National Festival Update

 Because the Town of Jonesborough and the surrounding region are highly dependent on income from the National Festival weekend, every effort was made to find a way to have the Festival following the destruction of Hurricane Helene.  However, other facts have made this impossible.

Washington County (Jonesborough) and surrounding counties have now been officially declared a Federal Disaster Area.  This means that all resources, including hotel rooms, rental cars, emergency officials, sheriff’s personnel, and others are prioritized directly for the recovery of those who have lost homes and other resources.

It is not possible to envisage going forward with the Festival in this climate of need and recovery.  This is a sad and costly decision and will take a lot of recovery in itself.

I am already in town and will still be the Teller in Residence this week.  We are working at using this program as a way to contribute to storm recovery and more information about this will come later.

Please remain aware of the work being done here and continue your prayers and efforts to contribute help.  We will continue to update plans.

Helene

 Trish and I came on to Jonesborough, Tennessee, on Thursday and got ahead of the Hurricane.  If we had not come, we would not be able to get here. Both I26 and I40 are closed between here and North Carolina. Power is back on here and water is also working. 

We hope that you are safe where you are.  Hold fast, offer prayers and concrete help, and, we will all be working to move forward through this hard time.  People are amazingly resilient creatures!

Quick Trip Home

 From the Grand Canyon we drove to Mountain City, Tennessee, where I had a performance at Heritage Hall on Saturday, then we drove home on Sunday for three days. It is time to collect mail, pay bills, do laundry, and repack for the National Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. 

When we got out of the car and walked around the house, we were met with a surprise.  Another one of our banana plants was in bloom! 

We now have two bunches of bananas maturing side by side!

The first bunch is fattening up and we are watching then carefully.

Also, when we were back in the Tetons, Trish had admired some moose antlers and said she would like some.  I found an Alaska pair on eBay and couldn’t resist.  Now she has to figure out what to do with them!

Now we are repacked and on our way to Jonesborough.  We are going a bit early so I can practice with the Novelty Band and get ready for my time as Teller in Residence next week.  It is all fun!

Special Sights at the Canyon

 Of course, the gigantic view of the Grand Canyon itself grabs our eyes over and over again as we look out from our hotel.

But, there are many things to notice apart from the gigantic canyon vistas.  Here is a blooming Kaibab Agave, sometimes called a Century Plant, we saw blooming near Mather Point. Also known as a Yant, this plant is the most hardy of the agave family and it grows as well in totally arid conditions.  This was a big one!

While we usually look out from out hotel building, when we walk for some distance along the rim trail, we can look back and there is the El Tovar perched on our usual edge.

Then…while knowing that wildlife was all about us, we saw mostly chipmunks and squirrels until we came upon a big harem of female elk. Since it is mating season, we knew their male must be nearby. Sure enough, here he is, just watching his herd!

Then, back at the hotel for our last night, we take one more look and see the canyon painted with the shadows of dusk.  A beautiful last vision of a wonderful visit.

Grand Canyon, South Rim

 After our time in Page, Trish and I have four days at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, one of our favorite spots.

We came in from the east and made our first stop at Mary Colter’s Desert View Lookout tower right on the rim.

From this vantage point you get a great view of the Colorado River as it comes down the Canyon.  From most viewpoints the river is hidden deep in the inner parts of the central gorge.

After this stop, we drove on down and checked in to our hotel, the 1905 El Tovar, originally built by Fred Harvey for the Santa Fe Railroad.  We are right on the rim.  The porch outside our room is a great place for reading with a magnificent background.

Before the day was over, we had to walk down to visit part of the Bright Angel Trail, the very place where Merle and I rode the mules some years ago.  Today we prefer walking!

Page, Arizona

 Page, Arizona, was established in 1957, the year when the Glen Canyon Dam construction started.  It took ten years to finish the dam, bridge, and power plant that established Lake Powell.  By then, Page was here to stay!

After telling stories with Kim Weitkamp for the Great Circle Storytelling Festival, Trish and I had an additional full day to explore around Page.  We decided to spend the morning at Upper Antelope Canyon, an amazing slot canyon that was not discovered until the 1800’s.

You disappear into the Canyon and in its depths almost go into the dark,  if we were up on top, you could step across the opening.

The colors change with the light and dark and with the changing rock structures in the Canyon.  It was life disappearing into a wonderland.

When water comes through here after a storm, it can go up to forty feet on the walls. Yes, people have died by not heeding the weather and not getting out in time.  Our guide, a Navaho gentleman named Donovan, told us lots of stories about growing up here.  He leads five tours every day and was wonderful.

After our morning in the Canyon, we had a hike to the Horseshoe Bend of the Colorado River.  It was a very pleasant day!

Grand Canyon, North Rim

 On our way to the Grand Circle Storytelling Festival, Trish and I stopped over for a few days at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  This is much different from the South Rim, first of all being nearly 2,000 feet higher in elevation, a factor that left both of us with some altitude sickness.

While the South Rim has multiple hotels both inside the Park and just outside, the North Rim has only one option: the cabins associated with the Lodge there.  They are charming and date back to 1928 when the Lodge itself was built. We loved staying here.

The views look down Bright Angel Creek that runs to the Colorado River at the bottom.  We did not hike much as the altitude was getting to us, but, the views were lovely.

Another unique thing along the North Rim is the growth of Bristlecone Pine trees.  These often warped and not at all large trees are actually the oldest species on earth.  Their ages run not in centuries but in thousands of years. 

On Thursday we head over to Page, Arizona, where Kim Weitkamp and I have a performance together.

Bryce Canyon

 After the Timpanogos Festival, Trish and I drove down into Southern Utah for a few days at Bryce Canyon National Park.

The trip in itself is spectacular as you drive through the beautiful rock formations of The Red Canyon on the journey.

We stayed in the Bryce Canyon National Park Lodge, almost on the edge of the canyon itself.  Less than five minutes from our room we were on the spectacular Rim Trail.

The scenery of the Canyon is breathtaking. It reminds me of a giant version of the Magic Rocks I loved to grow in a jar when I was a child.  You can look down and see tiny people walking on trails deep in the canyon and get a perspective on how large the scene really is.

One of the fascinating things to see here are the trees and the way they find a tiny hold and cling to life in the Canyon.  They get a grip and continue to grow even as the land erodes with the wind right out from under them.  They never give up!

We keep wondering what the first humans who came upon this place thought upon seeing it!

Timpanogos Storytelling Festival

 We have just finished the 35th Timpanogos Storytelling Festival in Lehi, Utah.

The festival is held in the beautiful Ashton Gardens at Thanksgiving Point.  This fifty-five acre garden is a destination in itself as well as the setting for this remarkably outstanding festival.

This anniversary year featured an astounding lineup of tellers.  Joining me were Andy Offutt Irwin, Sheila Arnold, Kevin Kling, Adam Booth, Bil Lepp, Jasmine Cardenas, Charlotte Blake-Alston, Dolores Hydock, Moe Reynolds, Deb’s Newbold, Andy Hedges, and others.

  Most of the sessions were also started by a story from a National Youth Teller.

In addition to the tent stages during the daytimes, evenings were held at the outdoor Amphitheatre holding an unknown number of people as well as indoor performances at the indoor Show Barn.

This is one of the Festivals at which I tell every year. It is a favorite extra home for Trish and for me.

The Apple Seed

 Trish and I have arrived in Lehi, Utah, for the beginning of the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival Week.

Our first day here was spent recording for The Apple Seed.  If you are not familiar with this wonderful program, let me introduce you.  Go to the APP store and download the “BYU RADIO” app.  Then search the app for “The Apple Seed Storytelling.”  This is a wonderful storytelling show that has six full seasons of free storytelling by some of the finest tellers in the world.  This week, six of us have been recording an additional new season.

Sam Payne, a wonderful storyteller himself, is the producer of The Apple Seed.  The program started several years ago with collections of storytellers’ CDs.  It was so popular that now they are producing their own recordings.

People are gathered in a small living room style studio so there is a live audience.  This helps both the tellers and the realism of the recording sound.  We have a great time doing this.

Check out The Apple Seed next time you have a hunger to listen to stories!

Tetons to Jackson Hole

 At Colter Bay in the Tetons, we stayed in one of a group of little cabins that were built in 1922.  Of course they have been upgraded, but the original charm is still there.  It is said that John D. Rockefeller stayed in one of these cabins when he fell in love with the Tetons and afterward began to buy the land which he donated to create the National Park here.

We had a pair of little mule deer who stayed around our cabin the whole time we were here.  They had no fear and were charming companions, making a last visit as we left.

Back up in Yellowstone, we were disappointed that the great herd of bison usually seen there had moved north and we missed them.  On our way to Jackson Hole, however, we met the Teton herd right in the process of grazing alongside our highway.  What a beautiful scene with the huge animals grazing with the mountains in their background.

Finally we stopped by the roadside for our last look at the Grand Tetons, just emerging from the mist with their reflection in the water.  This is such a restful place and we never tire of coming here.

Jenny Lake

 Yesterday Trish and I spent most of the day around the Jenny Lake region of the Tetons.  We had brunch at Jenny Lake Lodge, one of our favorite places.  There were beautiful flowers everywhere, just enjoying the Teton climate that they love.

Following our brunch, we began to wander along the shore of Jenny Lake.  This is a smaller lake that where we are staying at Colter Bay, but it gives us views of the mountains that are totally different from there or on the river.

When we could see the water closely, we could see that it is so clear the bottom is visible.   No one was in the water here.  Our bet was that it was far too cold for that.  There is still snow melt coming down at the end of the summer; new snow will be in the way very soon.

This is our last day here. Tomorrow we go to Jackson Hole.