Mountain-Top Revival

We reached the mountain top around 5:30 PM. Clouds were rolling in from the west. Through a break in the trees, I could see faint ridges in the distance. Right away Sheila greeted us at the car with her David Bowie eyes. One brown, one blue.

She was my puppy a year ago, when I got her on a whim from a red wagon with a “Free Puppies” sign. We were riding bikes through downtown Wilmington, NC. Her blue eyes and puppy face melted my heart on the spot. When work demanded too much of my time to take proper care of her high-energy nature, she moved to the best place a dog could live, Pickard’s Mountain.

Now I was visiting Pickard’s Mountain with a mission to re-awaken a vision that had rumbled in my subconscious for years. The project started unintentionally when I photographed Andrea Reusing of Lantern Restaurant on an assignment for the Independent Weekly. I had never heard of slow food or thought much about eating local. I hadn’t even taken very many pictures of food, but Andrea hired me to do some shots. From there I came to know and love the world of educated eating.

I call the project Edible Earth. It is so many things in one. For me, it is a chance to visit beautiful places and meet inspired people who are forming new lifestyles through intentional relationships with the earth. I am so inspired and fired up by what they are doing with plants, composting, animals, new businesses, education and community. Being out in the clean, natural spaces renews my spirit. I simply love doing the work and  seeing the pictures that come from it.

For others, it is a chance to visit these places through my images. There are so many people who have never even conceived of the possibility of these ways of living, let alone these spaces existing so close to their home. For some these images can be eye-openers. For others they are reminders and sources of inspiration. Perhaps I can motivate people to get out there and participate in a community garden. Or motivate people to recycle, compost, and eat local produce. I have no idea of the potential repercussions of this project, but I do know I have to continue until they manifest.

After a show of Sheila’s latest tricks, I began my hunt for pictures. As I shot my way into the scene, I felt uncertain whether I’d get any good shots. I always feel that way. But something happens, I get warmed up, and then I just know what to do.

Margaret showed us her cob house, and it started to downpour. I crept around the outside of the house, looking for shots through the rain. Then I dashed, with my umbrella over my camera, to the red-roofed hut in the garden. From the hut, I took one of my favorite shots. Using a special lens, I was able to capture individual raindrops as they fell onto bright orange flowers. Flower power.

Wetness and grey skies make for vibrant contrasts and shimmering colors in photographs. Feathery leaves and red berries of an asparagus row entranced me with their dreamy, dewy nature. I envisioned them as the inspiration for an Anthropologie catalog fashion shoot. I still can’t decide which asparagus picture is my favorite.

Finding another delightful row of flowers, I lay down in the grass to shoot a withered, bent sunflower head. It’s round face popped out at me like an old man grinning. All the while, Sheila was coming to me with sticks and other throwable things for playing fetch.

My friend Kat found a black snake in the grass. She thought it was a pile of poo, until it moved.  We laughed and fell under the magical spell of purple okra’s mysterious beauty.

At last the sun set, the light faded, and we were hungry. I packed up my lenses and called it a day. With a thank you and a good-bye, we left Pickard’s Mountain.