Our Lady of the Way

A Virgin a Day
December 2, 2010
Day 2

A Virgin a Day is the title of this Meme Project. It is a tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe. The plan is to post about The Blessed Virgin Mary for twelve days, ending on December 12th, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. To participate, see Rebecca’s recuerdo mi corazon blog. There, you will get more definition and instructions as well as see other’s submissions. 

You can't imagine how bummed out I am that I have to leave town right in the middle of all this Virgin business that's going on. But I must. I will post a photo of an original art piece I have today, and will pick up where I left off when I return. I won't be back until next week, probably by Tuesday, but I'll get Virgin a Day posts in for the last 6 days of this wonderful Meme Project. Please make your way back here, and to the others. I have some excitement planned.

As I will throughout the entire exercise, I devote these posts to my Mother, Carmelina Rosa Caruso Spado, who dearly loved The Blessed Virgin Mary in any form she appeared.

For today, Day 2 of twelve, I present a print of a painting I have of Nuestra Senora del Camino, Our Lady of the Way.

A print of a painting by Francesca I. de Garcia C

Many think, when they hear of Our Lady of the Way, that she is the Patron Saint of travelers. But her claim to fame is much more than that. The "Way" that she guides, is the way of Jesus Christ.

A brief story, I purchased this piece for my Mother many years ago while I was in the small town of La Mesilla, NM, near Las Cruces. That's the first time I met Francesca, the artist. I have returned a number of times and plan on seeing her again this Winter as I travel to New Mexico.

When my Mother passed, I asked that I could have this artist's rendition  back for my own collection and my request was granted by my brother and sister.

Peace to All

Our Lady of Perpetual Help

A Virgin a Day

December 1, 2010

A Virgin a Day is the title of this Meme Project. It is a tribute to Our Lady of Guadalupe. To participate, see Rebecca’s recuerdo mi corazon blog. There, you will get more definition and instructions as well as see other’s submissions. 

I have always had a fascination with the image and statues I’ve seen of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I never knew why I liked this art form so much, but after my Mother went on her final journey home last February, I realized it was her influence and her faith that has kept me interested and somewhat knowledgeable, about Our Lady. If you care to, you may look at this as religious, or you may see it as art for the sake of art. 


I make no assertions about anything to anyone as far as my own faith or (lack of) religion with these posts. I simply dedicate my involvement with this Virgin Business to my Loving Mother, Carmelina Rosa Caruso Spado. Just to be talking about the Blessed Virgin Mary would make her proud of me.

We will start today, December 1st, with an image on a Colcha of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. More about Colchas later. We'll end on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12th. If you are not familiar with Feast Days, well, then you obviously aren’t, or weren’t raised as, a Catholic. Here is a Saint a Day site that lists names of Saints and their Feast Days. It’s actually quite interesting, and might even be useful for the Catholics among my readers that need a refresher about Saints days. By the way, HERE is information about the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the main subject of this entire Meme Project.

For the first day of this Meme, I’d like to show you some photos I took inside the El Camino Real Cultural Heritage Center just South of Socorro, New Mexico. The center is along I-25 at exit 115. This Cultural Center lies along the original El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, The Royal Road of the Interior Lands. You can get a sense of the 1500 mile trade route journey from Zacatecas, Mexico to Santa Fe, New Mexico with a visit to this heritage site.

One of the displays was of a colcha. A colcha is a woven wool mat, banner or blanket that has a design embroidered with wool. Wool on wool, if you will. This is a colonial art form. Much more about colcha embroidery can be found by clicking on this highlighted area

This particular colcha is entitled Nuestra Senora de Socorro, Our Lady of Perpetual Help. By the way, the Feast Day of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is on June 27th. The word Socorro means “Help” or “Aid”. In June of 1598, Juan de Onate led a group of Spanish settlers through the region using the Jornada del Muerto, the journey of death, an inhospitable patch of desert that ends just South of what is now present day Socorro, NM. The local Piro Indians gave the travelers food and water, saving them from dehydration, hence the name, Socorro.

Here is my Virgin of the day. Nuestra Senora de Socorro embroidered by the Secorro Colcha Embroidery Group.

Beautifully woven wool on wool. Our Lady of Perpetual Help
(Note: All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them)

This sign posted information about the exhibit

This colcha measures approximately 16" X 22"

In the days to come, there will be more artwork of Our lady. I won’t be able to do one every day as I will be on the road and traveling to Washington DC, and be gone about a week starting tomorrow. I’ll resume my postings of Our Lady and tend to this Virgin Business upon my return.

Peace to All

Sunday Morning in Spadoville

You may wonder why the religious icon as a header today. Read on, it might be interesting. It's transition time here at Spadoville. Many things going on, all designed to improve the lives of those that live here. Taking care of the details has been keeping me busy. That equates to non participation lately in Shadow Shot Sunday, Haiku My Heart Friday, Ruby Tuesday, Only the Good Friday or any of the usual storytelling that goes on around here. Now, another Meme will be taking place starting December 1st.

This newest one only will last twelve days. It’s called A Virgin a Day and is created and sponsored by my friend Rebecca from the blog recuerda mi corazon, the same one that does the Friday Haiku.

I’m not sure what my attraction is to the Saints, particularly the Virgin Mary, but I’m drawn to the art. I especially like Our Lady of Guadaloupe and have a few paintings and statues. Some paintings of others adorn small spaces around here as well. No big “collection” or anything like that, but this and that strewn around my living area. There is a Shrine to Our Lady of Guadelupe<> not far from my place. Their gift shop has Virgin Marys in all shapes and sizes as well as statues, flags, paintings, prints and hammered tin.

I’ll try to post some Saint stuff during that time period. But I can’t post every day as I’ll be out of town from December 2nd through at least the 7th. I’ll be on the road again, this time headed to Washington DC, and yes, I’m driving. This trip is sort of business. I sold one of my motorcycles and have arranged to deliver it to the buyer.

By the way, since I started doing the memes on the blogs, I’ve met some fabulous people. Wise ones, artistic ones, funny ones and some wise, artistic funny ones too. Some deep thinkers out there, and some damn good artists who create fantastic things, write dreamy thought provoking poetry and photograph nature at its finest, not to mention just plain interesting intelligent people. Check out some of the sites on my side bar. That’s another thing I need to do, edit that side bar and add more to the list.

Around the house itself there has been some small construction projects. Some in the planning stage, some in the waiting stage and others in the actual doing stage. We’re planning on making some sort of heated hallway enclosure in the garage. With four kids and three adults, the pile of boots, mittens, scarves, hats, winter coats and school/work backpacks is just too much. I tell you we can’t even get the door open, the one that enters the house through the kitchen, when all those things are piled up.

We finally got things together and have signed a contract for a new furnace, A/C system and water heater to be installed. You might remember we wanted to do this last year, but the local bank refused our low life scum-of-the-earth asses a loan. I saw no reason for the loan that would enhance our homes physical plant, save us money, be good for the environment and employ local workers was denied, especially when the tax credit for installing a new heating system was created to stimulate the economy. A lot of faith my bank showed it has in that program.

Anyway, they’re coming to install the new system next week and I will be able to take advantage of the tax credit after all. I did it without borrowing. Took a while to save up, but it’s going to get done.

Let’s see. I have to finish the downstairs bathroom project. Trim, baseboards and a new drop ceiling, oh, and the door needs some repair or maybe replacement. Then there’s a new French patio door to replace the old slider that allows enough cold air to infiltrate our living space to make ice cubes when we set a glass of water down on the end table next to my comfy chair. The new garage service entry door too.

So, you see, I have a lot of stuff going on. Besides all of the above, I’m trying like crazy to finish some Dream Catchers I have promised to people, and I have orders for two drums that I must fulfill before too long. Just busy, busy, busy as a bee. So, my blog posts suffer. And my visitations to other blog friends suffers too. And did I mention the appointments at the VA? Oh yeah, I have to see an orthopedic guy Wednesday. I hope I get that cortisone shot in my left shoulder. I can’t even reach out to get money out of the ATM! I’ll play hell reaching my arm out the window to pay the tolls on my trip out East. Maybe I’ll just stay off the turnpike.

So there you have it. News from Spadoville. Doctors, construction, new furnace, a trip out East, recovery and support group meetings. Maybe I can fit in getting the Grandkids on the school bus and being here when they get off alongside making dinner. When the hell am I suppose to answer e-mail, smoke a cigar or watch some football? It’s hockey season too!

I did have some fun over this long Thanksgiving weekend though. I’ll leave you with a few shots of the kids at the sledding hill. We didn’t have enough snow to make the hill in top notch sledding condition, but it was enough to enjoy the afternoon. The hot chocolate was good after the hill as it was cold outside despite the bright sunshine.

The four Grands coming up the hill for more. 

Loading onto the sled for the epic ride

Enjoying a cold but sunny day in the Northland

Cold doesn't phase these kids!

Take care and be well all of you. Be kind to each other. Practice Peace in all your affairs and above all, love everybody, or at least someone.

Peace

Trip to Clarks Hill, 2010

The Veterans from the Clarks Hill area. Mrs. Scott, in yellow jacket, is with us.

Many of you know about the reason for my trip to Clarks Hill, South Carolina every November. For those of you that don’t, you can reference back to these previously posted stories about my visits there in 2007 and 2008. I didn’t make it in 2009, but I did return this year. It was wonderful to see my friends again, and enjoy the home cooking.

A small sampling of the great food served to us at the Bethany Baptist Church Dining Hall

Mrs. Scott, who just celebrated her 94th birthday, has opened a museum. It is housed in the old school house on the property of the Bethany Baptist Church in Clarks Hill. What an appropriate place to read and see history but in an old historic building. Mrs. Scott has assembled the history of this parish and school in a simple way, yet so much about life then and now is evident within such a small space. The building itself cannot be but  16 X 20 feet.

In this museum, she reflects her life as a child, a school girl, her college years, as a teacher and now, as the matriarch of this community. Photos of every past reverend at Bethany, the sister churches built and operated around the region to spread the word of the Gospel to others. She honors the Veterans of the community. Relics from the old church and school, including the worn wooden benches that were used by her parents.

This is the military wall. The man in the center above the eagle photo is my friend, Frazier Dixon, KIA 12/03/1969

She tells us of how she picked cotton, and her parents and Grandparents picked cotton. She has a great display about quilt patterns that were used as code by the slaves and how these codes would aid in escape. More about the Underground Railroad and the use of these codes at this fabulous web site on Black history.

This was the lowest gas price we spotted along our journey. This is in North Carolina at a stop along I-77

The trip itself, driving down to South Carolina from Wisconsin, was accomplished in a couple of days. The little Ford Focus we have gets great gas mileage. Since we have a manual, or stick shift, we get 40 mpg on a regular basis. Imagine how thrilled we were when we found gas prices down South to be thirty cents less per gallon than back home.

The original Sanders Restaurant in Corbin, KY. Colonel Sanders started the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant chain right here.

A highlight of the drive down was a trip through The Great Smoky Mountain National Forest and National Park in Eastern Tennessee and North Carolina. We also drove a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway. The skies were sunny and the temperature was warm enough for us to have the windows rolled down somewhat, but there was snow on the ground high in the Smokies, as these photos will attest. Many of the trees were still in their best Autumn form. It was a beautiful day for a drive through some very scenic countryside.

Great Smoky Mountain National Park

The first day, we drove about 800 miles, all on the Interstate, and covered that in a little more than twelve hours. The second day was leisurely by contrast. We did the same on the way home, a long day of driving followed by a shorter day through some great Ohio countryside, a North South corridor from Interstate 70 to Cleveland, along Ohio Highway 83.

On our road trips, we always look for thrift stores and good food. We knew there was good BBQ in South Carolina and Mutz BBQ in the small town of Greer was where we whetted that particular appetite. I had the rib and pulled pork all-you-can-eat special.

A few weeks ago, I was watching the Food Network and saw this special about fried chicken in a place called Barberton, Ohio. Since our journey home took us from Clarks Hill, SC, near Augusta, GA North towards the Cleveland area, we saw that Barberton was on the way. We scheduled the drive to stop and try this so-called world famous chicken. We were pretty much disappointed. The chicken tasted okay, but it was nothing special. I’ve had chicken just as good from our local  grocery store deli department. The pieces were small, and it seems that the notoriety from the TV spot had the prices high for what was put on the plate. Here’s the Food Network story alongside a picture of what my plate looked like. We ate at a place called The White House. They finished second in the TV show. Maybe we should have tried number one!

The chicken dinner as served at The White House, Barberton, OH

We did Waffle House a couple of times for breakfast, but in rural central Illinois, we stopped in at a place called Grubsteakers. At first, we thought it a bar and didn’t know if we should try it. When we got closer and saw the restaurant part of the place, I pulled in without hesitation. It was really good food. Good pancakes, and some of the best American fried breakfast spuds I’ve had anywhere and a good cup of coffee to go with ‘em. All this with great service.

Maybe it wasn't as bad as I might try to have you believe.

That’s about it for our culinary adventure part of the trip. Of course the reason we go down to South Carolina every year around this time is no secret. It was great to visit old friends. My friend Frazier Dixon, who died in Vietnam in 1969, was born and raised in Clarks Hill, SC. We attended the Veterans Program again this year and also got to see Mrs. Scott’s museum. We talked with Anthony, Frazier’s best friend from his school days, and Shirley, his blood sister. Dan and Lois, his cousins were there and other Veteran friends from the Clarks Hill area, Sam and James.

A few years ago, you may remember I participated in an event called The Longest Walk. I met many fabulous people on that walk and one of them lives near the Cleveland, OH area. Her name is Jen. On the walk, I found out that Jen was born in the same hospital as my daughter Maggie, and that her birth took place exactly one week previous to Maggie’s birth.

I tell you, it seems our Maggie follows us everywhere!

Jen had a baby 17 months ago. His name is Sam and I had never met him. The idea that we were on the road and had a chance to stop off near Cleveland had us heading that way after we left South Carolina. We got to see our friend and her Mom and meet Sam. It is such a great feeling to reconnect with friends while on the road.

My friends Jen and Sam having some fun.



I won’t have too much time to wait around until I’m back on the road again. I’ll be leaving for Washington DC on December 2nd. I’ll be on the road, driving again. This time, I’ll be in the van and hauling a motorcycle out that way that I’ll be delivering. I’ve got a few plans for a couple of stops, but this trip is mostly business.

An interesting building along a small two-lane road in South Carolina

All in all, it was a great trip. We drove in sunny warm weather all the way in both directions. The Focus ran admirably. We found numerous thrift stores and brought back treasures for the Grandkids. We got to see the museum and attend another Veterans program in Clarks Hill and place flowers on the grave of someone very dear to me. We presented the Clarks Hill community with a beautiful Star Quilt given to them by the community of my spiritual leader friend from Red Cliff, Wisconsin.

This Star quilt was presented to Mrs. Scott to share with the Clarks Hill community

In the meantime, thanks for letting me bend your ear about my goings on. What’s new with you?

Have a peaceful day, everyday.

By Popular Demand, More About the Quilt Barns

In the post below this one, the Shadow Shot Sunday offering, there seemed to be a lot of questions and surprise about the subject matter, Quilt Barns. Here are more facts about Quilt Barns in general and how this whole mess started.

In my Shadow Shot Sunday post, I used a couple of photos I took on a recent trip through the Southeast USA. These shots were of Quilt Barns, a barn where someone has either painted on a quilt pattern, or where the pattern was painted on wood and hung up at the peak of the barn roof.

One of the Quilt Barns I saw in Southeastern Tennessee while on a recent road trip

What amazed me, was that there were so many people who made comments to the effect that they had never seen this before, and also there were those that had never heard of it. I did a little research and found out it is a bit regional. Mostly in the Midwest and Eastern parts of the United States.

As I mentioned in my Shadow Shot post, my friend Mel, who pens the Mel’s Dream blog, has posted photos of Quilt Barns on her site. I’ve seen these before and when I saw so many in Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, I stopped and took a few photos to send to her. I noticed the shadows on the photos I took and decided to include these particular photos for Shadow Shot Sunday, a photo meme that comes from Tracy in Queensland, Australia.

Ironically, when I was in Clarks Hill, SC, the destination and reason for the trip I took in the first place, I had the honor of seeing the Georgia C. Scott Museum there. This small 100 plus year old school house has been transformed into a showcase of the memoirs of Mrs. Scott. More about this and the trip to Clarks Hill to come in the days ahead. Mrs. Scott is the 94 year old Elder, former school teacher and Matriarch of the Clarks Hill community.

But in that museum, Mrs. Scott, whose Grandparents, parents and herself as a child picked cotton, there was a display of quilts and quilt patterns. The story was told about how the pattern that was sewn actually gave out information and was a code used by slaves amongst themselves during the days of the underground railroad.

This excellent site, Owen Sound’s Black History, has a whole section about the Underground Railroad and the use of code in quilt patterns. These pattern messages would be sewn into quilts and hung for others to see and get information about traveling escape routes. When you go to the site, be sure to click on the More about Underground Railroad Quilt Code at the bottom of the page. The actual patterns will be shown and their meaning described.

This symbol is called Britches and indicates the escaping slave needed to dress as a free person

The above picture is the kind is of display Mrs. Scott had in her museum. Samples of the quilt patterns. More irony is that my journey down to Clarks Hill was for the purpose of seeing friends and family of a friend of mine that I had held in my arms as he died on the battlefield in Vietnam in 1969. In a synchronistic way, the family of my friend and I were joined a few years ago. Now, I make the trip yearly to stand with them as they honor Veterans.

In years past, an Ojibwe Spiritual Elder friend of mine from Northern Wisconsin, also a Veteran of the American war in Vietnam, has had me bring down gifts to the Elder Mrs. Scott. One gift was an Eagle feather. The traditional Ojibwe teaching is that the feather represented the Warrior Spirit of my friend and that I have been carrying that spirit with me for so many years. By bringing the Eagle feather to them, I was returning his spirit back to his community.

This year, my friend had a dream. In that dream,  I was to bring a blanket to the community. He chose the blanket. It was a Star Quilt pattern, showing the four directions. The number four represents many things. The four winds or directions, for example, and that the spirits are all around us and come from all directions and in all colors of mankind.

My friend Anthony and I holding up the Star Quilt given to Mrs. Scott for the Clarks Hill community

The blanket itself is given for many reasons. Mainly, I have seen it to honor people or as a gift to honor the dead. The Star Quilt I brought to Clarks Hill was for the whole community to honor the death of one of their own Veteran Warriors, my friend, Frazier T. Dixon. Mrs. Scott, being an Elder and held in high regard of that community, received the quilt on their behalf.

I brought this Star Quilt Blanket down with me to present to the Clarks Hill Community. In my travels I spotted the Quilt Barns and remembered my friend in Iowa and how much she likes the barns. I took photos. Then, in the small museum, I see this display of quilt patterns and how they were used as code in slavery days down South.

A lot of quilt business going down during this entire process. Now, I post a Shadow Shot and find many people interested in finding out more. Well, I did some searching and found page after page of material, (no pun intended), about Quilt Barns. Here are a few sites:


This one is a fantastic blog called Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail

Here’s one from Western Iowa

American Quilt Barns has many links to images and trails in over 25 states

And Here is another from Greenfield, Ohio

Anyway, This turned out to be such an interesting and thought provoking subject. And just yesterday, as I was sitting around the house relaxing, my phone rang and it was a reporter from the small town of McCormick, South Carolina. McCormick is a scant 20 miles North of Clarks Hill.

Last time I was in Clarks Hill, this woman did a story about the Veterans Program that Mrs. Scott puts on every year. She wrote about my visit and the importance of getting together and sharing the memory of Frazier Dixon, my friend, who perished in battle in the Republic of Vietnam on December 3, 1969.

Now, she was doing a story about the museum and Mrs. Scott had showed her the quilt I had given to them. The reporter asked me to tell her the meaning of the quilt pattern, the Star Quilt. I tell you, this quilt stuff just doesn’t quit. I might even learn to sew.

By the way, I have  Star Quilt that was given to me. I’ll post a photo of it and tell you about it and the mysterious journey it traveled some other time.

The Star Quilt gifted to me years ago, hanging in my old Westside Warehouse gallery and shop

Peace

Quilt Barns

I have posted more information about Quilt Barns in a newer post. If you are interested, Have a look

Shadow Shot Sunday

November 21, 2010

Shadow Shot Sunday is a creation from down under, Brisbane, Queensland it says on the profile page. To see more Shadow Shots or to find out how you can participate, go to the Hey Harriet blog.

My Shadow Shots today are from a recent trip I took down the Southeast of the USA. We drove. I have much more time than money, so the forty plus miles per gallon option was a more thrifty alternative to flying. Besides, have you been keeping up with all that flap about the Xray scanners?

A good blogger friend of mine, Mel over at Mel’s Dream, runs around the countryside of rural Iowa, USA in her Jeep and snaps photos of all sorts of things. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets, natural occurrences of flora and fauna, trains and as I’ve taken notice of lately, quilt barns. In fact, she posted a photo today of a beautiful quilt barn.

While on my journey, I mentioned Mel and her blog in casual conversation when we saw a quilt barn. Then, every so often, Mrs. Spadoman would say to me, “There’s another quilt barn”, and point in the direction of said structure. I stopped once and took a couple of photos. Then, I stopped again and actually got out of the car and walked a huge field to take a few pictures of another rather interesting quilt barn.

The first is a small store/apartment in a trendy art gallery area of the town of Corbin, Kentucky. The second is in the countryside in deep Southeastern Tennessee, not far from the Smoky Mountains. Both of these places as well as everywhere we went were casting shadows as the sun is angled so deeply in the sky this time of year.

We saw many more quilt barns, but I didn’t stop and take photos of all of them. The subject did give us something to talk about besides where we were going to be eating our next meal while nibbling on the giant sourdough pretzels and Honeycrisp apples, snacking as we drove.

I love the contrast of the almost new looking perfect quilt on the peak of the old weathered barn.

The shadowy mountainous landscape beyond the barn are the Smoky Mountains, part of the Appalacians.

Have a wonderful day and live in Peace.

Talk the Talk, Walk the Walk

Haiku My Heart Friday

November 19, 2010

Haiku My Heart Friday was started by Rebecca. To see more haiku and find out how tomparticipate, see her blog, recuerdo mi corazon

In the meantime, I just returned from a journey of extreme importance to me. I'm working hard to piece together the story behind it all. In the meantime, as I sorted through my iPhoto albums, I came across this photo of what looks like a groomed path.

To a certain extent, that's just what it is. But it has been used as a corridor for many years, hundreds of years actually. It is the El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro, translated, that means the Royal Road to the Interior. This section, between Las Cruces and Socorro in New Mexico was called the Jornada Del Muerto or Journey of Death.

This stretch of the trail is known as being a short cut on the traverse from North to South, but very treacherous for its lack of water and attacks by the Apache. This photo was taken from the new El Camino Real Hertitage Center located about 30 miles South of Socorro, NM.

As I mentioned, my trip to South Carolina was a special journey. I looked at this photo and thought of the people who chose to take this dangerous path instead of the route along the Rio Grande. Then I thought of our own journeys, the figurative ones we might be on or thinking about. I'll let the haiku speak to the rest of my thoughts.

A portion of El Camino Real South of Socorro, NM. If you click on it, you can enlarge this photo.

What path guides your way

Is there purpose in your walk

Following your heart

I hope your life is filled with Peace