KEN-A-PALOOZA......EX-LANDLORD, FRIEND AND ARTIST......UNLEASHED.

The best view I have in my life (besides blood relatives and good friends) is outside my windows. The next-best view I have in my life is everything inside my windows..........and a whole lot of that is due to my ex-landlord, friend and MULTI-talented artist Ken Richardson. From the first cup of coffee in the morning (in a pottery cup that he made in his shop and fired in his backyard kiln) to the bed I sleep in every night....he has designed and crafted more good things in my life.....animate and non-animate......than I could ever mention. The latest of these non-animate objects is a metal sculpture he has been visualizing since the house was completed. Naturally, I took pictures of it for the bbllllllllog.......and found that I couldn't stop with just the sculpture. Hence, the KEN-A-PALOOZA one man show.




view from inside looking out........little nibs of rebar embracing hard, cold steel.......how's that for a catalogue description?
view of sculpture from the kitchen.....prior to opening the icebox to sort and alphabetize the left-overs.......

the shadow knows........

little nibs of rebar embracing cold, hard steel.......with autumn leaves.

where it's at.......so to speak. And therein lies the newest addition to the best view in my life outside the windows........by Ken Richardson. It has only been there for a few weeks, but I can already tell that the quality of my life has been ramped up a few notches. Dramatic, but true. Now.........on with the show.


yep.........pottery and wooden spoons by Ken Richardson......place settings for eight......preferably, for only two or three people at one time. (food and beverages optional)

...welded metal and glass table in the bathroom for morning coffee or crossword puzzle


nudes in the bathroom........towels by Target

welded metal vase...........with dried grasses gathered from the meadow (that's a lie.....they probably came from a Hobby Lobby in Indiana)


sculpted clay wall things/rocks with holes in them.......but, you knew that....


mystic metal pyramid........knows all.....sees nothing......speaks only to the pure of heart.


who else do I know who would take a bed spring (rescued from a river), apply it to a welded stand, and top it off with a glass disc? (And make several more on commission for the city's only contemporary design store?)

this is the best company for breakfast, lunch and dinner a person could hope for.......mannerly, encouraging, compassionate listeners, no real baggage of their own......and they love the view as much as I do.
on the other hand.......this is more of a flash mob. Obstreperous, but energizing. (And they do know their place.)

seriously, it's easy to see why Ken's work has been commissioned by designers, featured in a variety of publications, included in the Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis and named "Best In Show" at several regional arts festivals. He has spent a lifetime giving "found objects" a new and different use or appearance....he has never stopped acquiring techniques or tools that could broaden his horizons.......and most importantly, his soul and sense of humor are in each piece......before, during and after it leaves his hands.

not your typical IRONMAN triathlete........

"copasetic"

all I wanted was a simple metal frame for a mattress that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.......impossible to find.......but ken whipped it out in no time.......at a bargain price......

.........and I took two.


So.....there you have it. KEN-A-PALOOZA. It's like living in a gallery........both inside and out. Not bad, eh?

From wonder to blase (accent over the "e")......and back.

I'll admit that in the beginning of this process I could write an overwhelmingly descriptive paragraph about a shop vac, a punch list or a red shag rug. And did. EVERYTHING was a wonder. I had feelings to share about EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY. Now that I'm living the very dream I've been chasing for fifty-some-odd years, it has taken me SIX MONTHS to even put a few words under blog pictures that I seemingly take for granted. Have I become blase (accent over the "e") since the house and surroundings are mostly completed? Do I fail to notice the joys and intricacies of gravel spreading......rock placement...... lavender planting......tractor driving.....dog smiling events these days? So much so, that I don't even put a caption under the photographs that commemorate these happenings? I'd better be bringing back the wonder.......and I'd better be bringing it back NOW.

I will address "The Psychological Ramifications of Living Smack In The Middle Of A Bllllllllllllogggggg" at a later date. For the time being, it should be written that I'm loving every minute of being in this glorious and extraordinary house......in every way......and due to that very reason, I haven't had an opportunity to put stuff down in writing. That's not blase (accent over the "e"). That's wonder........belated but not forgotten for a minute.

perceive.......contemplate.........examine........discern........
J and J's ROCK REMOVAL AND REPLACEMENT....."We dig rock...."

John R. has the tractor......Jason has the camera.......look at that gravel......look at that rock work. It used to be a carport. Now it is a pavilion.
Former Greenwood Street daredevil.
Behind every great pile of rocks........there is a daredevil.....
and probably a lizard.
Finally. A civilized way to get from Point A to Point B........and everything in between.

It ain't over....till it's over.

Remember the red water faucet that graced this prominent space with its presence? Later painted "Black Fox"? Well, that camouflage wasn't good enough for my friend Ken Richardson. He thought a sculpture was needed. He took a discarded piece of the container....probably part of a window that was cut out.....found the perfect rock on the gravel bar in front of the house.....had a piece of hedge he had been saving for something very important.....and saw a discarded bed frame in a country ditch & called on his wife Shirley to help haul it into the truck for the metal that was required. He calls it a water feature.

And.....like father, like son. Ken's 92 year-old-father decided I needed a bench in front of the house....... had been saving that piece of wood for something very important.......fixed it up and sent it my way......and I now have the perfect place for some heavy duty meditation. And plenty of subjects.

So........I now have a bona fide place to park my truck......vents in the roof of the storage container.......a metal door on the house-end of the container which makes for a speedier and somewhat more civilized entry........great shelves on the inside.......a hand-rail/cable combination on the ramp......a metal door to get into and out of the crawl space.......a gorgeous metal roof vent cover.......and the participation, once again, of some great friends and family.

Michael Mardis......applying the one-of-a-kind, architecturally-designed, state-of-the-art vent fan cover........to replace the previously 24 hour-a-day racket-flappers that caused me many sleepless nights. Phew.

And the crew from Advanced Welding who put up the railing and storage container door in record-breaking time without a hitch. All things should go so smoothly.

I know. It's not everyone's dream......but that metal crawl space door that Michael installed is definitely a work of art.....and guaranteed to keep any love slaves that I happen to adopt safe, secure, and tremendously obedient.

None of the self-help books I've read have sufficiently explored the positive aspects of the solid roof vent cover.......but, I swear, I'm a much better person now than I was.

Pretty slick, eh? Other than a very short period of time back in the mid-seventies when the family was able to sustain a cleared-out garage..........this was the first time in my adult life that I've not had to scrape off my windshield every dang day in the winter. I would highly recommend it.

There is a plan in the works to extend that nice gravel all the way to edge of the carport....and to paint the door black.

At some point, I seem to remember using this space to curse crab grass, non-growing Buffalo Grass.........and the whole *&#$:*(:@+! process of landscaping that non-river-facing area of the site. I have recently entered into a new phase of confronting this difficulty and have had some really good help and plenty of natural resources. See boulders above. Jamie (of the prior tree-planting operation, John R. (of the newly acquired giant tractor), and Jason (of the wonderfully on-going designer/builder/architectural fame have now taken this project to a new level. Actually, it is the first level.

I'm not asking too many questions......but it involves finding big rocks.....chaining them into the tractor bucket......transporting them to the house site.......telling a lot of stories......eating jelly beans........laughing........and then doing something with the rocks.....some left-over dirt.....raking.....more laughing.......mouthing off.......thinking about gravel.......and some other stuff. So far, I really like what I've seen when I get home from a real job.

And then there's MY contribution. It is very cerebral. I have harvested these flat rocks from the bottom of the James River.....drug them to the gravel bar on a blue plastic sled that I found washed up in a log jam.......wheel-barrowed them to the truck and transported them to the house.....to make a nice little rock path leading to the faucet which is camouflaged behind the sculpture.......the water feature, remember? And all of that took a long time......but that is my idea of a very good time. Wading in the river and looking for rocks. Great.

So......then I put the flat rocks in a fairly straight line, made a hard right turn, headed directly to behind the water faucet..............and thought that was the stupidest-looking and stupidest-acting path I had ever seen. Good grief. A rock path (that was difficult to even walk on, at best) to a water faucet.
Consequently, I got my wheel barrow and picked up all of the flat rocks and transported them to the side of the driveway and stacked them over by the propane tank and I no longer have a nice rock path to a water faucet..........that looked very stupid.

DISREGARD THIS PHOTOGRAPH. I COULDN'T DELETE IT......AND DON'T UNDERSTAND IT. IT DOES NOT BRING BACK ANY MEMORIES AT ALL. THAT'S JUST FINE.
And here are a couple of nice spots to contemplate flat rocks.......and other world situations. Stay tuned........it ain't over till it's over.

From WASTE AGE to TURKEY COUNTRY......

From WASTE AGE to TURKEY COUNTRY.......with a lot of crab grass and good porch time in between. Yeah. Remember a year-or-so-ago when someone accused me of being a "media whore"? Whooping it up about this house? Foaming at the mouth? Sending out press releases on the day the big cranes were on the site? Well, now you can read all about the house in the September/October issue of TURKEY COUNTRY......the one with "Muzzleloaders You Can Eat Off Of...15 Easy Steps on page 135" on the cover. So I guess that guy was right.

Vicki Cox wrote the article (which she actually began several months ago) and took the pictures......and happens to be the same journalist who interviewed the Human Cannonball who lives in Halfway, Missouri. I can only imagine how interesting HER life must be. (Vicki's life....that is.)

In addition to that frenzy of media attention, (which was brought to my attention by a very cool 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher at Jarrett Middle School.....or I never would have known about it) I have had some really good encounters from people who have read this blog. A couple of great people from Siloam Springs, Arkansas stopped by on their way home from Chicago.....who plan to build a shipping container house in California.......and spent time asking questions, taking pictures and tromping up and down the hill. I absolutely loved that visit. And another couple who live in this area came to see what the house looked and felt like and talked about a project they are thinking about that could be extremely important to a whole community of people. And a lot of emails asking questions (Bagelpower has stumped me with some concrete floor concerns, but I'm working on it) and offering support and keeping me informed about their progress and pitfalls. I had no idea this would be so INTERACTIVE. Especially since I was trying my hardest to cut down on my interactions. There you go.

So........not much to write about these days......but a whole lot of living is going on here.....and it is real good. Real good.

John R. planting David's Tree.......he'd be proud.

And just when I was ready to ship in a truckload of Amish to finish this thing up.......Michael and Jason showed up on a blistering hot day to pour concrete for the piers that will support the canopy for the carport. Out of the clear blue sky...........

......followed by pork tenderloin sandwiches and really, really thin onion rings at Joe's Diner in Strafford. That was a very good day.

This here is what's called "crab grass".

Remember the plan? Remember the turquoise hydro-seeded yard that was going to magically turn into Buffalo Grass? Native to the area......low maintenance.....drought-resistant.....don't have to mow it.......Buffalo Grass? Well, what we have here is what's called crab grass. But don't think for a moment that we haven't tried to remedy this situation. I am just choosing to leave this life experience out of the narrative at this particular time. %@*(&#**$!!@&

The motivation for these next pictures was the decision and purchase (FINALLY) of table and chairs for the two porches. Boy, does that make a difference in how I've spent my time. What a concept!

Next on the list......besides the canopy that will attach to the piers and to the storage container for a carport and storage/storm shelter....... a railing for the ramp.....some electric work for the storage container........light fixtures for both porches......and ceiling fans.

Now days, I'm whooping it up and foaming at the mouth about porch furniture and possible ceiling fans. I'd say that's progress, wouldn't you?

As I said before, there's not much to write about these days.......it's just all about living here. Look at that porch. How would you like to be able to bring your coffee and yesterday's newspaper out to that table......and not be able to take your eyes off the river long enough to figure out what #6 across on the crossword puzzle is? I go to work.....I come home to a house that I've wanted for as long as I can remember.......and then there's no place to go.....because it's all here.....and so am I. Phew. I'm thankful.