Weekend: Saturday in Morgantown

 It's Mountaineer Week in Morgantown, WV and the WV Storytelling Guild is part of the celebration, presenting a storytelling concert that is part of the international Tellabration! series. We drove up early, hoping for a chance to see our youngest son before the concert. However, Morgantown traffic was backed up so we headed straight for the MountainLair to be sure we weren't late. We were lucky enough to have a few minutes to browse the craft show and I got to see some of my favorite artists, like Ingrid Hailer who makes silk scarves and dyes them with natural materials (yes, I ended up with one, a green one dyed with comfrey), and Robert Riffe, jeweler extraordinaire (yep, new earrings!). 

Jim Hauser, my favorite stained glass artist, was at the juried craft show and I asked him to pose with his stained glass project that was on display. This map of West Virginia has been a challenge, he said. He did not want to repeat any glass, so each county is cut from a different sheet. I asked him where this amazing piece might end up and he said he didn't know yet. It certainly should be in a place where all West Virginians can enjoy it. It's a tribute to our home.

I was so happy to see Bob McWhorter at the Tellabration! concert. Bob was instrumental in getting many of us going in storytelling. He is the founder of the first WV Storytelling Festival and guided its progress for eight years. He will always have a special place in my heart, and I know it is the same for the other storytellers he has encouraged over the years.

The storytellers--Back row: Rich Knoblich, me, Jane Gilchrist,  and Jason Burns. Front row: Suzi Whaples, June Riffle and Jo Ann Dadisman.

We were finally able to see our youngest son after the storytelling concert. What a treat that was! He lives in Morgantown but attends Fairmont State University. Tommy is our bodybuilder and is in training for an upcoming bodybuilding competition. I need to post some of his recent photos in pose--his body is incredible right now. Takes after me! Not.

 

Larry and Tommy--Tommy was trying not to crack up because trying to get Larry to behave for a photo is next to impossible!

We were home by midnight to a warm house. Anyone who has heated with wood for years knows what I'm talking about if they ever switched to gas heat. I mean, no wood to haul, no kindling, no staying in our coats until the fire gets going. Just nice, even comfortable heat. This was only our second night with the new stove, but already I felt spoiled.

Larry installed the stove on Friday, on the other side of the brick hearth wall from the wood stove. We didn't want to take out the big stove because free gas can sometimes freeze off or be turned off when the gas company is working on something. But the new stove had certain clearances that needed to be observed for safety. After moving the furniture around and trying different arrangements, we finally agreed that this really is the best place--no furniture close by, bricks behind it and a central location in the house. It's right pretty, too.

That was Saturday. Today--well, that's a whole new post.