MILLA MONTHLY MUSIC, ARTS AND LITERATURE PUBLICATION OF THE CARRBORO CITIZEN VOL. 4 + NO. 9 + JUNE 2011 INSIDE: t lee smith’s stORIES t VIMALA’s DOSA t CLOSE ENCOUNTERS WITH BEAVERS t SUMMER BEER THE ANNOTATED Follow your Carrboro FLOR A Citizen on Twitter a Take a Closer Look a Now you can read all of Ken Moore’s Flora columns carrborocitizen.com/flora More than 200 illustrated columns archived by season and tagged by (or is it the common and Latin plant names bluebird of and places of interest in the Piedmont. happiness?) Brought to you by YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER MONTHLY ARTS, MUSIC, LOCALLY OWNED AND OPERATED LITERATURE AND DINING Your local newspaper since 2007 CARRBOROCITIZEN.COM/MAIN CARRBOROCITIZEN.COM/MILL 200 N. Greensboro St. Carrboro, NC R eserve your seat! They’re limited! monday evenings @ 7PM panzanella.coop 919.929.6626 Carolina Brewery FEATURING North Carolina’s June 6 7PM great microbreweries Carolina Brewery is a locally- owned brewery that has drawn international attention for its handcrafted beers. Panzanella Chef Jim Nixon will create a special menu for each beer dinner, to complement the locally crafted brews of the evening. 2 carrborocitizen.com/mill + JUNE 2011 MILL WELCOME SUMMER ART NOTES It’s happened again. About 25,000 of following graduation, the locals begin to our neighbors have left us for the next emerge to take advantage of the best couple of months, and, to be honest, this community has to offer. In the galleries we’re not complaining. Patio dining, live music on lawns and The town’s centennial celebra- Parking downtown? A cinch. A drive hikes through our awesome wilderness tion continues at the Carrboro through campus? Leisurely. And secur- are just a few of the draws that lure us Branch Library with an exhibit ing a spot at local watering holes avoided Carrborites and Chapel Hillians out of running June 5 through Oct. 23. nine months out of the year is now a real the woodwork, and we’ve provided more “Happy 100th Birthday, Carrboro!” possibility. than enough suggestions in the coming views urban and rural Carrboro There is a sense of ease that comes pages to keep locals busy for the month through different artistic spec- with the arrival of summer everywhere, to come. And if you haven’t already trums, past and present, including but especially here, where the pace of heard, our neighbors to the west host photography by Jackie Helvey life truly does start to slow down with the quite a little shindig on Saturday eve- and Peter White, fiber art by exodus of a large part of our population. nings throughout the summer; be sure Elaine O’Neil, paintings by Nerys It’s summertime in Carrboro and Chapel to check out details on page 5 and make Levy and images from Dave Otto Hill – summertime unlike anywhere else. your way to Saxapahaw. and Richard Ellington’s recently But while one might expect a com- So before you head to the coast to released book, Carrboro. A recep- Vicki Grant’s “Window to the Earth,” on munity centered around a university to escape the heat (we’re planning on doing tion will be held at the library June display at Eno Gallery shut down during the summer months, so too), be sure to enjoy this community 5 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. it’s quite the contrary here. In the weeks – with ease. – Susan Dickson At The ArtsCenter this month, “One Man’s Trash,” an exhibit of paintings by Bethany Bash, is on display in the East End Gallery, while “Floating World, graphite prints by Mary Ann PUBLISHER AD DIRECTOR Robert Dickson Marty Cassady Anderson, is in the Center Gallery. Receptions for both shows will be held [email protected] [email protected] June 10 from 6 to 9 p.m., during the 2ndFriday ArtWalk. Susan Dickson EDITOR CONTRIBUTORS Also this month, Vicki Grant will display her evocative new sculptural [email protected] Vicky Dickson, Ashley wall pieces and vessels in the “Dreamscapes” exhibit at Hillsborough’s Eno Melzer, Mary Parker Sonis, Gallery through June 21. Grant’s pieces are based in high-fired porcelain Taylor Sisk & Kirk Ross Tyler Huntington, Joshua and utilize hardwoods, glass, metal, fossils and a variety of natural found CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Lucas, Liz Holm [email protected] objects. Over in Saxapahaw, ironwood sculpture by Larry Favorite and digital sil- MILL [email protected] ver/halide photography by Jason Dowdle are on display at the Saxapahaw Art Gallery through June 28. A reception at the gallery will be held June 3 ROSS’S ALMANAC from 6 to 9 p.m. The only clouds forming are crow clouds, the only shade, oaks bound together in a tangle of oak – Kathryn Stripling Byer, “Coastal Plain” Late in the third week of June, the days start to shorten, but ever so slightly. It will be so warm, you won’t notice at first, and the days will be so long, you’ll hardly believe it’s happening. That’s why the summer solstice makes for good parables. June 20, the longest day of the month – and the year – is 14 hours and 36 minutes. By month’s end, the day is a mere 14 hours and 33 minutes long. Visit our beautiful June 1 – Sunrise: 6 a.m.; Sunset: 8:25 p.m. Try our new refreshing garden patio* June 30 – June 30: 6:02 a.m.; Sunset: 8:35 p.m. summertime salad: Moon Phases The Chicken New Moon – June 1; First Quarter – June 8; Berry Salad Full Moon – June 15; Last Quarter – June 23 Tender chicken breast with strawberries, blueberries, almonds The Full Moon in June – the last of spring – is known as the Planting and cucumbers, served on a Moon, Honey Moon, Rose Moon and, yeah, the Hot Moon. That last name bed of romaine lettuce with our was certainly apt for last year, when June started with a stretch of 100-de- raspberry vinaigrette for $6.99. gree days beginning a period of 90 days above 90 degrees. Planets & stars: The month starts with a partial solar eclipse. Saturn Add goat cheese for $1 more sets by midnight and Jupiter rules the predawn sky. Also check out the Spring Triangle, made up of Arcturus, Denebola and Spica – three stars At both the Carrboro and that are part of three different constellations (Boötes, Leo and Virgo). Falconbridge locations June is Dairy Month, Ice Tea Month, Adopt-A-Cat Month and Great for a limited time only Outdoors Month. Significant Dates 300 East Main Street, Carrboro next to ArtsCenter and Cat’s Cradle • June 3 is Egg Day • June 11 is graduation day for the local high schools 929-3330 • June 14 is Flag Day 5209 Falconbridge Road, Chapel Hill University Mall | Chapel Hill • June 17 is Eat Your Vegetables Day near intersection of 54 and I-40 919-929-9466 • June 19 is Father’s Day and Juneteenth 493-0904 Open: M-Th 8a-9p • June 20 is the longest day of the year F-Sa 8a-10p | Su 10a-9p • June 21 is the Summer Solstice Mon-Thurs 10:30am-10pm Fri & Sat 10:30am-11pm • June 24 is UFO Day *Well-mannered, leashed dogs Sun 12noon-10pm are welcome on our patio. MILL JUNE 2011 + carrborocitizen.com/mill 3 FAUNA BY MARY PARKER SONIS Close Encounters of the Castor Kind or hundreds of years, base. It took her 15 seconds to beavers (Castor ca- chew through a 1-inch-diameter nadensis) ruled the piece of wood. Using her deft front waterways of the United paws to maneuver the branch, she States and Canada. then dragged her meal back to the LThey did an excellent job as our creek in her jaws. resident wetland engineers. The Beavers are superb swimmers, demand for beaver pelts in the with large webbed hind feet that they 18th and 19th centuries was one use to propel themselves through of the driving forces in the west- the water. While swimming, the ward expansion of Canada and the beaver uses both hind feet in unison United States, as their lush, dense while keeping the front paws tucked fur was highly prized for its use in beneath its body. The tail is used for the fur and hat industries. a rudder, but not for propulsion. It is In the U.S., the beaver was so also used to warn family members extensively hunted and trapped of impending danger. If an adult that by the beginning of the 20th whacks its tail, all the beavers sub- century beavers had been com- merge themselves in the creek. pletely extirpated from North Last week, I was standing at the Carolina and many other states. creek’s edge watching the female Photo by Mary Parker Sonis Our Bolin Creek population de- adult groom herself on land, about scended from a few beavers that 25 feet from where I stood. I was were reintroduced from Pennsyl- ing sound, not unlike the call of a used to my visits. I love to watch unaware that her mate was directly vania in the 1930s. guinea pig. An adult quieted the kit them interact. The male and female uphill grazing in the underbrush. It is surprising that some people with soft, low murmurs. will often eat at separate channels, He came closer and closer and still regard our largest North Ameri- The beaver family is as charming but when they pass each other finally saw me standing directly can rodent as a pest. Humans and in disposition as it is in appear- in the creek, they pause to touch before him.