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Monticello Road is a community arts project in Charlottesville, Virginia. Through photography and a series of public events and conversations, we explore how an art can be an essential, integral and everyday part of a healthy community.


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Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Costa Rican Beer, White Wine, or Punch?

Those were the beverage choices at the LaGrange Biennial. And red wine. That was my choice. (I admit that I did try the punch too.)


General Lafeyette welcomes travellers to his empty square.

Here are some impressions from my trip to Georgia, in no particular order:

  • A dog running in mad circles at the extreme frontier of his invisible paddock as I run by along a country road.
  • Completely empty town square.
  • I enter an army surplus/sporting goods store looking for Gu for tomorrow’s long run:

    Old timer, comes rushing over as soon as I enter the store. "May I help you?"
    Me: "I’m looking for Gu."
    Old Timer: [Quizzical look]
    Me: "You know, energy gel, like PowerGel...a liquid version of power bars."
    Old Timer: "What’s that?"
    Me: "It’s a high-calorie energy source for endurance sports..."
    Old Timer: "Like for diabetics?"
    Younger guy in store: [shakes head]
    Me: Thank you!
    Old Timer: My wife’s diabetic...
  • Sierra Nevada listed as an import in the local art/cafe.
  • College campus without a soul. Granted, it’s a beautiful Saturday afternoon (70 degrees) but wow!
  • I’m coughing up (and spitting out) the last remnants of that flu bug everyone had.
  • Evidence of the draught everywhere. Not a green blade of anything. Granted, it is winter, but again...wow!
  • Daffodils (the one exception)
  • Many, many lakes, all with boat launches.
  • Cloudless cobalt sky drops in to a Peter Max gradient to yellow at the horizon made of bare trees like a comb.
  • Sitting by the lake in a relaxed (or is it expectant?) quiet. The New Yorker in me keeps waiting for something to happen. The reality is more likely to be a sigh, then sleep, followed by more of the same.
  • For some reason, the town on the hill reminds me of Noto, Sicily.
  • Everyone I meet has been to New York at least once.
  • The Bible is on a quarter of the radio stations.
  • The more beautiful the woman, the sooner church seems to arise in the conversation.
  • Every bite of food had been delicious. Even at the airport.
  • At one point, when I parked for lunch, I actually rolled all the windows down to air out my stuff while I took a walk. In New York, that would be the source of a thousand jokes...

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