Welcome Back From Black Mountain
October 27, 2023
Welcome Back, Y'all!
Or should I say "welcome back" to me? I spent a week out of the shop (starting two weeks ago today, with the drive to the Black Mountain Music Fest, and ending a week ago yesterday, with the drive back to our shop in Woodburn, Indiana). A week sure felt like a month - I missed the smell of sawdust and lacquer!
As promised, I'm going to share a few more photos from the Black Mountain festival (hereafter known as BMMF).
First up - the Folkcraft display had a ton of folks helping out - festival attendees, Folkcraft endorsing artists, and of course my wife, Aly and my dad, Jim. Here's a photo of me with Aly in the vending area:
If I look "out of it." blame it on the workload, lack of sleep, and the altitude. I'm used to 750 feet above sea level, and the BMMF is at a lofty 2500 feet above sea level. Definitely blame it on the altitude, and not on the dozens and dozens of repair jobs I did during the week...
We did take a short break on Wednesday afternoon (last day of the festival) and went outside for a nice photo. This part of the BMMF campus has a rhododendron tunnel (which I've enjoyed each of the 10+ times I've visited the Blue Ridge Assembly) and a picturesqe stream. I sure wish rhododendron trees (these are 15 - 20 feet tall, and very full) would grow in Indiana. I recall walking through miles of rhododendron tunnels on the Appalachian Trail (years ago, before Folkcraft, when I actually had time to go backpacking).
And here's an outdoor view of part of the Blue Ridge Assembly campus. This photo was taken from the back side of the Folkcraft display, looking out on the mountains:
And speaking of the display, here it is from the inside of the building, from a couple of different angles:
And to let you see a bit of the gorgeousness of the facility that Chuck (festival organizer) chose for the event, here's the cafeteria where the artists and attendees shared tables:
What a view. Last year, we saw black bears in the woods outside the dining area, but I didn't see any bears this year.
In this photo, I have my back to the dining room, and am looking across the lobby, towards the Folkcraft ending area. The crowd of people? Waiting for lunch time, of course!
The BMMF is an amazing festival and is definitely one of my favorites. Thanks to Chuck Moseley for putting on this event.
And now that I'm back to the shop, it is definitely time to buckle down and get the "promised for Christmas" dulcimers out the door.
Thanks for reading, Y'all - have a great weekend!
Richard Ash, luthier-who-loves-dulcimer-festivals-even-though-they're-exhausting