Rainy Day...

Well it is raining here in my corner of the world today, which means that everything at the sculpture park essentially shuts down for the day.  In some ways, though, it's kind of nice.  It gives us all a chance to rest and reflect, which means I can catch you up on my most recent activities:  Yesterday I was able to finally put up the frame for my sculpture which, I'll admit, was immensely gratifying.  I still have a long way to go, but just seeing the little frame sitting there under the trees made me feel hopeful.  This morning I was able to shovel even MORE dirt and sand for my piece (hazaa!) before the clouds rolled in.  Once it started raining, I headed over the border to Wisconsin with one of my housemates for an ever-entertaining trip to Wal-Mart.  Bet you didn't know they sold individually packaged hot-dogs already in the bun or industrial sized cans of chocolate pudding, did you?  This afternoon I have been able to complete some more sketches, catch up on some overdue correspondence and reorganize my itunes.

Hopefully the sun will be back out tomorrow morning, not only so I can get back to work, but also because the sky here is fascinating to me.  A friend of mine told me the other night about the phenomenon of southerners used to living in heavily wooded areas having near-religious experiences when they witness the openness of the midwest for the first time.  I think she was right-- I've never really been anywhere else so open, where the clouds taper off into the distance and you can see a storm coming from miles away.  Sometimes, when I can see so far into the distance, it almost feels as if I can see the curvature of the earth.  However, it has also brought to my attention that my perception of distance it heavily reliant on my surroundings.  Case in point: I went for a run yesterday down one of the dirt roads near the park.  I saw a silo off in the distance and figured I would run until I reached it and then turn around and run back.  20 minutes later I still had not reached the silo.  It was a very long run.  

And for those of you back in NC, I'll make sure to take some pictures to illustrate this point as soon as the weather improves.  Well, I suppose that's all for now.  Happy trails, friends!

PS-- Didn't post this detail picture the other day, but look at the spider at the bottom.  He must have crept in there when I wasn't looking.