative Sicilian white. Cold. Crisp. Herons bobbed about in the marsh. And we turned off — ready for a final, blissful morning of doing absolutely nothing. PS The Madcap gents, John Loecke and Jason Oliver Nixon, embrace the new reality of COVID-friendly travel — heaps of road trips. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

OUT OF THE BLUE

Furball Fun Always up to scratch

By Deborah Salomon

Welcome, fellow felinistas, to Cat

Column No. 8. I limit myself to one a year, in January, or else you might shred this beautiful magazine for litter. In the beginning I promised only good news, which continues since my two kitties are still spry in old age, perhaps 14 or 15. Unlike humans and dogs, teeth don’t tell.

So far, they’re not misplacing car keys or forgetting a vet appointment, either. Recap: The saga began in 2011 when a coal black (even whiskers) kitty with fur as smooth and shiny as satin turned up at my door. I was without cat companions — always two, sometimes three — for the first time in 30 years. Of course I fed him and, six months later, opened the door to the most amazing animal I’ve ever met. Neighbors said his family, who took the trouble to neuter and declaw him, had moved away, abandoning him. Lucky was at home instantly. He knew how to repay my kindness with love. He is calm, thoughtful, stoic, brilliant. I adore him. Some months later a fat, lumpy girl with patchwork grey stripes against a white background came begging. Her gait defines “waddle.” She was a neighborhood semi-feral, fed by many, obviously, with a notched ear signifying that some kind soul had her spayed. She was skittish, unfriendly, short on smarts. She hissed at me and, especially, Lucky. I thought about naming her Edith (Bunker) but settled on the eponymous Hissy, which became Missy when she wised up, realized her good fortune and became a sweetie. However, after nine years she still dislikes the world, loves just me . . . and Lucky. She became his handmaiden, deferring to him, washing his face, following him into the yard, respecting his nests. That’s right: nests. Cats are nesters, especially my Lucky. They find quiet out-of-the-way spots to curl up and sleep, preferably a place with a familiar aroma like a half-full laundry basket. Lucky’s first nest, pre-adoption, was under a bush by my front door. Once inside, he found a flannel jacket that had fallen off the hanger in the back of my closet. After a few weeks the fabric had conformed to his curledup shape and I had learned the hard way not to shut the closet door. I had also installed towel-covered perches on two sunny windowsills, which don’t qualify as nests because of visibility. Next came the cable box, which is warm but only semi-private. He hangs over the sides, so I laid a book of the same thickness next to it. Ahhh . . . his expression conveyed. To lure him off that nest I put a round, fleece-lined cat bed in a living room corner, underneath a low window. Here, tucked away,

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Lucky can see what’s going on outside and inside. This was nap central all summer, especially days cool enough to open the window. Well, Hissy/Missy wasn’t taking this best-nest thing lying down. She would sidle by, checking occupancy, claiming the prime space when available. So, to keep the peace I installed a second fleece-lined bed beside it. Fat chance. Nests aren’t just for sleeping I discovered after putting down a cardboard box with an opening cut into one side, so Lucky could claim his fort, defend it from intruders. There he sits inside the box, smiling, while Missy attacks with swats and growls. Such fun! Great exercise! Costs nothing! When the game is over, Missy sidles up to Lucky and commences grooming him — a good thing, since arthritis prevents him from reaching nether areas. I feel his pain in my own joints. Last week, Missy displayed a rare intelligence. I brought out my suitcase in preparation for a quick trip to visit my grandsons for the first time in almost two years, leaving my kitties with a pet sitter possessing enough certifications to tend the Queen’s corgis. Missy became agitated. She napped less, talked more, even pooped outside the litter box, a sure sign of distress. Could she have remembered what the suitcase signifies? Decades ago we had an Airedale who went berserk, tried to destroy suitcases. A more secure Lucky reacts by curling up inside it, shedding on my new sweater. A perfect nest, he purrs, albeit temporary. But their ultimate nest isn’t a nest at all. My kitties found nirvana in full view, on the heating pad that eases my shoulder pain at night. I had to buy a double-wide second pad to accommodate us all. Talk about smart: On the first chilly day Lucky, followed by Missy, jumped on the bed, looking for it. Sounds crazy, I know. Only animal people will understand my anthropomorphisms, let alone put up with Lucky’s insistent paw at 4 a.m. demanding breakfast and a spin outside before returning to the heating pad(s). I could relate more but he’s sitting by my desk, giving me that look that says, “lap time.” And people say cats are aloof and unaffectionate. Maybe, to aloof, unaffectionate people. Same time, next year? PS Deborah Salomon is a writer for PineStraw and The Pilot. She may be reached at debsalomon@nc.rr.com. PineStraw

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

B I R D WA T C H

Winter Waterbirds Coming in out of the cold

By Susan Campbell

The arrival of cold weather in the

Sandhills and Piedmont also means the arrival of waterfowl. Our local ponds and lakes are the winter home to more than two dozen different species of ducks, geese and swans. Over the years, as water features both large and small have been added throughout the area, the diversity of waterfowl has increased significantly. Although we are all familiar with our local mallards and Canada geese, a variety of aquatic birds frequent our area from November through March. Certainly, the most abundant and widespread species is the ringnecked duck, flocks of which can be seen diving for aquatic invertebrate prey in shallow ponds and coves. The males have iridescent blue heads, black sides and gray backs. They get their name from the indistinct rusty ring at the base of their necks. The females, as with all true duck species, are quite nondescript. They are light brown all over and, like the males, have a grayish-blue bill with a white band around it. However, the most noticeable of our wintering waterfowl would be the buffleheads. They form small groups that dive in deeper water, feeding on vegetation and invertebrates. The mature males have a bright white hood and body with iridescent dark green back, face and neck. Also, they sport bright orange legs and feet, which they will flash during confrontations. But the females (as well as the immature individuals of both sexes) of this species are drab, too — mainly brown with the only contrast being a small white cheek

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Buffleheads

patch. Interestingly, bufflehead is the one species of migratory duck that actually mates for life. This is generally a trait found only in the largest of waterfowl: swans and geese. There are several types of aquatic birds similar to ducks that can be identified if one can get a good look, which usually requires binoculars. In small numbers, common loons can be seen diving for fish on larger lakes in winter, and even more so during spring and fall migration. Their size and shape are quite distinctive (as is their yodeling song which, sadly, they do not tend to sing while they are here). We have another visitor that can be confused with loons: the double-crested cormorant. Along with its cousin the anhinga, it’s more closely related to seabirds, i.e., boobies and gannets. It is a very proficient diver with a sharply serrated bill adapted for catching fish. It is not uncommon to see cormorants in their “drying” pose. Their feathers are not as waterproof as those of diving ducks, so they only enter water to feed and bathe. Most of their time is spent sitting on a dock or some sort of perch to dry out. Two other species of waterbird can be found regularly at this time of year: pied-billed grebes and American coots. Pied-billed grebes are the smallest of the swimmers we see in winter with light brown plumage, short thick bills and bright white bottoms. Surprisingly, they are very active swimmers. They can chase down small fish in just about any depth of water. American coots — black, stocky birds with white bills — are scavengers, feeding mainly in aquatic vegetation. They can make short dives but are too buoyant to remain submerged for more than a few seconds. Given their long legs and well-developed toes, they are also adept at foraging on foot. You may see them feeding on grasses along the edge of larger bodies of water — or even on the edge of golf course water hazards. PS Susan Campbell would love to receive your wildlife sightings and photos. She can be contacted at susan@ncaves.com. PineStraw

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

SPORTING LIFE

Desk Diving Fond memories under a rolltop

Don’t throw the past away You might need it some rainy day Dreams can come true again When everything old is new again – “Everything Old Is New Again,” by Peter Allen By Tom Bryant

Many years ago, my bride,

Linda, gave me an ancient rolltop desk for Christmas. It’s not the big kind, only has drawers on one side, but it fits perfectly in the corner of our den, not far from my favorite leather chair, and close to the fireplace. I’ve spent many restful hours roaming from the desk to the chair, occasionally stoking the fire. I don’t know how it does it, but it seems as if the desk has a mind of its own and can cause all kinds of interesting stuff to materialize that I had considered long lost. Usually on a miserable rainy or snowy day — after hunting season, of course — I will slide open the rolltop, pull my desk chair in close, and begin to rummage through items that would be like new to me. I did that recently at the insistence of Linda when she happened to walk through the den at the same time I opened the top. “I don’t see how you can find anything in all that mess,” she said. “Why don’t you take a couple of weeks and shovel through it?” Sometimes Linda can be right funny. She went into the kitchen chuckling. I did take her advice, pulled the trash can closer, and prepared for an afternoon of fun and cleaning. In the back of the desk are cubbyholes and a couple of small drawers. Immediately, I found a box with a Remington pocketknife in it. It was a gift from George Puckett, a neighbor friend who passed away several years ago. He spent his

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

entire working life with Remington and toward the end of his career, was the manager of Remington’s ammunition plant in Arkansas. I first met him one morning as I went for a walk around the neighborhood. George walked every day, the same route, except when he was scheduled to play golf. We got to know each other pretty well, and I was amazed at the depth of his knowledge about the gun manufacturer Remington. He was especially interested in my outdoor writing, and we had many conversations about enjoying nature, hunting, fishing and camping when times were a lot simpler. I put the knife back in its cubbyhole, opened the mini drawer next to it, and pulled out a card written long ago by George Atherholt. What a pleasant surprise. I met George at a Southern Pines Rotary Club lunch meeting where he was the speaker. His talk included an 8-millimeter film of a polar bear hunt in the Arctic, where he was the chief participant. I don’t remember if the hunt was successful, but I had never met anyone who had hunted the frozen tundra of the North, and I wanted to know him better. We became friends and had many conversations about his adventures in the outdoors. I even did a column for The Pilot about his hunting prowess George was a member of the Sheep Grand Slam Club. To become a certified member, a hunter must harvest all four wild sheep species — the Dall, stone, bighorn and desert sheep — an almost impossible feat today. There are only 1,500 Grand Slam members in the country. George passed away in his late 90s, and his wit and knowledge are missed around the weekly breakfast tables of the Sandhills Rotary. The next interesting item I found in the cubby was a license registration for my vintage Bronco, frayed with age and dated 1977. That was the last year Ford made the small jeep-sized vehicle. I bought the little SUV shortly after my partner and I started a weekly newspaper. The compact, small truck served me well for many years. Right now she’s sort of like her owner, slowed down a little but still ready to go. She’s resting in our garage waiting for new adventures. The fire needed another log, so I went to the wood pile to replenish the hearth supply. In no time, I had a good blaze going again, and I was PineStraw

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SPORTING LIFE

back at the little desk to resume my meandering through memories. It’s funny how what goes around comes around. My Bronco, for example. Over 40 years ago, Ford decided to stop manufacturing the small size, and now they’re making them the same dimension again. Chevrolet, not to be outdone, has resurrected the old Blazer, which they had stopped producing many years ago. Toyota ceased manufacture of the FJ Cruiser in the ’70s only to bring back the brand in 2007, then stop production again in 2014. The FJ has, almost overnight, become a collector’s item. Back in the corner of the desk under some old newspaper articles I was saving for some reason, I found a pair of shooting glasses given to me years ago by my good friend Rich Warters. I had forgotten all about them. Rich, an amazing individual, without equal in the outdoors, has moved to Connecticut, and we surely miss him around the halls of old Moore County. Rich has a passion for bird dogs, English pointers to be exact, and he owns the national champion. He and I spent many hours in the woods turkey hunting. I felt like a neophyte at the feet of the grand master, and although we never got a turkey, I learned a great deal about the sport listening to and watching Rich. Ironically, a couple of years after Rich moved, I bagged a big gobbler in the same area he and I had hunted when he was still here. I emailed him a picture of the bird and still remember his reply: “I’m glad you got it when you were out there alone. It’s something you’ll never forget, and the memory would be different if I had been there.” I kicked back in my desk chair and thought about all the many days afield, and experiences and great friends I’ve accumulated over the years and the many I’ve yet to meet. I gently placed the items I had rummaged through back in their desk places, softly closed the rolltop and moved to my leather chair near the fire. The trash can was still empty. I found nothing to throw away and remembered that everything old can truly be new again someday. PS Tom Bryant, a Southern Pines resident, is a lifelong outdoorsman and PineStraw’s Sporting Life columnist.

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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Centennial Curiosities Mid Pines celebrates 100 years

Mid Pines, 1932 By Lee Pace

PHOTOGRAPH FROM THE TUFTS ARCHIVES

Exactly one century ago, come Jan.

16, 2022, the inn and clubhouse at Mid Pines officially opened its doors. A paid advertisement in The Pinehurst Outlook proclaimed, “On that day all roads will lead to Rome. In many ways the opening of Mid Pines is an eventful period in the life of the Sandhills, for it adds a new factor of first magnitude to the facilities for caring for and multiplying the army of winter visitors.”

And 100 years ago, on Jan. 25, the golf course was christened with a 36-hole medal play competition open to all amateurs. “There is no question that Mid Pines is the most difficult course in the Sandhills country,” The Outlook said. “Donald Ross meant it to be just that way and succeeded . . . Leading professionals who have already played it consider it at least two strokes harder than even the difficult No. 3 course at Pinehurst.” Interesting in those passages is the reminder that Pinehurst was founded in 1895 as a winter resort — a day’s train ride from New England just before Henry Flagler’s vision of building railroads and hotels along the east coast of Florida gained traction. Of equal note, the No. 3 course, just 2 years old, was considered a more formidable test than No. 2, which was yet to undergo routing tweaks in 1923 and ’35 The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

and a major greens overhaul in 1935 that would buttress its stature as one of the nation’s foremost layouts. What else might we glean about life in the Sandhills from a perusal of The Outlook during that month when Mid Pines was first functioning on all cylinders? — That the Sandhills was not only a resort and golf enclave but a fertile agricultural community. “Where you find a peach ridge in this section you find tobacco soil close by,” proclaimed an offer for sale of land between Pinehurst and Southern Pines. Another missive proclaimed, “The Pinehurst peach orchards are the showplaces of the industry” and estimated that hundreds of thousands of peach trees would be planted that year. — That the clientele was predominantly from the North, ergo the ads from hoteliers like the Waldorf-Astoria and retailers like Franklin Simon and Co. on Fifth Avenue in New York City hawking its Austrian angora golf jacket for $22, imported homespun tweed knickers for $6 and regimental striped scarves of imported silk in 46 colors for $1.50. — That a century before the “webinar” was the “correspondence course” that operated via the U.S. Postal Service, such as this one out of Chicago offering, “Learn to play golf in thirty days. Send $5 and we’ll send you a complete course with 57 illustrations arranged in moving picture order and will send you absolutely FREE any golf club you wish.” — That the fairer sex was well-entrenched in the golf experience with Miss Ann Merrill, “one of the many young college girls who enjoyed the holiday festivities in Pinehurst,” and actress Katherine Perry and her actor husband, Owen Moore, finding time “between films to enjoy an PineStraw

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extended frolic over the Pinehurst links.” — That a Swedish Health Institute was operating under the auspices of Professor Paul Roesell in the Carolina Hotel in Pinehurst with electro-hydro and mechanical therapeutic appliances offering patients “all the advantages of such an institution in any large city.” — That twice Pinehurst residents had been excited over a potential visit from President Warren Harding, an avid golfer, only to be disappointed when the visits never materialized. “They have been twice fooled and will now sit back and wait until the President actually arrives,” The Outlook noted. — That “golf insurance” was being peddled around town in a facetious note in The Outlook, owing to the fact that “golf balls are whizzing over hill and dell in such large numbers that the innocent by-stander’s only chance of refuge is the nearest shell hole.” A principal sum of $5,000 was offered for the loss of one ear via passing golf ball, but no claims would be honored if white lightning was present on the golf course. — That Donald Ross, the golf architect and head of the Pinehurst golf operation, was leading an effort to change the stymie rule in golf and was set to deliver it to the United States Golf Association’s annual meeting later in the month. The stymie, at the time, prevented a player from moving another’s ball if it lay within 6 inches of his own ball, leading, Ross thought, to the occasional “impossible shot.” Ross proposed extending the window to 2 feet. It would be possible at that distance, Ross proposed, “to negotiate the stymie by pitching over the near ball or curving around it.” — That the same foot powder called Allen’s Foot-Ease which the U.S. government shipped to Europe by the ton for American soldiers during World War I was now thought ideal for golfers to “take the friction from the shoe, freshen the feet and make walking a delight.” — That tea and dancing were offered daily from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Carolina Hotel lobby, and that hotel staff would set up mid-winter canoeing parties down the Lumbee River. — That representatives of a manufacturing concern in Connecticut were in Pinehurst to promote their new steel golf shafts. “The The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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shafts seem to be a big success, and indications are they will become very popular among golfers,” the newspaper offered. — That Australian pro Joe Kirkwood would compete in the North and South Open in March and also give another of the trick-shot exhibitions that in previous years had drawn huge galleries to the “Maniac Hill” practice range. Among his specialties were hitting drives off the crystal of a watch, off an associate’s foot and fingertips, and hitting a full mashie straight in the air and catching the ball as it fell to the ground. As for Mid Pines, Ross took care to transplant some dogwoods on the course “which at all costs must be preserved.” The newspaper further noted that, “He left clumps of trees near the clubhouse so that they could provide a cool and shady place for the wives who were waiting for their husbands to finish their game.” The architect believed the nature of the ground provided an interesting twist to the course’s personality. “It is less exposed to cold winds than any other course hereabouts, due to its sheltered location, just behind a hill,” Ross said. “The hill, acting as a chute, deflects all winds upward, over the course, which is really a fine thing.” One century later, Mid Pines remains one of the area’s finest layouts, each hole in the same location and configuration as the day it opened. One of the many devotees of the layout is Southern Pines resident Jeff Loh, who prefers to play the course lugging a pencil bag with a half dozen hickory clubs he’s purchased on eBay and other collectors’ venues. He plays with balata balls he finds online as well, feeling that the softer ball, the vintage clubs and the 100-year-old course are a sublime match. “When Mid Pines opened in 1921, they were still playing hickory shafts,” he says. “Steel didn’t come along for a few more years There’s just something about playing hickory and persimmon in a setting like this that is more authentic.” Indeed, on the cusp of its second century, you’ll find Mid Pines an original in every sense of the word. PS Author Lee Pace wrote Sandhills Classics — the Stories of Mid Pines and Pine Needles, which is available in the golf shops at both courses. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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Children’s Museum in Downtown Rockingham The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

January ��

Against Desirelessness The heart needs more than quiet, more than a home without desire. Sorry old masters, before I can let go, won’t I need to be holding on, refusing to let something loose? In my fist, I hold the aroma of spring, of roses, of mown grass. In my ear, I can still hear the creek and the wren’s song turned to scold, as the snake comes down the tree from her emptied nest. The touch of the breeze as I open my palm.

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

— Paul Jones, author of Something Wonderful

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Le Style Mucha Art Nouveau and a 19th century Warhol By Jim Moriarty

hough no single artist invented the late 19th century Art Nouveau movement in the way Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque defined cubism, Alphonse Mucha’s name appears at the very top of the rolling credits. The grand sweep of his life and career, everything from his ground-breaking lithographic posters and photography to his decorative commercial work on products like champagne and chocolate, his friendships with Paul Gauguin and Auguste Rodin, his links to mysticism, and his staunch Slavic patriotism, are all on view at the North Carolina Museum of Art through Jan. 23. Think of Mucha as the Andy Warhol of his era. He was to lithographic printing what Warhol became to screen printing. “Warhol appropriates mass culture in a way that’s different from Mucha, but he is associated with celebrity (Marilyn Monroe) in a very distinct way. Mucha gets his start working with Sarah Bernhardt in Paris, who is a superstar

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actress at the time. He makes a name for himself with images of a famous woman in a very similar way to Warhol,” says Michele Frederick, the associate curator of European Art at the N.C. Museum of Art. Mucha and Warhol were artistic rock stars of their day, financially successful juggernauts, turning commercial imagery to suit their own artistic aesthetic. “The idea of breaking down barriers between fine and applied arts and using commercial language in what becomes fine art is very similar,” says Frederick. It was at the very heart of Art Nouveau — the rejection of a rigid, classical definition of what subjects and forms could define what was art and what wasn’t. “Art Nouveau in Paris is essentially invented by Mucha in the 1890s,” says Frederick. It was called Le Style Mucha. Mucha’s commercial art, breathtaking in its execution, was innovative in ways that remain distinctly modern. One of the posters in the exhibit is for Cycles Perfecta, a bicycle company. “He doesn’t really show much of the bicycle,” says Frederick. “You can’t tell if it has two wheels or two pedals or a seat. What he’s showing you is what it feels like to use this product. When you think of a company, like Apple, some of its most iconic advertisements show you what it feels like to use an iPod, not how it works. That’s something that’s super modern.” Born in 1860 in the small town of Ivančice in what is now the Czech Republic, Mucha’s training was traditional in every regard. He studied at the Munich Akademie der Bildenden Künste (the academy of fine arts) and then the Académie Julian in Paris. His breakthrough work was a poster commissioned by Bernhardt for the play Gismonda at the Theatre de la Renaissance. The play opened with great success in October of 1894, and its run was being extended beyond the Christmas holidays. Bernhardt wanted a new poster to be hung on Jan. 1, 1895, advertising both herself and the play. The poster depicts Bernhardt in a richly embroidered costume with a mosaic-tiled wall and Orthodox cross in the background.

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“For Mucha,” writes Tomoko Sato in his book Alphonse Mucha, “Byzantine civilization was the spiritual home of Slavic culture . . . Mucha’s use of the Byzantine motif in Gismonda was partly influenced by the mediaeval Greek setting of the play; nevertheless, from around 1896 onward, Slavic motifs became a regular feature of Mucha’s posters.” In 1894 Mucha met and became friendly with the Swedish writer August Strindberg, who at the time was consumed with concepts of mystical forces and the occult. “Mucha was profoundly influenced by Strindberg’s notion of ‘mysterious forces’ that guided a man’s life,” writes Sato. “This was later to contribute to Mucha’s own idea of ‘unseen powers,’ which is manifested in his work as the recurring motif of a mysterious figure appearing behind the subject.” Mucha’s spiritual journey led him to Freemasonry, which he practiced for the remainder of his life. “So much of Mucha’s art 100-plus years later looks very French to us,” says Frederick. “Preserving the idea of his Czechness is very important. He’s not just a commercial artist, he’s a political artist as well, especially later in his career.” After repeated trips to the United States, wealthy Chicago businessman Charles Richard Crane (son of the plumbing parts baron Richard T. Crane) agreed to finance Mucha’s grand opus, The Slav Epic, a patriotic project that would consume the last decades of his life. He began working on the first of what would become 20 monumental paintings — the largest is 19 1/2 feet by 26 feet — in 1911, when his homeland was still ruled by the Hapsburg monarchy, consolidated then as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In 1928, marking the 10th anniversary of the creation of Czechoslovakia following the end of World War I, Crane and Mucha together bequeathed the paintings to the city of Prague. The N.C. museum’s exhibit features large digital projections of the paintings as well as close-up views of some of their details. “I am convinced that the development of every nation can only be successful if it grows organically and uninterruptedly from its own roots, and the knowledge of its past is indispensable for the preservation of that continuity,” Mucha said at the ceremony donating the works. The peace and independence of Mucha’s Slavic homeland was short-lived. In 1933 Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany. In March of 1939, German troops marched into Prague, and Hitler declared the establishment of the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. Mucha was arrested, then released, by the Gestapo. He died four months later. PS Jim Moriarty is the Editor of PineStraw and can be reached at jjmpinestraw@gmail.com.

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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On Writing at

Weymouth By Kelly Mustian

Photograph by John Gessner

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

n the second floor of the Boyd House, cloistered in quiet rooms set apart, Weymouth writers-in-residence labor over novels, poems, memoirs, and all manner of literary endeavors. I wrote a considerable portion of my novel, The Girls in the Stilt House, in one room or another in those quarters, everyday responsibilities left behind, all attention on the work at hand. Writing in that grand old house is unlike writing anywhere else. Although writing is, by nature, a solitary experience, at Weymouth I am sequestered with ghosts — F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe, Max Perkins, Paul Green, and a host of others. An abundance of illustrious authors of James Boyd’s day were guests in the house, and something of their essence seems to linger in the air. On occasion, I sit with these ghosts at night in the intimate, dimly lit downstairs library. It is not difficult to picture them gathered in front of the fireplace, talking books and writing and agents and editors. This room is inherently inspiring, with its broad, rustic floorboards and rich wood paneling, walls lined with glass-front bookcases housing Boyd’s vast collection of volumes. When I was working on The Girls in the Stilt House, I often padded down to this library to slip into the past and meet my characters in their own time period. In a small pool of light from a floor lamp behind the sofa, the windows black with the night, I found inspiration that is unique to Weymouth. My imagination is in high gear in that beloved house. Sometimes I pretend as a child would, but isn’t pretending the primary calling of a novelist? I settle into my assigned bedroom like a character settling into a story. So much that remains of the ’20s and ’30s throughout the house — the old push-button light switches, the shutter hooks outside the windows, the peekaboo keyholes, the sleeping porches — immerses me in the era in which both my last novel and my current work-in-progress are set. I arrange my writerly necessities on the desk, look through the wavy glass of a hundred-year-old window, and feel connected to everyone who has ever gazed out at that view of longleaf pines and English gardens. I have come to know the house like a friend. There is a little door behind the bed in the Sherwood Anderson room, so small one would have to crawl through it, that is still a mystery to me, but I know where to find the corner fireplace that appears in an old black and white photograph upstairs yet is nowhere to be seen in a tour of the house. There is a stunted staircase leading to nowhere that I acciden

tally stumbled upon in a closet. I know where the old wood floors creak most loudly, and that on just the right kind of stormy night, wind blowing across the window shutters can sound almost like footsteps on the old iron balcony outside the Paul Green and Thomas Wolfe rooms. In the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame upstairs, I see James Boyd working at his standing desk, still there today in front of the window with a view he loved. Downstairs, I see Thomas Wolfe, as the legend goes, climbing through a window before dawn after a long train ride and a bit of imbibing. When Weymouth hosts an event in the great room, voices, laughter and music drifting up the stairways, I hear a 1930s party, those familiar ghosts dining and dancing and telling stories. Whispered among some of the Weymouth writers are rumors of a different kind of ghost. I have had no otherworldly experiences to relate, and I tend to be somewhat Nancy Drew-ish about that. But I suspect that almost everyone who is alone in that enormous house and steps into the dark hallway between bedroom and bathroom in the wee hours, is, for those few seconds at least, a believer. There is a camaraderie among the housemates, usually no more than four of us at a time. During the day, we pass each other in the hallways almost like ghosts ourselves, exchanging a quick snatch of conversation or just a nod, our minds still on our work. We occasionally share lunches in the kitchen or walks through Weymouth Woods. Sometimes, near the end of a week’s solitary work, a few of us gather in the evening to read to each other from what we’ve written, the night-quiet house lending itself to reflection and the sorting out of life’s complexities, for both our characters and ourselves. With each residency, I feel as if I’m adding my fingerprints to those of James and Katharine Boyd’s literary comrades, my footprints to those of all the writers who have walked those worn floors, a hundred years ago or last week. Weymouth’s writers-in-residence are all beneficiaries of the tradition of hospitality to authors established by the Boyds and furthered by a long line of Weymouth’s loving caretakers. It’s just a building, but I have a relationship with that house. I miss it when I’m not there. It welcomes me back when I return. And my writing is richer because of it. PS Kelly Mustian is the author of the USA Today bestselling novel The Girls in the Stilt House, shortlisted for the 2022 Crook's Corner Book Prize, and is pretty sure she is Weymouth’s biggest fan.

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The Legacy of Boyd House Weymouth’s cultural mecca turns 100

ne hundred years ago, a remarkable couple made a remarkable house their home. Sitting commandingly atop Shaw’s Ridge east of downtown Southern Pines, the house of Katharine and James Boyd, built from a rough sketch into today’s 9,000-square foot rambling manor, shares its 21st century spirit with its 20th century soul, retaining its birthright as a haven for writers, musicians, in fact, artists of all kinds. It is the home of the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame as well as the North Carolina Poetry Society. It plays host to chamber recitals, jam sessions and contemplative strollers. And, since 1979, hundreds of writers-in-residence have padded down its hallways on cat feet, savoring the solitude of serious work in an enchanted place. It is unknown precisely how the teenage Katharine Lamont made the acquaintance of the 20-something James Boyd. One biographer claims they met at a dance, possibly in New York, in 1916. A less

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likely scenario suggests that Katharine, an accomplished foxhunter with the Millbrook Hunt in New York, could have ridden to the hounds at Weymouth, where she would have encountered James, an avid practitioner of the sport. What is known is that in June 1916, Katharine became the owner of a 3.725-acre tract adjacent to the driveway entrance to Weymouth, quite an acquisition for a 19-yearold. She built a small house on the property, the “Lamont Cottage,” now called the Gatehouse. Their relationship blossomed during the summer of 1917, and the two began entertaining thoughts of marriage. Both the Boyd and Lamont families were of similar wealth and social strata. Katharine’s father, Daniel Lamont, was vice president of the Northern Pacific Railroad and served as secretary of war during President Grover Cleveland’s second term. James’ ancestors — primarily through the efforts of his grandfather, James Boyd, and his father, John Yeomans The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GESSNER

By Bill Case

Boyd — amassed the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based family’s fortune through investments in coal, steel, railroads and banking. The extended Boyd family had begun vacationing in Southern Pines shortly after 1904 when grandfather James, in search of a Southern retreat, purchased vast parcels from three of the Sandhills’ pioneering families — the Blues, the Shaws and the Buchans. Eventually, the elder James would own over 1,500 mostly pineforested acres. He called his estate “Weymouth Woods,” so named because its tall longleaf trees reminded him of majestic pines he observed in the seacoast town of Weymouth, England. To serve as the family's residence, the elder James acquired an existing home adjacent to his acreage. Grandson James attended the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and later Princeton University (also the alma mater of his father, John Yeomans Boyd, and his brother, Jackson) where he became the managing editor of the college's literary magazine. After his graduation in 1910, he worked briefly at the Harrisburg Post writing stories and drawing cartoons before enrolling at Trinity College in Cambridge, England, where he received a master's degree in English literature. He returned to Pennsylvania, taking a short-lived teaching position but ill health forced him to resign in 1913. He recuperated at Weymouth and became increasingly involved in foxhunting, forming the Moore County Hounds with Jackson a year later. With a boost from Southern Pines friend Frank Page (who put in a good word with his publisher brother Walter Hines Page), the young James Boyd secured a job in September 1916 in New York with the Doubleday, Page publication Country Life in America. Boyd remained

James Boyd The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

in the position just a few months, a recurring theme shared with his previous brushes with employment, opting instead to volunteer with the American Red Cross in New York, where he aided in the procurement of ambulances to support the war effort in Europe. This served as a prelude to Boyd’s enlistment in the U.S. Army Ambulance Service in August 1917, soon after the U.S. entered World War I. Irksome sinus problems had previously caused his rejection for service by the Army and the National Guards of Pennsylvania and New York. He finally passed the physical after a corrective procedure. Despite the certain knowledge that the war would soon separate them, James and Katharine were married at the Lamont family residence in Millbrook on Dec. 15, 1917, and enjoyed an extended honeymoon at Weymouth. In February 1918, Boyd received orders to report to his unit. In July, 2nd Lt. Boyd arrived in Italy, where he took charge of the Army ambulance service there. In August, he was transferred to France, where his unit supported the Saint-Mihiel campaign and the Argonne offensive, both critical events in turning the tide in the Allies’ favor. The exhausting duties proved punishing to Boyd’s frustratingly fragile health and resulted in several hospitalizations. He was discharged from service on July 2, 1919 (his 31st birthday), and returned home to Katharine.

Katharine Lamont Boyd PineStraw

James’ father had passed away before the war, in March 1914, at age 51. When the heirs divvied up the estate’s far-flung assets, James wound up with most of Weymouth. After returning from Europe, James and Katharine began making plans to build their new home up the ridge from the former site of James’ grandfather’s house (the elder James had passed away in 1910), which the family had dismantled and moved in 1920. The architect they chose was Aymar Embury II — yet another Princeton alum — then in the process of building the Mid Pines Inn and Country Club. Using James Boyd’s drawing as a starting point, Embury designed a house that pleasingly blended elements of Colonial Revival and Georgian architecture. The exterior was said to resemble the Westover, Virginia, home of Colonial planter William Byrd. Landscape designer Alfred Yeomans (surprise, another Princetonian) laid out new Weymouth gardens and a swimming pool, bordered by a serpentine brick wall. A stable and kennels were constructed as well. James Boyd became firmly ensconced as Southern Pines’ foremost country squire. He checked all the requisite boxes: Master of the Hounds; owner of a splendid home on vast acreage; scion of an old-line family (as was his wife); and wealthy but not flauntingly so. He would never have to work to make ends meet. And, frankly, up to 1921, his work résumé was wafer thin. Aside from his military hitch,

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Boyd’s longest tenure of employment at the three jobs he’d held in his 33 years was about nine months. With a background in literature and having successfully published a few short stories as a schoolboy, Boyd thought perhaps he could make something of himself as a writer. He figured that Weymouth, relatively free of distractions and enjoying three seasons of comfortable climate, would provide an ideal environment for the solitary business of writing. So, he began. Boyd’s first objective was to craft a short story for one of the numerous New York magazines, at the time a prime outlet for writers. He settled in to work at Lamont Cottage, where he and Katharine resided prior to the completion of their new home. In mid-1920, Scribner’s magazine editor, Robert Bridges, paid $100 for the piece “The Sound of a Voice,” though the first Boyd creation to hit the newsstands was his short story “Old Pines,” published by Century Magazine in March 1921. Finding his stride in his new home, Boyd accelerated his production of short stories, dictating them to Katharine in his downstairs study (now called the foyer) next to the house’s library. The study featured a door to a side porch. According to Dotty Starling, the archivist for the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, it The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

“was frequently a thoroughfare for the family heading outside.” And the Boyd family was growing. James Boyd Jr. was born in 1921, followed by the births of Daniel Lamont Boyd in 1923 and Nancy Boyd in 1927. Writing short stories was fine, but to be considered a serious author, Boyd felt he needed to write books. In 1922, he began composing a work of historical fiction set largely in Edenton, North Carolina, during the Revolutionary War. The plot involves the dual dilemmas faced by young Johnny Fraser, the son of a British Loyalist father, and a mother favoring independence from the crown. Boyd submitted Drums to Charles Scribner’s Sons, and his manuscript came to the attention of Maxwell Perkins, one of publishing’s most storied editors. Perkins would not only edit the works of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe; he discovered those superstars. Perkins liked what he saw in Boyd’s work and guided the fledgling novelist through the editing process. Published in 1925, Drums was reprinted in 1928 as part of the Scribner’s “Illustrated Classics Series,” with illustrations by N.C. Wyeth. Drums was a major hit. Critic E. C. Beckworth of The New York Evening Post hailed it as “the finest novel of the American Revolution that has yet been written.” The book’s success resulted in four printings in the first month after release, and 40,000 sales in five months. The breakthrough numbers were welcome news to Boyd, while advancing Perkins’ reputation for discovering unknowns able to craft captivating and profitable novels. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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Brimming with confidence, Boyd was soon at work on a second historical novel, Marching On, set in Wilmington, North Carolina, during the Civil War. It features a seemingly dead-end love affair between a poor farmer and the daughter of an aristocratic planter. Perkins did not care for Boyd’s proposed one-word title, “Marching.” In a November 1926 message Perkins writes, “I think ‘Marching On’ solves the problem. ‘Marching’ alone, as a present participle, has a monotonous suggestion, and an indefinite one. But ‘Marching On’ suggests a goal.” The 1927 book outsold Drums. Boyd and Perkins would become lifelong friends. Unlike Hemingway, Fitzgerald or Wolfe, Boyd never craved the limelight. In his biography, James Boyd, David Whisnant writes that while Boyd was serious about his craft, “in his characteristically diffident way he rarely took himself very seriously in public . . . He neglected to create and protect the kind of public image most writers instinctively make . . . He minimized the seriously artistic side of his personality and accentuated the ‘country squire’ side.” Boyd’s third novel, Long Hunt, in 1930, is a frontier adventure tale set in North Carolina’s western mountains. Among the book’s admirers was Look Homeward, Angel author and fellow Scribner’s contributor Thomas Wolfe, who informed Boyd that “ . . . Long Hunt is a beautiful book, and aside from personal feelings I am proud to know the author. There is not a poor line or a shoddy page in it . . . It has in it the vision of mighty rivers and of the enormous wilderness and of the richness and glory of this country.”

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Boyd’s rise and Scribner’s connections led him to friendships with numerous acclaimed writers. Literary giants began making pilgrimages to Weymouth to hobnob with the hospitable Boyds, including Wolfe, Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson (Winesburg, Ohio), Struthers Burt, John Galsworthy, Laurence Stallings, Perkins and Paul Green (The Lost Colony), who became his best friend. All things literary were discussed in amiable fashion during these visits, one notable exception being Fitzgerald’s inebriated and insulting critique of his host’s fourth novel, Roll River, during a three-day stay in 1935. Wolfe felt enough at home at Weymouth that he unhesitatingly hauled his massive 6-foot, 6-inch frame through an unlocked window into the great room, where he slept sprawled on the floor. The constant flow of visitors caused the Boyds to add two new wings to the house. James relocated his writing area to a spacious room on the second floor, now the N.C. Literary Hall of Fame. An admiring Wolfe credited Boyd and his guests with giving “North Carolina a literature before it had native writers of its own.” The Boyds’ friends, whether they were authors, foxhunters or farmers, usually stayed for dinner, engaged in charades and, given sufficient lubrication, sang whimsical songs with madcap lyrics in which they poked fun at one another. Daughter Nancy Boyd Sokoloff later remembered that the family’s doors “were always open — to friends and neighbors who came to talk about politics, farming and gardening, writing, horses and dogs, history, music, education. That’s the way my parents hoped it would always be.” The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN GESSNER

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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Boyd wrote one more book of historical fiction, Bitter Creek, set in the cattle country of Wyoming circa 1890. It was the least successful of his historical novels. In the fall of 1940, he found a new calling. Aghast that democracy had virtually disappeared in Europe and that Nazi Germany was making some headway in America with its insidiously false propaganda, he, along with good friend and U.S. Solicitor General Francis Biddle, decided to do something about it. They believed that the Nazis’ lies could be effectively combated by a series of radio plays celebrating the Bill of Rights and the virtues of democracy. Boyd assembled a team of the country’s finest writers, each of whom agreed to write one radio play gratis. They included Orson Welles, William Saroyan, Archibald MacLeish and Paul Green. The shows needed actors, and Burgess Meredith (later the grizzled trainer in Rocky) rounded up cast members willing to donate their services. Boyd arranged for half-hour Sunday afternoon broadcasts of the plays on CBS Radio, again gratis. Because no one was being paid and the playwrights were uncensored, Boyd named his enterprise “The Free Company.” Overcoming the difficulties of coaxing writers with towering egos to work free on a tight schedule, he orchestrated the broadcast of 11 plays between February and May 1941. Upward of 5 million listeners tuned in. Soon after the final airing, Boyd acquired ownership of The Pilot newspaper and infused funds to stabilize the paper’s operations. As editor-publisher, he contributed a wide variety of writings, ranging from editorials upbraiding powerful North Carolinians for failure to provide meaningful employment opportunities for Blacks to whimsical verse. Poetry became a frequent mode of expression. Boyd’s final book, 18 Poems, was published in January 1944. During a February 1944 engagement at his alma mater Princeton,

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Boyd suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died at age 55. His demise posed a daunting challenge for Katharine, who assumed control of The Pilot. She became an excellent journalistic writer in her own right. Her “Grains of Sand” column won awards. Though she was shy, Katharine’s editorials proved to be even more outspoken than her late husband’s on matters of civil rights. She even scolded legendary Sen. Sam Ervin, whom she felt had not done enough to secure the ballot for Blacks. Katharine would run the paper for a quartercentury, selling it to Sam Ragan in October 1968. Her achievements as a pioneering female publisher were dwarfed by her philanthropy to an array of artistic organizations and local institutions. In 1963 she donated 400 acres of Weymouth land to the state, thereby establishing the Weymouth Woods - Sandhills Nature Preserve. Another 30-acre parcel was given to the Episcopal Diocese for the establishment of the Penick Village retirement community. As Katharine aged, she worried about what would happen to the Boyd House and surrounding 200 acres after she was gone. By the mid-1960s, she was the last family member left in the Sandhills. Children James Jr. and Nancy resided out-of-state. Third child Daniel, a hero in World War II, perished in a 1958 accident. Katharine’s brother-in-law, Jackson, had moved back to Harrisburg. In 1967, Katharine, now 70, explored whether one of her favored charities, Sandhills Community College, could make good use of Weymouth while also preserving it. SCC was then brand new; its first classes were held in 1966 in various temporary locations. Raymond Stone, then the president of the fledgling college, expressed interest in the concept, perhaps as a writers’ workshop, a continuing education center or a venue for seminars. It was music to Katharine Boyd’s ears. It seemed SCC was the The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN GESSNER

best, and probably only, hope for the long-term survival of her beloved estate. In an informal arrangement with Stone, she welcomed SCC horticultural students to use the grounds. Thereafter, Katharine established a trust, effective upon her death, naming SCC as beneficiary of Weymouth’s remaining real property. Katharine fervently hoped the college would keep Weymouth as is, but sensitive that financial considerations could make a “hands-off” policy impractical, she did not seek to permanently hamstring the college. Correspondence from the time indicates Katharine did not oppose SCC’s selling lots for housing along Connecticut Avenue after her death. By the early ’70s, when Katharine was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, James Jr. took over discussions with Stone and SCC. He wrote in a 1972 letter to Stone that the trust would not constrain SCC when Katharine passed away, provided SCC was agreeable to preserving the Boyd House and 70 acres of virgin longleaf timber forest. Katharine’s son indicated that upon his mother’s death, he and sister Nancy intended to “terminate the Trust and turn the whole Weymouth Campus over to the control and jurisdiction of the College to do as they wish.” Concerned that financial considerations might mandate a different course, the college balked at promising the permanent survival of either Boyd House or Weymouth’s pine forest. Following Katharine Boyd’s death in February 1974, Dr. Stone, on behalf of the Sandhills College Foundation, accepted tender of Weymouth’s property by the trust’s two remaining trustees, banker Norris Hodgkins and Dr. R.M. McMillan (James Jr. and Nancy declined to serve). In addition, Katharine’s will bequeathed the school $75,000 for Weymouth’s maintenance. SCC would give “the old college try” to making use of Weymouth for its horticultural activities. The college also scheduled continuing education and inhalation The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

therapy sessions at Boyd House. But Stone quickly concluded it was impractical to hold regular classes six miles from the main campus on Airport Road. Thus, the house essentially sat vacant. Worse yet, the formerly elegant home became an intractable money pit for SCC. In an October 1976 article in the Pinehurst Outlook, Stone advised that taxes and heating costs for the house were running over $7,000 annually. Repainting the exterior had cost $15,000. He estimated it would cost a mind-numbing $250,000 to restore the now ramshackle house to its former glory. Several of Stone’s quotes raised eyebrows. “It [the house] has no architectural value,” he wrote. “Let’s face it, the house is a liability.” The SCC president still wanted his school to build a cultural arts center, but not at Weymouth. “I would like to see the property sold,” confided Stone, “and the proceeds used to build a fine memorial on this campus [Airport Road] to Katharine Boyd.” Dr. Stone finished with this nugget: “We have complete freedom on what to do with the property.” Sam Ragan wrote in The Pilot that “it would be a shame to see the old Boyd estate sold for another land development . . . Weymouth is a priceless part of our heritage. It would be unthinkable not to keep it.” Ragan thought Weymouth would make for an ideal cultural arts center. But talk was cheap. Was any existing Moore County nonprofit organization in a position to outbid developers for the property (estimated market value $1 million), save the Boyd House and dedicate Weymouth to a public use such as Ragan’s suggested cultural arts center? There was not. James Boyd’s best friend, fellow author Paul Green, started the ball rolling toward creating one. After learning that officials of the Sandhills PineStraw

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As the deadline loomed, the campaign picked up speed. Buffie Ives persuaded former first lady Lady Bird Johnson to make a speech at a Weymouth fundraiser at Pinehurst Country Club in January 1979. In her speech, she described Weymouth “as a place that breathes life into creativity.” She added, “I wish I could have been privy to the fireplace conversation when Thomas Wolfe, or Sherwood Anderson, or John Galsworthy, or Adlai Stevenson, that master wordsmith, were here.” The event did much to close the fundraising gap. Finally, on March 23, 1979, the Friends of Weymouth and the Nature Conservancy informed SCC that they were prepared to exercise their option to purchase Weymouth. The cost was $700,000 and the property changed hands. The opening ceremony was held at Weymouth on the east lawn on a hot and sunny 20th of July. Gov. Hunt summed up the day’s significance this way: “James Boyd made this a place for inspiration . . . What has happened here has inspired all of us.” The Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities was born, and the Boyd House was reborn. Of course, the raising of money for the center was not over with the acquisition; it continues today and will never end. The outcome would have especially gratified Katharine Boyd. Her beloved woods are intact; Sandhills Community College, one of her favorite charities, is thriving; and Weymouth has become a cultural arts center as she had hoped. A hundred years later, it’s just how she dreamed it. PS Dotty Starling's tireless research and generosity with her time contributed to this story. Pinehurst resident Bill Case is PineStraw’s history man. He can be reached at Bill.Case@thompsonhine.com. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN GESSNER

College Foundation were meeting to address SCC’s Weymouth difficulties, the 82-year-old Green drove down from Chapel Hill to attend. He pleaded with the college’s higher-ups to allow time for a Friends of Weymouth entity to form and raise funds to buy the property. He then pledged $1,000 himself. “Weymouth is waiting,” he said with rhetorical flourish. “Does it wait for life or death?” Howard Muse, president of the Sandhills Sierra Club, said, “It’s the timberland that concerns us. It contains what we believe to be the last sizeable stand of virgin growth of longleaf pines.” Both Muse and Joe Carter, a naturalist-ranger with the Weymouth Woods - Sandhills Nature Preserve, focused attention on the presence of an endangered species in the woods — the red-cockaded woodpecker. Elizabeth Stevenson “Buffie” Ives, the sister of former presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson, and four-star Navy Admiral I. J. “Pete” Galantin joined forces in late 1976 to form the Friends of Weymouth as a fundraising entity with the admiral serving as president. R.W. Drummond of Whispering Pines donated $20,000 to kick off the project. It was a beginning. The Friends then explored whether the North Carolina state government might aid the cause by purchasing the woodland portion of Weymouth (about 200 acres) and incorporating it into the adjacent Weymouth Woods - Sandhills Nature Preserve. Gov. Jim Hunt and Howard Lee of the Department of Natural Resources responded affirmatively and sought assistance through the North Carolina’s Nature Conservancy. The Conservancy conditioned any commitment of funds on the Friends’ ability to raise the money to acquire the Boyd House and its surrounding 26 acres. While SCC was unwilling to wait indefinitely to market the property, it did grant a one-year option to the Friends and the Nature Conservancy to buy the entirety of Weymouth and, later, the college agreed to extend the time for exercising the option to April 5, 1979.

Just As Sam Said Reclaiming Weymouth’s literary legacy By Stephen E. Smith

t was as if, for a moment, I could remember the future. I’d just left Sam Ragan’s office at The Pilot where he’d chatted with me, a cigarette pinched between his thumb and forefinger, from behind stratums of desktop paper about his plans for the Boyd House, the former home of novelist James Boyd and his family. He mentioned that F. Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe and Sherwood Anderson, mainstays of our literary canon, had visited there and how he intended to establish a writers’ retreat in the old house, a sanctuary where North Carolina authors could work in peace and quiet and relative seclusion. He suggested I drive to the house, wander through the rooms and imagine the possibilities. I parked my car in the weedy yard of the house on Weymouth Heights, stepped inside the foyer and climbed the stairs to what had been James Boyd’s study. In 1977, the space was being used by Sandhills Community College as a classroom for respiratory therapy students, and banks of florescent lights dangled from the plaster ceiling, and Formica-topped metal desks were scattered haphazardly on the old plank floors. But Sam had given me an intriguing taste of the house’s history, and taking in the scene I could imagine, for a moment, the room decades in the future, again populated by writers. What amazes me these many decades later is that it all happened just as Sam said it would. At the time of my first visit, I found the house in dire need of repair. Sam might have hoped for an illustrious future for the dark

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

paneled library, the twisting hallways with their random two-tread steps, the haphazardly situated bedrooms — an architectural puzzle pieced together from mismatched parts — but the house might just as easily have been razed and a high-dollar subdivision erected on the valuable property. Plaster was crumbling. Paint was peeling. Pipes were clanking. The once-elegantly furnished great room was piled high with institutional furniture. But despite a half century of heavy use and the jumble of educational paraphernalia, there remained a romantic aura about the place: Blue-green sunlight slanted through the great room’s French doors and played on the worn, wide pine flooring. The filigreed plaster ceilings and grooved woodwork retained their charm, suggesting that wonderful things had happened there and would again. Sam Ragan, Buffie Ives, Paul Green, Norris Hodgkins and other writers and community leaders banded together to form the Friends of Weymouth. They selflessly donated their time and money and raised the funds to purchase the property — and they immediately set about transforming the Boyd House, renaming it the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, into the writers’ retreat Sam had envisioned. I was present, along with my friend Shelby Stephenson, at a few of the meetings in Weymouth’s dining room, where the physical and financial logistics of the undertaking were discussed. These informal gatherings were blessedly brief, no more than genPineStraw

Gov. Jim Hunt and Elizabeth “Buffie” Ives

eral affirmations of the plans Sam had contrived, and after all these years, I remember only one specific exchange verbatim. Guy Owen, author of The Ballad of the Flim-Flam Man, was a guest at the meeting, and he happened to joke, “We should house the pornographic writers in the stables.” Buffie Ives, Adlai Stevenson’s sister, sat up straight and snorted, “There’ll be no pornographic writers at Weymouth!” Buffie was a woman of strong opinions, an adamant local preservationist, and she meant to have her way. Rooms were painted, beds donated, the house adequately spruced up, and literary folk began to apply for residencies. The first writers to make use of the Weymouth Center were Guy Owen and poets Betty Adcock and Agnes McDonald. Sam asked me to welcome them on their arrival — I knew all three from the North Carolina Writers Conference — and to make them feel at home, which meant I should leave them to their writing. As planned, Guy and Agnes left after a week, and Betty stayed for another five days. She was alone in the big empty house with its creaks and groans, the windows rattling as Fort Bragg grumbled in the distance. After a few hours spent in solitary, she phoned me to ask a favor. “May I sleep at your house?” she asked. “I just can’t be here all by myself.” I’d known Betty for five or six years, and my wife and I considered her a close friend, so for a week, I drove to Weymouth at sundown so Betty could sneak out to spend the night at my house. At dawn, I’d drive her back to Weymouth, and she’d slip into bed so it would appear, if someone happened to check on her, that she’d been sleeping peacefully through the night. It wasn’t long before word spread in the North Carolina writing community that residencies were available at Weymouth, and writers began to apply with surprising frequency. I’d like to claim I knew every writer who turned up at the back door, and in the beginning of the program that may have been true — North Carolina writers were a tight bunch in those days — but as the state has grown, a deluge of scribblers has descended upon Weymouth to partake of its storied enchantments, which are no doubt more the product of hard work

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Sam Ragan

than mystical thinking or encounters with resident spirits. Tucked in a file cabinet at the Weymouth Center is a partial list of writers who’ve been in residence, but for many of the early years we kept no accurate record of who occupied the house and for how long. It’s safe to say that there have been hundreds of residencies, not counting return visits. Almost every North Carolina writer of any note has written or offered a public reading at Weymouth: Clyde Edgerton, Fred Chappell, Lee Smith, Bland Simpson, Reynolds Price, Wiley Cash, Tom Wolfe (The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Wolfe), Tim McLaurin, Robert Morgan, Margaret Maron — and too many others to mention here. For the first 40 years of Weymouth’s existence, I served on the board or the program committee with other volunteers who were devoted to maintaining Weymouth (the house requires constant upkeep) while providing lectures, performances and readings of interest to the community. Weymouth has hosted hundreds of public programs and private gatherings — classical concerts, plays, dance performances, lectures, fundraisers, club luncheons, Poetry Society gatherings, business meetings, holiday celebrations, formal cocktail parties, poetry readings, pig pickings, North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame inductions, songwriting workshops, square dances, and hundreds of gatherings that simply marked the joys of life, great and small. On a spring evening I might enjoy the Red Clay Ramblers in the great room; a month later I might be listening to brilliant classical guitarists perform in the same space. I heard Doc Watson pick “Black Mountain Rag” on the terrace, and a rock band kick out the jams on the front lawn a week later. Weymouth has provided the state and the Sandhills community with a public venue that has imbued each event with an air of intimacy and import. I admit that when I first stepped inside the Boyd House in 1977, all I knew about James Boyd was what I’d read on the state historical marker on the corner of Vermont and May, but by the early ’80s I’d read Boyd’s novels (no easy task), and that set me on a personal quest to discover everything I could about the Boyd family. In the ’80s and ’90s, I visited the Southern Historical Collection The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill on at least 10 occasions to read the Boyd letters, an experience that opened up the family’s lives as an epistolary narrative — their ambitions, internal conflicts, and their abiding regard for one another and their fellows. I admired the letters James wrote to Katharine during World War I, when he was stationed in France with the Army Ambulance Corps. His affection for his young wife is palpable in his sentimental use of language. I held in my hands letters written by Fitzgerald, Wolfe, Anderson, Hemingway, Paul Green, Scribner’s editor Maxwell Perkins, and many other literary figures. In the mid-’90s, I traveled to the Firestone Collection at Princeton University to read the Maxwell Perkins papers, and there I discovered a stack of correspondence between Boyd and Perkins. There were also letters from Wolfe and Fitzgerald concerning their relationships with Boyd. I was particularly moved by a letter from Katharine to Perkins written after James’ success as a novelist had waned. She asked Perkins not to reveal to her husband that she’d written, but she implored him to write James a letter of encouragement so that he might overcome the writer’s block he was experiencing. In the ’90s, I interviewed Jim Boyd, James and Katharine’s surviving son, about his life in Southern Pines. He recalled with amusement his meeting with Thomas Wolfe — “He climbed in through an open window in the middle of the night and fell asleep on the couch; I found him there when I came downstairs in the morning. . . .” — and he was forthright about his relationship with his mother and father and their literary friends: “These were people who were drinking martinis at 10 in the morning.” More than four decades of working with Weymouth has stuffed my head with too many memories to recount them all here. Lord The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

knows how many names I should have mentioned but didn’t. Rest assured that it’s not from lack of regard for their good works and personal sacrifice. I honor the Dirt Gardeners, the Women of Weymouth, and all the committee members who have come and gone. Every one of them is his or her own historian; they all have a story to tell — and they should tell it. The history of Weymouth has thousands of authors. My final judgment is that the Boyd House/Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities is, without question or qualification, a community masterwork, an example of what well-meaning and determined volunteers can achieve when toiling for the greater good. Maybe our children and grandchildren will know this, for it seems probable to be the best version of these tragic times which we will pass along to them. A few years ago, I was in the Great Room participating in a song circle where each player offers a tune or two. When it was my turn to play, I announced: “Eighty years ago this evening, F. Scott Fitzgerald was sitting in this room discussing the art of the novel with James and Katharine Boyd and Struthers Burt and his son.” The faces of my fellow players went blank. Fitzgerald, smitzgerald, they seemed to say, play your guitar already. Only then did I realize that they were doing what I had done: They were thinking about the song they were going to sing — the story they could one day tell about their performance at Weymouth. They were remembering the future. PS Stephen E. Smith is a retired professor and the author of seven books of poetry and prose. He’s the recipient of the Poetry Northwest Young Poet’s Prize, the Zoe Kincaid Brockman Prize for poetry and four North Carolina Press Awards. PineStraw

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

A L M A N A C

January By Ashley Walshe

anuary is a waltz between a warm den and the bleak and frigid landscape. Inside, movement is unhurried, ritualistic. The fire crackles. The gentle cadence of the cat lapping water is a dreamy incantation. You drift into the kitchen. Creaky floorboards spill their secrets in your wake. From the deep silence of this winter morning, each sound is its own poem. Even the coffee has a pulse, cascading from dripper to mug like a dark and fragrant river. The rhythmic clanking of sugar spoon against ceramic mimics rustic wind chimes. A plume of steam dances like a risen cobra. Outside, dawn slowly breaks. A lonely titmouse greets the day. No need to rush. Trust. You’ll know when it’s time to leave the den. Whether you’re walking to the car or the woodshed or a mile down the road, you are ready for a sacred pilgrimage. Days like today, when the air stings like nettle, invisible treasure is afoot: silence for deep listening; stillness for the same; nothingness to spark discovery. As your feet drum against the frozen earth, consider the world that sleeps below: the dormant roots and seeds, the creatures cozy in their burrows. And when the soft light kisses your windburned face, consider the sun, ceaselessly rising, ceaselessly giving of its warmth. Consider how you are both — the dreamer and the rising sun. January gives you what you need. The wind sweeps through what’s still here and the titmouse sings out. You hum a few shaky notes, unearth buried treasure on the long waltz home.

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

All That Simmers

The new year calls for a fresh start. Or at least a fragrant simmer pot. Creating a stovetop potpourri can be a fun and soothing ritual. Start with a pot of water. Consider what you’d like to invoke: brightness (lemon slices), warmth (cinnamon sticks) or clarity (rosemary sprigs)? There are very few rules. Bring the water to a boil. Add your ingredients. Reduce the potion to a simmer. Enjoy. Allow this aromatic blend to work its healing magic on your space for up to several hours — but be sure to add more water as needed.

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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Arts Entertainment C A L E N DA R

Artist Suzy Morgan exhibit 1/

Although conscientious effort is made to provide accurate and up-to-date information, all events are subject to change and errors can occur! Please call to verify times, costs, status and location before planning or attending an event. JOY OF ART STUDIO. Painting, drawing and mixed media. Offering both private and small groups with safe distance. Classes are held at Joy of Art Studio, 139 E. Pennsylvania Ave., Suite B, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 528-7283 or www.joyof-art.com or www.facebook.com/ Joyscreativespace/. RENT THE SUNRISE. 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Rent the Sunrise Theater for your private event. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Email information@sunrisetheater.com to help you plan your special night out at the Sunrise. SCAVENGER HUNT. Pick up scavenger hunts at the Given Book Shop, Given Memorial Library or online at www.giventufts.org/program-andevents. The scavenger hunt will take you through the village of Pinehurst and there will be multiple themes such as science, shapes, historic buildings and more. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst.

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Joslyn and the Sweet Compression Concert

Bolshoi Ballet: Jewels

BOOK SALE. This month’s sale is buy one, get one free on cookbooks. Masks recommended in the book shop. Given Book Shop, 95 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642.

from your busy day and join us for a story time designed for adults. Bring your lunch and listen to Audrey Moriarty read some of her favorites for the season. Masks required. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642.

WINTER READING CHALLENGE. All ages are encouraged to join the Winter Reading Challenge. Track your books through the Beanstack App or by logging into the Beanstack website. Log the books that you read until Jan. 31 and be entered to win prizes. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www. sppl.net.

Saturday, January 1 MET OPERA. 1 p.m. Cinderella. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.

Sunday, January 2 LIVE MUSIC. 6:46 p.m. The Gibson Brothers perform with special guest, Vickie Vaughn. Owens Auditorium, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Info: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

Tuesday, January 4 ADULT STORYTIME. 12 p.m. Take a break

Wednesday, January 5 LIBRARY PROGRAM. 3:30 p.m. At The Library After School (ATLAS) is a new afterschool program for kindergarten to secondgraders who enjoy stories and learning. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www. sppl.net.

Thursday, January 6 FILM. 10 a.m. Let the Scream Be Heard. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.

Friday, January 7 ART EXHIBIT. 6 - 8 p.m. Don’t miss the exhibit “Stitches and Strokes,” featuring paintings and fiber art by local artist Suzy Morgan. The exhibit runs through Feb. 15. Campbell House Galleries, 482 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 295-2787 or www.mooreart.org. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

CA L E N DA R

Saturday, January 8

Thursday, January 13

SATURDAY KIDS PROGRAM. 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Celebrate January author birthdays, J.R.R. Tolkien (The Hobbit) and A.A Milne (Winniethe-Pooh), with great crafts and activities. Masks required. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642.

GATHERING AT GIVEN. 3:30 p.m. Folk singer Cliff Aikens will provide music for you to sing along with, including an original piece of music he wrote for Pinehurst. Masks required. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642.

Sunday, January 9

WRITING GROUP. 3 p.m. Interested in creating fiction, nonfiction, poetry or comics? Connect with other writers and artists, chat about your craft, and get feedback on your work. All levels are welcome. The session will meet at the library. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: lholden@sppl.net.

Sunday, January 16 LECTURE SERIES. 3 p.m. Marsha Warren speaks on “Freedom Park: The Inspiring Story of How a Monument to Freedom is Built while Confederate Statues are Coming Down.” This is part one of a three-part series. Cost is $15 for Weymouth members and $20 for non-members. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.weymouthcenter.org.

THEATER SHOW. 2 p.m. “Jerry Herman on Broadway” is being presented by the Sandhills Repertory Theatre. Be prepared for amazing tap dancing by some of Broadway’s finest. Show dates are Jan. 9 at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., and Jan.10 at 1 p.m. Tickets are $35 for regular seating, $75 for VIP lounge seating area, and $45 at the door. Students under 12 admitted free. Bradshaw Performing Arts Center, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com or www.sandhillsrep.org. ART EXHIBIT. 2 - 3 p.m. Visit the Artists League of the Sandhills and view displays offering details about mediums, then register for classes that interest you. The exhibition of the instructors’ paintings will remain open through Jan. 28. Artists League of the Sandhills, 129 Exchange St., Aberdeen. Info: (910) 944-3979.

ing — swing, line, ballroom, shag and Latin. Doors open at 6 p.m. Dance lessons at 6:30 p.m. Dancing until 9:30 p.m. Beginners and experienced dancers, couples and singles all welcome. Cost is $15 per person; cash at the door. National Athletic Village, 201 Air Tool Dr., Southern Pines. Info: (724) 816-1170.

Women of Weymouth 1/

Friday, January 14 LIVE MUSIC. 7:30 - 9 p.m. Joslyn and the Sweet Compression perform a mix of funk and soul. Owens Auditorium, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Info: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

Monday, January 10

Saturday, January 15

HEALTH SERIES. 3:30 p.m. Certified occupational therapists will address the design, structures and setup of the home environment, which can have a significant impact on a person’s ability to remain healthy and to age successfully. Masks required. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642.

CRAFT DAYS. Children and their families can come by the library for Drop-in Craft Days and work on crafts at their own pace. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www. sppl.net. DANCING. 6 p.m. Carolina Pines Dance Club invites you for a fun evening of social danc-

FRENCH DINNER. 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. Local chefs present “A French Bistro Dinner at the Cabin.” The dinner will be four courses and limited to 36 guests. The dinner is $65 per person. Sandhills Woman’s Exchange, 15 Azalea Road, Pinehurst. Info and reservations: (910) 295-4677 or www. sandhillswe.org.

Monday, January 17 WOMEN OF WEYMOUTH. 9:30 a.m. The Women of Weymouth committee will meet and have a guest speaker. Free admission. Weymouth Center for the Arts and Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www. weymouthcenter.org.

Tuesday, January 18 RING THE ALARM. 6 - 8 p.m. Join The Sway as it celebrates our local fire and police departments’ battle of the fittest in the Nutrishop’s “Guns and Hoses Challenge.” Hot Asana Yoga Studio, 10 Camelia Way, Southern Pines. Info: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

Wednesday, January 19 LIBRARY PROGRAM. 3:30 p.m. At The Library After School (ATLAS) is a new afterschool program for kindergarten through secondgraders who enjoy stories and learning. Southern

Professional Theatre Company in Residence at BPAC

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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CA L E N DA R Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www. sppl.net.

Thursday, January 20 READ BETWEEN THE PINES. 5 p.m. SPPL’s book club for adults meets to discuss this month’s book. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. To join email: mhoward@sppl.net. CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE. 6:30 p.m. This is the annual members’ meeting where several members will provide short presentations. Meeting starts at 7 p.m. Open to the public. Civic Club, corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Ashe Street, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 246-0452 or mafarina@aol.com.

Friday, January 21 THEATER SHOW. 7:30 p.m. The Encore Center Theatre presents Guys and Dolls Jr., a production from the Teen Winter Camp. There are more performances on Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m.; Jan. 22 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; and Jan. 23 at 2 p.m. Encore Center, 160 E. New Hampshire Ave., Southern Pines. Info and tickets: (910) 725-0603 or www.encorecenter.net.

Sunday, January 23

Tuesday, January 25

BOLSHOI BALLET. 1 p.m. Jewels. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www.sunrisetheater.com.

FUNDRAISER. 11:30 a.m. Friend to Friend will be hosting their annual luncheon fundraiser to support their mission to help survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking rebuild their lives. Pinehurst Fair Barn, 200 Beulah Hill Road S., Pinehurst. Info and registration: (910) 947-1703.

STEAM. 3 p.m. Learn about topics in science, technology, engineering, art and math. Elementary-aged children and caregivers are invited to participate in STEAM projects and activities. This program will be held outdoors, and advanced registration is encouraged. This month’s topic will be parachutes. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www. sppl.net.

Monday, January 24 TEEN WRITING CLUB. 4 p.m. Are you a teen writer interested in creative writing and storytelling? Ready to share your work, hone your craft, or just hang out with and get inspired by other young writers? Join us for the Teen Creative Writing Club. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or email: kbroughey@sppl.net.

MUSICIANS’ JAM SESSION. 6 - 9 p.m. Bring your own instrument and beverage or just come and enjoy the music. Attendees must have had the COVID vaccination. Free admission. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.weymouthcenter.org.

Thursday, January 27 DOUGLASS CENTER BOOK CLUB. 10:30 a.m. Multiple copies of the selected book for the month are available for checkout at the library. Douglass Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or email: mmiller@sppl.net.

Friday, January 28 TEA AND TECH. 11 a.m. Get an introduction

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See How it’s Done Instructor’s Open House Sunday, January 9 • 2 - 4 pm Exhibit Open thu January 27 The Artist League of the Sandhills is hosting an afternoon open house featuring art demonstrations by many of the instructors who will be teaching at the League in 2022. Gallery Hours: Monday - Saturday 12-3pm ANY MEDIUM Let’s Work Little – Betty Hendrix – Friday, February 25, 10:00-3:00 OIL & ACRYLIC Landscapes in Oil – Courtney Herndon – Monday and Tuesday, January 24, 25, 10:00-3:30 Beginner’s Acrylic Pouring - Meredith Markfield – Friday, February 11, 11:30-2:30 Intermediate Acrylic Pouring - Balloon Kiss and Roll Technique - Meredith Markfield Wednesday, February 23, 12:30-2:30 WATERCOLOR Travel Journal –Ink and Watercolor – Betty Hendrix – Wednesday, January 26, 10:00-3:00 Watercolor Basics and More – Jean Smyth – Tuesday, February 1, 10:00-3:00 Silkscreen with Watercolor – Cathy Brown – Tuesday and Wednesday, February 8, 9, 10:00-12:30 OTHER MEDIUMS We Love Ink – Alcohol Ink Fun Afternoon – Pam Griner – Monday, February 14, 12:30-3:00 Collaging Out of the Box – Sandy Stratil – Monday and Tuesday, February 21, 22, 10:00-4:00

Ask Us About Becoming a Member • 129 Exchange Street in Aberdeen, NC www.artistleague.org • artistleague@windstream.net The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

ROY FIRESTONE A One Man Show Emmy Award Winner and critically-acclaimed performer, humorist, musician and impressionist Also featuring Paul Murphy

Saturday, February 26, 2022 at 7 PM Owens Auditorium Sandhills Community College 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

VIP Seats – $75 each

General Seats – $40 each ($50 after Jan. 16)

HOW TO PURCHASE TICKETS: In Person: Arts Council offices (Campbell House, 482 E. Connecticut Ave., So. Pines) By Phone: 910-692-ARTS (2787) or Online: TicketMeSandhills.com Concert starts at 7:00 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. Sponsored by

For more information, call us at 910-692-ARTS (2787) PineStraw

CA L E N DA R to e-readers and e-books at this session. Bring your tablet, smartphone or laptop and your library card. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net. LIVE THEATER. 7 p.m. She Kills Monsters, live on the Sunrise stage. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. There will be additional performances on Saturday, Jan. 29, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 30, at 2 p.m. Info: www. sunrisetheater.com.

Saturday, January 29 CRAFT DAYS. Children and their families can come by the library for Drop-in Craft Days and work on crafts at their own pace. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net. HOUNDS MEET. 9 a.m. Moore County Hounds was founded by James and Jackson Boyd at Weymouth in 1914. Join us to celebrate where it all began. All mounted/unmounted members of Moore County Hounds will be offered a “stirrup cup.” Free admission. Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities, 555 E. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: www.weymouthcenter.org.

MET OPERA. 1 p.m. Rigoletto. Sunrise Theater, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Info: www. sunrisetheater.com. MURDER MYSTERY. 6:30 p.m. Join in for a night of murder, mystery and the mob. Hugger Mugger Brewing Company, 229 Wicker St., Sanford. Info: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS Tuesday, February 1

Saturday, February 5 COMEDY MUSICAL. 7:30 - 9 p.m. “The Ladysticks Show” is a live cooking musical show like nothing you have seen before. Bradshaw Performing Arts Center, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Info and tickets: www.ticketmesandhills.com.

Best

GIVEN TO GO. Pick-up dinner provided by Elliot’s on Linden in support of the library. Ticket sales begin Jan. 18 and close on Feb. 4. Dinners can be picked up between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Price is $27 per meal. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 295-3642 or email giventufts@gmail.com.

Saturday, February 12

BREAKFAST PRESENTATION. 9 a.m. The Sandhills Woman’s Exchange presents “Breakfast with Scott Mason,” WRAL’s The Tarheel Traveler. Tickets are $65 and include breakfast, a cash bar, author presentation and book signing. Pinehurst Member’s Club, 1 Carolina Vista Drive, Pinehurst. Info and reservations: (910) 295-4677 or www.sandhillswe.org.

Simply the

Tuesday, February 8

CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL. 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Savor chocolate treats of all kinds, including our “church fudge.” Enjoy a gift boutique, doughnut and hot chocolate bar, a cake walk, chocolate demonstrations, silent auction, chocolate-themed photo booth and a children’s chocolate chase. Pinehurst United Methodist Church, 4111 Airport Road, Pinehurst. Info: (910) 215-4559 or www.pinehurstumc.org.

WEEKLY EVENTS Mondays WORKOUTS. 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to get their workout on. Open Monday through Friday. Cost for six months: $15/resident; $30/non-resident. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W.

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CA L E N DA R Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info and registration: (910) 692-7376.

Are You Winter Ready?

INDOOR WALKING. 10 a.m. - 12 p.m. Improve balance, blood pressure, and maintain healthy bones with one of the best methods of exercise. Classes are held at the same time Monday through Friday. Ages 55 and up. Cost for six months: $15/resident; $30/non-resident. Southern Pines Recreation Center, 210 Memorial Park Court, Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376. GAME TRIVIA. 1 - 2 p.m. Adults 55 and older are invited to play famous TV games such as Jeopardy! and Family Feud. Southern Pines Recreation Center, 210 Memorial Park Ct., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376. BRIDGE. 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Enjoy games of bridge with friends. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info and registration: (910) 692-7376.

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BABY RHYMES. 10:30 a.m. Baby Rhymes is specially designed for the youngest learners (birth - 2) and their caregivers. Repetition and comforting movements make this story time perfect for early development and brain growth. Dates this month will be Jan. 4, 11, 18 and 25. There will be a duplicate session at 11 a.m. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net

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BRIDGE. 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Enjoy games of bridge with friends. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info and registration: (910) 692-7376.

Thursdays MOORE COUNTY FARMERS MARKET. 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. The year-round market features “producer only” vendors within a 50-mile radius providing fresh local, and seasonal produce, fruits, pasture meats, eggs, potting plants, cut flowers and local honey. Crafts, baked goods, jams and jellies are also available. Market is located at the Armory Sports Complex, 604 W. Morganton Road, Southern Pines. GIVEN STORY TIME. 10 a.m. Wonderful volunteers share their love of reading. Social distancing for children and masks required for adults. Stop by and join the fun. Given Memorial Library, 150 Cherokee Road, Pinehurst. Info and tickets: (910) 295-3642. CHESS AND MAHJONG. 1 p.m. For adults 55 and older. All levels welcome. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info and registration: (910) 692-7376.

GAME DAY. 12 p.m. Enjoy Bid Whist and other cool games all in the company of great friends. For adults 55 and older. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

CABIN TOURS. 1 - 4 p.m. The Moore County Historical Association’s Shaw House grounds, cabins, and gift shop are open for tours and visits. The restored tobacco barn features the history of children’s roles in the industry. Docents are ready to host you 1-4 p.m. The cabins will be open Thursdays and Fridays. Shaw House, 3361 Mt. Carmel Road, Carthage. Info: (910) 692-2051 or www.moorehistory.com.

SPARK STORYTIME. 2:30 p.m. The Spark Storytime at Firestation 82 is for ages birth through 2. Kids will have a chance to see firetrucks. Dates this month will be Jan. 4, 11, 18 and 25. Fire Station 82, 500 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net

MUSIC AND MOTION. 2 p.m. Does your toddler like to move and groove? Join us for outdoor “Music and Motion” to get those wiggles out. For 3 – 5-year-olds. Dates this month will be Jan. 6, 13, 20 and 27. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net

TABLE TENNIS. 7 - 9 p.m. Enjoy playing this exciting game every Tuesday. Cost for six months is $15 for residents of Southern Pines and $30 for non-residents. For adults 55 and older. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-7376.

Fridays

Wednesdays

BRIDGE. 1:30 - 4:30 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Enjoy games of bridge with friends. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info and registration: (910) 692-7376.

CHAIR VOLLEYBALL. 1 - 2 p.m. For adults 55 and older. Get fit while having fun. Free to participate. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info and

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registration: (910) 692-7376.

TAP CLASS. 10 - 11:30 a.m. For adults 55 and older. All levels welcome. Cost per class: $15/resident; $30/non-resident. Douglass Community Center, 1185 W. Pennsylvania Ave., Southern Pines. Info and registration: (910) 692-7376.

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Thank you to all for supporting the Angel Tree and choosing to shop with all of the local businesses in our community. We are here because you choose to shop with us! In Person and Virtual January/February Author Events

DAVID MCKEAN

Watching Darkness Fall: FDR, His Ambassadors, and the Rise of Adolf Hitler January 18th at 4pm

JOE CHRISTIAN

Investing with a Full DeckWhat Las Vegas Taught Me about Managing Money February 1st at 4pm

C.W. LANGSTON

Kullat Nunu and The Man on the Moon: A Lunar Love story February 9th

hosted by the Foundation of First Health at the Clara McClain House

CHECK THE STORE WEBSITE AND TICKETMESANDHILLS.COM FOR MORE EVENT INFORMATION 140 NW Broad Street • Southern Pines, NC • 910.692.3211 • www.thecountrybookshop.biz

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January 9 & 10 Jerry Herman on Broadway BPAC’s Owens Auditorium

January 14 Joslyn & The Sweet Compression BPAC’s Owens Auditorium

January 29 Murder at the Juice Joint

Hugger Mugger Brewing Company

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Sundays GENTLE STORY TIME. 3:30 p.m. This is a sensory story time for families with children on the autism spectrum or with multi-sensory needs. This program is for children ages 3 - 8 and will combine books, songs, movement and integrative activities. Southern Pines Public Library, 170 W. Connecticut Ave., Southern Pines. Info: (910) 692-8235 or www.sppl.net. PS A N I S E S

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Celebrate the new year with a

CHIC NEW YOU!

LOCATED DOWNTOWN 302 East Washington St | Rockingham, NC 28379 (910) 817-7494 www.simplychicmonogramboutique.com Hours: Tues-Fri 10:00-5:30 | Sat 10:00-1:00

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Tired of spending hours searching and applying for jobs on the national job boards and receiving no responses? Let The Pilot and MooreCountyJobs.com help find the perfect job for you. The advertisers are local and have real jobs waiting for the ideal employee. New jobs are posted twice weekly so come back often for the latest openings. Go to MooreCountyJobs.com to subscribe to our weekly Jobs Email to stay current on all the latest jobs in the area.

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

SandhillSeen

Sue Fryant, Liz Kwasnik

Brush & Chisel Reception Arts Council of Moore County Friday, November 5, 2021 Photographs by Diane McKay

Monica Sadler

Martha Dodd, Morgen Kilbourn, Meridith Martens Coralie Lynn, Janet Lehman

Jeed Rhyne, Beppie Menzies

John Mazzarino, Linda Storm June O’Connell

Don Tortorice, Mary-Stewart Regensburg

Jody McCain, Gary McConnell

Susan Reese, Sherry Samkus

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

Mickey Wirtz, Tinsley & Juliet Grove

Lavonne & Joy Donat

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SandhillSeen Blessing of the Hounds

The Moore County Hounds Thursday, November 25, 2021 Photographs by Jeanne Paine

Jim Alley, Summer Compton, Macon Moye

Jacquie, Neil & Andrew Salmon, Charlie Cook, Chip Caviness, Dr. Rick Pillsbury, Terry Cook, Tim Comer

Mike & Reka Reyna

Ally McKinlay, Meagan Dixon, Lauren Wohlrab

Molly Hopton, Cameron Sadler, Tayloe Moye Peter Doubleday

Delilah & Allie Gallo

Teresa White, Jenifer Bruno

SandhillSeen Festival of Trees

Sandhills Children’s Center Friday, November 19, 2021

Photographs by Diane McKay

Melanie Gayle, Jeanie Eastman, Victoria Valentinas Trent, Leah, Sarah, Nylah Johnson

Lloyd & Dee Thompson

Beverly Louie, John Howe, Diane Westbrook

Linda & Lenny Seifts JoAnne Hansz, Jerri Crooms, Nancy Mooney

Joan & Jim Ayersman

Randee Craig, Debbie Swerbinsky

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

SandhillSeen

June & Scott Kenney

Miracles at Weymouth Holiday Festival Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities Friday, December 10, 2021 Photographs by Diane McKay

Matthew, Leila & Michelle Copenhaver

Donna Pointer, Luna Terry, Bill Pointer

Charlotte Gallagher, Eleanor Zolov

Cathy Jones, Rita Weber

Corrine & George Wall

Gayemell Shepherd, Jeanne Williams

Goldie Toon, Linda DeYoung

Nancy Huckabee, Judy Smith, Elizabeth Childers Mary Cody

Kristina Steckmest, Linda Gibbs, Ann Robinson

Lucas, Sarah & Mary Britt

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

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Vintage Watches Wanted ROLEX & TUDOR Omega Hamilton Breitling Pilot-Diver Chronographs Military Watches Buying one Watch or Collection Confidential Cash Buyer

Ed Hicks Vintage Watch Collector

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Pine ServiceS We are so proud and grateful ENJOY WINTER to have such a wonderful PEST FREE staff of nurses!

Personal Care and Private Duty Nursing Medication Planning • Meal Preparation Medical Appointment Assistance every year, Your hard work and dedication is appreciated

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The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

2022 International Year of International Aquaculture

January PineNeedler By Mart Dickerson

Across ACROSS monster 1. Song 53. and Mythical dance, e.g. 1. Song and dance, e.g. 54. Horseshoes players 5. Elmer, to Bugs 5. Elmer, to Bugs 8. Reading 56. lights Aquafarm interest 8. Reading lights 13. ___ 58. tide Papal 13. ___ tide 60. Nerds 14. Brandy flavor 14. Brandy flavor 61. Aquafarm interest 15. Accustom 15. Accustom 62. Restaurant list 16. Instant 16. Instant 63. English exam finale, 18. Having fine oftenthreads 18. Having fine threads 64. “Comprende?” interest 19. Aquafarm interest19. Aquafarm 65. maybe Rim 20. A pint, maybe 20. A pint,

Year of Aquaculture

20 24

28 31

22. Back talk 22. Back talk 38 39 40 DOWN 23. Building addition 23. Building addition 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 1. Liqueur flavorers 24. Adjudicator 24. Adjudicator 2. Thaw again 26. Bauxite, e.g. 48 49 50 51 26. Bauxite, e.g. 3. Steamed Spanish 27. Pilfer 27. Pilfer dish 52 53 54 55 29. Aces, sometimes 29. Aces, 4. sometimes Spread ash, as a 30. Fall from grace 56 57 58 59 30. Fall fromvolcano grace 31. Farm young 5.young Lock type 31. Farm 60 61 62 33. Cures, as meat 6. Horse bag tidbit 33. Cures, as meat 36. Aquafarm interests 63 64 65 7. Come up with 36. Aquafarm interests 38. Peanut butter choice 8. Inmate who’s never 38. Peanut butter 40. Fair-sized musical group gettingchoice out 40. Fair-sized musical 41. Piercing spot 9. “Gimme ___!” (start 25. Less reasonable 38. Amount of ooze 50. “Gee willikers!” of an Iowa State cheer) 42. Footnote word group 28. exam ___-American 39. Capes of authority Like It Hot” 63. English 39. Capes55.of “___ finale, 10. Aquafarm interests authority 10. Aquafarm interests 41. Piercing spot 44. Person alert to injustice, often 32. More pale 43.expanse After-dinner coffee 57. Aliascoffee initials 11. Grassy 43. After-dinner these days 11. Grassy choices, often choices, 59. 42. Footnote word expanse 64. "Comprende?" 34. “My Little Chickadee” Pecan or apple, e.g. often 12. Snake constellation 48. Terminate 12. alert Snaketoconstellation actress (2 wds) 45. ___ over (capsized) 44. Person 65. Rim 45. ___ over (capsized) 14. Dock 49. Baronets and lordsinjustice, 14.these Dock 35. Atop of 46. Making mistakes days 46. Making mistakes 17. Distribute, as cards 51. “. . . ___ he drove out 17. Distribute, as cards (2 36. Ship riggings 47. Save Down 48. of Terminate 47. Save (2 wds) wds) sight” 37. flavorers Out cold 49. Erato’s realm 1. Liqueur 49. Baronets and lords 21. 49. Erato's realm Ease up 21. Ease up 52. “Harper Valley ___” 51. "... ___ he drove out 2. Thaw again 25. Less reasonable 50. "Gee whillikers!" of sight" 3. Steamed spanish dish 28. ___-American 55. "___ Like It Hot" 52. "Harper Valley ___" 4. Spread ash, as a 32. More pale 57. Alias initials volcano 53. Mythical monster 34. "My Little 59. Pecan or apple, i.e. 5. Lock type 54. Horseshoes players Chickadee" actress (2 Puzzle answers on page 105 6. Horse bag tidbit 56. Aquafarm interest wds) Mart Dickerson lives in Southern Pines and welcomes 7. Come up with 58. Papal 35. Atop of suggestions from her fellow puzzle masters. She can be 8. Inmate who's never 60. Nerds 36. Ship riggings reached at martaroonie@gmail.com. getting out 61. Aquafarm interest 37. Out cold 9. "Gimme ___!" (start 62. Restaurant list 38. Amount of ooze of an Iowa State cheer) Sudoku:

Fill in the grid so every row, every column and every 3x3 box contain the numbers 1-9.

The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

1 7 8 3 2 8 9 4 4 8 3 2 1 9

7 1 4

2 PineStraw

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SOUTHWORDS

Brrrrrrrrrr! By K ate Smith

“Did you lose a bet?”

It was a little old lady out walking her dog. I’m in my bikini, wringing water out of my hair on the edge of a Whispering Pines lake. High on endorphins, I just laugh. “It’s good for me,” I say. I’m not naturally hot-blooded. I don’t have the selkie genes — named for the seal folk of Norse mythology — we hear about in people who survive hours in glacial water. And I don’t have a high concentration of that metabolic unicorn, brown adipose tissue. In fact, I have a 97-degree average body temperature, am borderline anemic, and I hate the cold. But I’m trying to change that. It started back in September. On gut instinct, I bought a used 9-foot longboard and taught myself how to surf. It was meditative medicine and nothing has kept me out of the water since. I don’t mind the rashes, skinned legs from wipeouts in broken seashells, sinuses raw with salt water, or bruises on my ribs. I’m not afraid of sharks, even after seeing one a few feet away on my second day in the water, and I’m not fazed by jellyfish stings or colliding with fishing lines. But as soon as winter hit, the cold has given me a run for my money. I have Raynaud’s, an autoimmune condition that constricts the tiny blood vessels to my fingers and toes, making them go white and numb from cold exposure as insignificant as the produce aisle in the grocery store. Despite a full wetsuit with hood, gloves and boots, they still go numb, and it doesn’t take long before my dexterity nosedives, and then so do I. A lot. Add to that the darkness of winter, and despite my best intentions, I’ve found myself huddled in my house for entire weekends, fatigued by the gloom and too cold to surf, the thing that helps the most. I hate the cold. But, really, I’m trying to change that. I heard about this guy named Wim Hof. He climbed Mount

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Kilimanjaro in shorts and ran a half marathon above the Arctic Circle barefoot. I figured if this normal dude can train his body to thrive in the Arctic, I can certainly figure it out here in the South for the sake of getting back on my surfboard. According to Wim, the process of cold adaptation is pretty simple. Do it, safely, until it doesn’t suck so much. The first time I waded into a cold lake, the water felt like razor blades. I dipped under, and came up with my heart pounding, muscles aching, and a little dizzy and disorientated. But when I got back to shore, the blood surged through my body, warming me completely, and brought with it a drug-like euphoria. So, I did it again. And every day since, it’s gotten easier. It’s still cold, but it’s not as painful, and it doesn’t take my breath away. In fact, it makes me feel almost invincible. Turns out, that’s a normal reaction for cold-water swimmers. It’s evidence of something called cross adaptation. When your body adapts to the physical stressor of cold (or heat, or big changes in oxygen or pressure), you become more capable, physically and psychologically, to handle stressors outside your control. What doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger, and it might even bliss you out. Along with strengthening your immune system, cardiovascular system and metabolism, cold water adaptation floods your body with stress-relieving hormones. When you emerge from ice-cold water, your brain thinks you almost died, and it’s rewarding you for staying alive by making you feel positively giddy. Swimming in cold lake water did indeed help my body rise to the physical challenge of winter surfing. Soon, I was back at it, albeit sporting one of the warmest wetsuits on the market. But cold water helped me rise to the challenge of my internal winter, too. Every time I surface from beneath and I see spring a little closer ahead, I get a shot of courage and hope. If Mother Nature can’t stop me, nothing can. PS Kate Smith is the clinical herbalist and holistic health coach of Made Whole Herbs. The Art & Soul of the Sandhills

ILLUSTRATION BY MERIDITH MARTENS

Freezing? Get used to it.

New Year, New View! NATIONALLY ACCREDITED LIFE PLAN COMMUNITIES Independent Living | Assisted Living | Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation

Independent Living at Pine Knoll

Independent Living at Belle Meade

With a variety and choice of comfortable residences with convenience to attractive and purposeful senior living amenities, Pine Knoll offers history and comfort.

Surrounded by lush greenery, Belle Meade is a gated, resort-style community that offers a wide variety of senior living options, including spacious homes and lavish apartments.

Schedule your tour to see MOVE IN READY apartments and cottages that could be your New View for 2022! For more information, call 910-246-1023 or visit www.sjp.org

Our Communities Feel Different Because They Are

Buyer, Purveyor & Appraiser of Fine and Estate Jewellery 229 NE Broad Street • Southern Pines, NC • (910) 692-0551 Mother and Daughter Leann and Whitney Parker Look Forward to Welcoming You to WhitLauter.

January PineStraw 2022

Articles inside

PineNeed ler By Mar t Dickerson

Birdwatch By Susan Campbell

The Omnivorous R eader

In t he Spir it By Tony Cross

Weekend Away By Jason Oliver Ni xon

Hometow n By Bill Fields

T he Creators of N.C. By Wiley Cash

Out of t he Blue By Debora h Sa lomon

Good Nat ured By K aren Fr ye