If you are ever in Wilson, North Carolina, you’re bound to catch sight of the Whirligig Park—an entire landscape full of color and clatter, where the air’s alive with the hum of folk art in motion. A whirligig is a charming contraption frequently used as a decorative garden ornament. It spins when the wind blows… Click to read about this Junk Yard Poet
Characters
Popcorn Sutton was a short, squirrelly dude with a trashy mouth, and I can’t help but be fascinated by his persona. READER BEWARE: Popcorn had a smart mouth and made some lewd signs depicted in the photos that he sent to me. He was born Marvin Sutton; folks knew him as Popcorn. The story is… Click to see photos and story of Popcorn Sutton – BEWARE – some are lewd.
Lynda Oden and her family have been running Oden’s Store since 1904 Oden’s Store and Antiques is chock full of treasures: depression glass, old tools, furniture from the turn of the last century, old doors, some junk, but all of it is interesting. It is the kind of place where you have to poke around… Read more
Politics resurrect memories. There was another election: Richard Nixon in the 60s. Back then, I had decided that if Nixon was re-elected, I was moving to Africa. Remember, this was the sixties. I can’t remember where in Africa — either Ivory Coast or Liberia. Made sense to me at the time. T.S. Applegate, physics professor… Read more
This original salsa recipe is a crowd-pleaser and a cook-pleaser -It only takes 5 minutes to make. Barney’s Killer Salsa • 1 28-ounce can diced (not petite diced tomatoes)• 2 1/2 Tablespoons jalapeno slices (in a jar)• 1 Tablespoon juice from the jalapeno jar• 2 teaspoons sugar• 1 cup fresh (loosely packed cilantro)• 1/4 medium… Read more
“Miss Sadie” James ran the Big Mill gristmill for as long as I can remember. In the 1940’s prior to when she and her husband, Columbus, bought it, it had been a water-powered sawmill. It was converted to a grist mill, the stones to grind the corn were shipped over from England. Sometime later in… Read more
Vollis Simpson, called the Junkyard Poet of Whirligigs and Windmills by the New York Times Vollis Simpson is a craftsman of brightly painted metal art – giant creations he calls windmills and we call whirligigs. Driving through eastern North Carolina looking for Lucama and Vollis Simpson’s Whirligig Farm, you begin to wonder if you are… Read more
We sailed into Green Turtle Cay in the Abaco Islands in 1978 and I met Hank Cochran that day. Hank was lounging on the back of his Grand Banks 50, aptly named “The Legend.” Photo of Hank Cochran by Chloe Tuttle Garland Perry “Hank” Cochran was born in Isola, Mississippi in 1935. Hank moved to Nashville in… Read more
