Colin Meloy

A couple months ago Liz gave me one of my birthday gifts. Two tickets to see Colin Meloy of The Decemberists. Front row. Center. My initial, pure excitement that took place in September upon receiving the gift soon gave way to focusing on other priorities. At the time November was so far away.

November came. I found myself getting both excited and anxious. Would my admiration and love for The Deceberists result in uncontrollable giggling? It has happened before. Would I be reduced to tears? It has also happened before. I didn’t know.

The night began in our favorite Rigsbee Ave area. We had dinner at Geer Street before drinks at  Fullsteam. We continued with a walk to the Carolina Theatre.

Allow me to take a moment to express how much I love seeing anything at the Carolina Theatre. It is a beautiful setting to watch anything. A Clockwork Orange (first visit to Durham). The Godfather (first Easter in Durham). Moonrise Kingdom. The list goes on. In short, the Carolina Theatre sets the stage for whatever is being placed on your visual and/or audible plate at the time. 

Colin Meloy took the stage. A glass of red wine in hand. You had me a hello, Colin. 

His humor made me shed tears of laughter. He even engaged Liz on a few occasions, asking her in a playful manner, “What are you laughing at?” before prompting her to start singing so that the audience would follow suit. As the evening progressed, laughter turned to reflection, then… turned to joyful tears.

The night was extremely memorable, and one of the best postponed birthday gifts that a guy could have.

Coop Du Jour

The last couple of months have been full of the hustle and bustle of searching for a house of our own. While patiently searching for the right home, I took a stab at my first chicken coop. I say first because I began with the intention of giving it a new home once complete. It was one of those things that you do, just to see if you can do it.

While the finished product wasn’t all that attractive, it was a good springboard for similar undertakings in the future. In the end, the finished product was just what a kind Chapel Hill police officer needed to house her bullied pullets.

To see how others in the area house their chickens Liz and I happily took part in the Bull City Coop Tour this weekend – a self-guided tour of chicken coops in, and around, Downtown Durham. We started with our regular trip to the farmer’s market, but this time with an added purpose. We wanted to add to our OKC emblazoned bag – already half full of squash, tomatoes, peppers and beans – a treasure map. It might as well been a treasure map as it held the locations of the 9 coops on the tour.

While we didn’t make it to each of the 9 locations, we did enjoy seeing how others approached housing their hens. We were surprised to find ourselves visiting a coop at the historic Duke Homestead. Another location, just blocks from the house we moved from two weeks ago, housed a pair of very social/humorous hens, raised by a young girl as a school project. At one stop we even got an education on aquaponics, which couples plants and fish in a re-circulating system to cultivate the crops. In this particular case the result was an excellent mint tea provided by the owner. It was a nice way to spend the morning.

Now to check with the HOA to make sure we can have chickens of our own in our new neighborhood. If all goes well maybe we'll be a stop on next year’s tour. 

The Next Fall Garden

This time last year I was planting a Fall garden. Peas, radishes, etc. I remember being most excited about the peas. I had never grown them before as the OK weather was a bit too extreme to for peas to be regularly successful. As a kid, the only time that I had previously seen peas in a garden was at my Grandpa’s, in Pennsylvania. They were quite novel to me and always a treat.

This year I refrained from planting a Fall garden for one reason. I didn’t think I would be at the same property long enough to reap the fruits of my labor. I was correct. Last week, Liz and I got the keys to our new house!

I can’t wait to turn over the backyard soil of our new yard and build new beds.

Summer, Was That You?

Summer was a whirlwind. Vacations were taken. Families were visited. The chicken coop was finished. Whole30 was attempted and successfully completed. All in all, adventures were had.

Above are images from Pennsylvania, Michigan and my home-sweet-home, Durham.

I am still not over how much of a season Fall actually is in North Carolina. Realizing that the last sentence sounds ridiculous to most, those from Oklahoma know that Fall happens in between Summer and Winter when the green leaves are hit by an abrupt frost and wake up on the ground the next morning.

Here in Durham, the invigorating crisp, fall weather has arrived and the leaves are waiting to burst into flames. As they do, I anxiously await with rake in hand. 

Nesting

You can take the boy out of Oklahoma, but apparently a bit of Oklahoma tags along for the journey when leaving. Lately, Liz and I have been talking about where in Durham we want to grow roots and buy a house. Often the conversations lead to what the smaller house in the back yard looks like as well. As we plan for a house, we find ourselves discussing the possibility of having chickens, which are allowed within Durham city limits. The house in the back is where “the ladies” might live. Admittedly, their names have already been chosen. Ella (Fitzgerald), Nina (Simone) and Billie (Holiday).  

After comparing and pricing chicken coops I realized that many of them were designed with function in mind. Functionality in a coop is great, don’t get me wrong, however I found myself looking for a solution that paid a little more attention to the aesthetics of the coop. That is to say, this big box is going to be sitting in a back yard (in a Durham neighborhood in this scenario). At minimum, I would hope that it would not be an eye sore.

Considering the location of our house is to be determined, I thought I would give building a chicken coop a shot in the mean time. Practice for the future. So, I scratched down some less than technical plans and bought some wood. Here is to hoping it takes shape. 

Spring Begins In DURM

As winter changes to spring, Durham events are once again moving outdoors.

This past weekend, on the 700 block of Rigsbee Avenue, Durhamites renewed their commitment to the city’s well being at the second anniversary of Marry Durham. 

The weekend before (as pictured above) a St. Patrick’s Day carnival centered around the filming of a music video in the downtown CCB Plaza. The local rapper, The Real Laww, was shooting footage for his new video "Ninjas in DURM". Lilly’s Pizza shared their pies and Triangle Brewing provided libations. Because of the grey skies and chilly weather, Liz and I bounced from Pizzeria Toro, to the plaza, to Alley Twenty Six, and back to the plaza to take part in the festivities. We made our rounds and took in the ever-enjoyable spirit(s) of Durham. I even made friends with the largest and sweetest pit bull puppy (I use the term puppy loosely) that I have ever met.

My anticipation for future events continues to grow.  I continue to find myself getting more and more excited about this city, about DURM.

Durham's Dinosaur

As a child I was convinced that I wanted to be a paleontologist. How I had dreams of paleontology at the age of four, I will never know (thanks mom and dad). While the dream never came to fruition, I have found that the appeal is still there. After moving to Durham, I was introduced to this video and it reminded me why, as a child, I connected with “a freaking dinosaur”.

Originally part of the Durham Museum of Life and Science’s Dinosaur Trail, built in 1967, the brontosaurus (decapitated in 2009 and since repaired) is the last prehistoric structure that remains. It has quickly become one of my Durham Happy Places.

While the depiction may not be correct by modern scientific standards, it is just right for a boy that once dreamt of dinosaurs. At the end of the day, like Liz pointed out, it is simply a place for “a boy and his dinosaur”. 

The First Kiss

Three years ago today, Liz and I shared a moment that would direct our collective paths. It was our first kiss. We enjoy recounting the way we met, how our relationship developed, and where it has led us. The opportunity to tell our story arose when I saw a call for entries in the Indy Week, a publication that is distributed throughout Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill.

The call for entries noted that the Indy Week was taking submissions for love stories to print as Valentine’s Day approached. “Newly in love? Together forever? Gay? Straight? We want to hear your story!” the headline read. I compiled an abridged description of how we met in 250 or less. The following ran in the February 13^th issue, the day before Valentine’s Day.

Most people can only recall their first kiss. Luckily, my first kiss with The One was photographed – in a photo booth, with her wearing my suit jacket, a bottle of Patron in her hand and my tie in my friend’s mouth. Striking.

36 hours prior to that kiss, Elizabeth Fabry had agreed to take a new job and move from Oklahoma City to Durham, North Carolina, 1,200 miles away.

After the kiss we came to discover there were numerous chances for us to find each other. We graduated the same year, from the same university and started working in the same industry. We had mutual friends that were just waiting for the right time to introduce us. I even have pictures of me with her dancing in the background taken a year before we met.

Because of that kiss, I left the majority of my belongings in OKC and trekked cross-country, on the highway that was a block from that photo booth and lead me directly to Durham.

Since the move, we have fallen more in love with one another and with The Triangle, and we are having the discussions about our future together.

With that in mind, I need to first ask her father’s permission to marry her.

So, Mr. Fabry, may I have your permission to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage? No matter how far away your little girl may be she will always be taken care of in a way that will make you proud.

I mailed two copies of the Indy Week, accompanied by a letter, to Mr. Fabry in Northeastern Oklahoma. Gratefully, I received his permission. Albeit not yet a proposal, it was the first step in solidifying our collective future.

The Indy Week shares the story and the picture on their site here. A BIG thanks to them for lending this transplanted Okie a hand.

Murder By Death

It was the first show that Liz and I had seen together. Murder By Death at The Conservatory in Oklahoma City. There is no way that we could have foreseen that, nearly 3 years later, we would schedule a weekend getaway around the MBD show in Wilmington, NC. As one of my favorite bands, I couldn’t help but join them as they played the second show of their tour.

I had seen them several times before and even have a print, from their 2007 show in Tulsa, in my office. As a result, I’ve attempted to explain to multiple inquirers that Murder By Death is not a metal band, but quite the contrary. Listening to them is like going on a whiskey-fueled road trip, with an amazing storyteller, through the Appalachians. Instead of hearing banjos along the way, you hear a cello. And the storyteller might, just might, have a little bit of Johnny Cash’s spirit flowing through him. 

We caught up with that storyteller at The Soapbox Laundro-Lounge in Wilmington. A space that once began as a place for “laundry, lounging and libations” had made it their business to host concerts as well. An intimate venue, it set the set the perfect stage for an incredibly enjoyable show, and a perfect bookend to the final evening of our road trip.

Wilmington

It is a bit surreal to see the sun rise over the Atlantic in the morning, and then set over the water that same evening. That was the case as Liz and I moved inland from Wrightsville beach. We made the short drive to downtown Wilmington and checked into a hotel overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.

Natural inlets, bays, and rivers comprise the Intracoastal Waterway that runs 3,000 miles through the Atlanitic and Gulf coasts. From our perch on the waterway we took a short walk to downtown, visiting Chop Deli and Cape Fear Beer & Wine before seeking our final destination at The Soapbox Laundro-Lounge.

Having never visited Wilmington, it was a town full of pleasant surprises. The food and drinks were delicious. The people were kind. And the strolls along the river walk, and out onto the docks, were both visually and mentally relaxing. Our tour-de-Wilmington definitely prompted conversations of plans to return.

Where I-40 E Ends

I set my alarm for 6:45 am. It was a Saturday and I didn’t want to get out of bed that early, but I knew that the sun was going to rise over the Atlantic just after seven. The alarm went off and I was surprisingly awake as I started the single-serve coffee maker. As I walked on to the hotel balcony, I couldn’t help but be pleased at the thought that I was one of the first people in the U.S. to watch the sun rise that morning.

Over the course of the year-and-a-half prior, I had not taken the short drive out to Wrightsville Beach. I knew that the ocean was there, and yet I didn’t feel the need to see it. However, one of my favorite bands, Murder By Death, was playing in Wilmington, NC later that weekend. And I did feel the need to see them.We decided to make a weekend of it and booked a room overlooking the oceanfront. The morning after our arrival I sat, sipping the single-serve coffee, watching as the sun revealed the ocean, the sand, and the beach houses that were previously concealed by the night before. Come to find out, I did need to see the coast, and solidify my place on the map. 

Mega Event Infinite Magic

Jeremy and Kathleen kindly housed us while we were in OKC. During that time Liz got to help prepare for the Braid Creative open house, and I got to run around Downtown OKC to rediscover my old stomping grounds. So many shiny new things to see. 36 hours later, I wiped my brow from taking in all of the must-sees, and we loaded up for the drive back to Tulsa to board our plane. As we started to say goodbye to our old hometown we made one last stop near the corner of 9th and Broadway. 

The Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne founded an art gallery on Automobile Alley dubbed The Womb. The Womb has a psychedelically painted exterior, and houses ever-changing unorthodox art installations. Under the wing of its multi-colored walls sits an Oklahoma-centric shop called Dwelling Spaces. I had frequented the Tulsa location, and was looking forward to stopping at the recently opened OKC shop. It was filled with all things Okie-grown. Oklahoma music, local art prints, and even Wayne Coyne felt finger puppets. We walked out with smiles and Oklahoma swag to take back to the East Coast. The fact that there was a giant, mirror ball right outside the front door was just the cherry on top of the psychedelic sundae.

SkyDance Bridge

For the holidays Liz and I flew back to Oklahoma. We spent the better half of a week playing connect-the-family-and-friends dots. I am fairly certain that we covered a quarter of the state in a matter of days. It was an enjoyable flourish before we hit I-44 to Oklahoma City.

Since I moved from OKC, I had not seen Devon Tower completed, gone to The Mule, eaten at Kitchen 324, visited The Womb, shopped at Dwelling Spaces OKC, or seen anything but plans for SkyDance Bridge. In 36 hours my to-do list was dominated. Doubly so for The Mule and Kitchen 324.

The new-to-me location that I was most looking forward to was SkyDance Bridge. I was curious to check out the structure that Americans for the Arts named one of the nation's 50 best public art projects. The co-designer and manager of the bridge project, Hans Butzer, was also the designer of the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial. My unofficial go-to place for solace when I lived in OKC.

SkyDance Bridge is a pedestrian bridge that spans I-40. It measures 380 feet long, 20 feet wide and 197 feet tall. The design was inspired by the scissor-tailed flycatcher, Oklahoma’s state bird. It is almost as if the oversized, metal bird is flying into downtown to perch on the skyline.

The first visit back to OKC was the perfect balance of comfortable familiarity, and genuine appreciation of the continued growth of a city that I still love.