Field Guide: Critter Comforts

Hi! Happy weekend. 

You’ve probably seen one around. In fact, while exchanging edits with writer Andrea Richards, I stepped out to walk my dog and texted Andrea a picture of one spotted along the way: “Critter??” 

She confirmed that, yes, the reindeer log in the photo was one of Bynum artist Clyde Jones’ ubiquitous critters, cut by chainsaw from logs and dispersed throughout North Carolina and beyond. Now you can read all about them in Andrea’s feature, which is also our cover story this week. It’s a great remembrance of Jones, who died this last Christmas Eve, but it’s also just a great story about making art for art’s sake and staying true to yourself. 

Here’s Gene Hamer of Crook’s Corner, a friend and patron of Jones’, describing the process of transporting a truckload of critters to the North Carolina Museum for a show, once: 

“We just loaded the back of it with animals and drove over to Raleigh,” Hamer said. “All these people came out with white gloves on. And they started delicately taking all those animals off the back, which we had just 45 minutes earlier just piled in the back of the truck.” 

Also, there’s an incredible anecdote in the story about a giant snake that Jones kept as a house pet. You’ll want to read it. 

Critter Crossing. Read the story here. Photo by Photo by Jeremy M. Lange.

Spring Council, the youngest daughter of restaurateur Mildred Council (better known as Mama Dip), just released a book. Southern Roots is part memoir, part cookbook, and Lena Geller wrote a fantastic piece about Spring  Council’s literary chops, which include wistful recollections on family recipes and growing up in Chapel Hill’s close-knit Northside neighborhood.  

The Durham Skate Park is a winner in the city’s latest round of participatory budgeting and will be receiving an upgrade. Good! 

Finally, last week I linked this piece on dwindling traditions and the forces that Black-owned BBQ restaurants are up against, but wanted to highlight it again: 

A cultural memory will blur. North Carolina barbecue will still exist, but it may increasingly be defined by white-owned restaurants with the resources to withstand crises, pivot to trends, and invest in marketing.

“The state will still have smoke,” cultural historian Adrian Miller said. “But not necessarily the story behind it.”

ICYMI: MCM marvels. QuiltCon! Shakespeare.

The Carrboro Film Festival was rescheduled due to snow last month, but picks back up today through March 1. There’s still time to go see films! If you can’t make that this weekend, the Hayti Film Festival is next weekend. And the Nevermore Film Festival at the Carolina Theatre is this weekend. Options! 

Here’s a nice piece in Garden & Gunon Durham pop-up dinner company, Snap Pea Creative Dining. In Raleigh, Player’s Retreat celebrated 75 years. I want to go see this new sculpture at Annie Louise Wilkerson Nature Preserve in Raleigh. Quilts that speak up from QuiltCon.

— Sarah Edwards —
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