PinePitch

An Inconvenient Truth

Join David Joy as he discusses Those We Thought We Knew, his compelling new novel of a community whose dark underbelly is suddenly revealed, on Friday, Aug. 4, at The Country Bookshop, 140 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. Joy’s honors include winning the 2020 Dashiell Hammett Award for When These Mountains Burn and the 2018 Southern Book Prize for The Weight of This World. In addition, he was an Edgar Award finalist for best first novel for Where All Light Tends to Go. He’s also the author of Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman’s Journey. The event is free, but space is limited. Go to ticketmesandhills.com to reserve yours.

If You Can Dodge a Wrench

Create your own underdog story at a fun day of dodgeball and fundraising for the CARE Group programs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 26, at the old Aberdeen Elementary School Gym, 305 Elm St., Aberdeen. The cost is $150 for a team of six plus one substitute player and $5 for a Fan in the Stands pass. Unfortunately Patches O’Hoolihan can’t make it. There will be food trucks, drinks, raffles, contests and prizes. For more information visit www.thecaregroupinc.org/events/dodgeball-tournament.

Pinky Finger Up

Spend the day cruising the Seagrove countryside, sampling teas and pastries, as you discover handmade pottery on Saturday, Aug. 12, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Drink iced tea from Carriage House Tea, sample the pastries from the Table Farmhouse Bakery and Holly Hill Farm, then try homemade treats while stopping at Blue Hen Pottery, Dean & Martin Pottery, Eck McCanless Pottery, From the Ground Up, Red Hare Pottery and Thomas Pottery. It all takes place on N.C. Pottery Highway 705, Seagrove.

First Friday

And when you’re finished listening to David Joy, walk down the block — or up the block, depending on if you’re right side up or upside down — to hear Caitlin Krisko and The Broadcast perform from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., Aug. 4, on the First Bank Stage at Sunrise Square, 250 N.W. Broad St., Southern Pines. All the usual rules apply. Leave Cujo at home. There will be beer on tap and food trucks to feed your inner Homer Simpson. For information call (910) 420-2549 or go to www.sunrisetheater.com.

Live After Five

The hits keep on happening when Heads Up Penny performs from 5:15 p.m. to 9 p.m. at The Village Arboretum, 375 Magnolia Road, Pinehurst, on Friday, Aug. 11. Bring lawn chairs, blankets and the unbridled will to dance barefoot in the park. There will be children’s activities and food trucks. Beer, wine and additional beverages will be available for purchase. Picnic baskets are A-OK, but outside alcoholic beverages are not permitted. Julia Golden is the opening act. For more information call (910) 295-3642 or go to www.vopnc.org.

Editor’s Note

In celebration of one of life’s perfect pairings — a beach and a book — PineStraw has produced its summer reading issue every August for over a decade. In that span our contributors have included Frances Mayes, Daniel Wallace, Etaf Rum, Ron Rash, Lee Smith, Clyde Edgerton, Bland Simpson, David Payne, Lee Zacharias, Celia Rivenbark, Michael Parker, Nan Graham, Terri Kirby Erickson, Shelby Stephenson, Fred Chappell, Anthony S. Abbott, Wiley Cash, Ruth Moose, Sam Barbee, Virginia Holman, and Jill McCorkle, to name a few. This year our page-turners are by Valerie Nieman, Brendan Slocumb and Stephen E. Smith and run the gamut from fantasy to thriller to memoir.

And every August we strive to find a cover that celebrates both reading and readers. This year we’re fortunate to be able to feature the work of California artist Michael Stilkey on our cover. The piece is one of Stilkey’s “book sculptures” entitled Self Portrait as Horse, Part Two. In a style reminiscent of German expressionism, Stilkey uses a mix of paint, lacquer, ink and pencil to capture his melancholic, whimsical characters painted on stacks of books, many of which are destined for the recycling bin. Stilkey told the L.A. Times, “Books are dying. There are so many that go to the garbage. It’s crazy. If I can paint on them, I’m giving them a second chance.” His work has been exhibited throughout the United States and around the world including the United Kingdom, Italy, Switzerland, Philippines, Hong Kong and Beijing, China. When the curator of the Rice University Gallery randomly saw his work in a Los Angeles gallery, she flew him to Houston where he created his first large book sculpture. It went viral. “Then I went on a world tour for the next, I don’t know, 15 years,” says Stilkey. “Right place, right idea, right timing. It all aligned.”

In 2018, Stilkey was invited to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland as a cultural leader where he created a book installation entitled Down to Earth consisting of nearly 8,000 books, standing 27 feet tall and 20 feet wide depicting people from diverse walks of life floating on the music of a pianist. In 2019 at the Starfield Library in South Korea he created his largest piece, a three-sided sculpture made of roughly 15,000 discarded books.

If you want to see more of Stilkey’s artwork, visit his website at mikestilkey.com. In the meantime, stick your toes in the sand and enjoy another August reading issue of PineStraw.

— Jim Moriarty

Leo

(July ��– August ��)

No surprise: You’re in the driver’s seat this month, kiddo — just the way you like it. Control is a clever little temptress. With Venus retrograde in Leo until September 3, you can expect more than a few obstacles to arise in relation to an old flame. Navigate wisely, resisting the urge to make any brash or sudden detours. Clarity will return. In the meantime, crack the windows, crank up the tunes and celebrate this wild and precious life with lionhearted exuberance.

Tea leaf “fortunes” for the rest of you:

Virgo (August 23 – September 22)

To thine own self be kind.

Libra (September 23 – October 22)

There’s a balm for that.

Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)

Don’t let the muck get the best of you.

Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)

Finish what you started.

Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)

Lather, rinse and repeat.

Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)

Keep the kindling dry.

Pisces (February 19 – March 20)

Big feelings? Release them with paint.

Aries (March 21 – April 19)

Someone needs a time-out.

Taurus (April 20 – May 20)

The irony won’t be lost on you for long.

Gemini (May 21 – June 20)

Inaction speaks louder than words.

Cancer (June 21 – July 22)

Does “toxic productivity” mean anything to you? PS

Zora Stellanova has been divining with tea leaves since Game of Thrones’ Starbucks cup mishap of 2019. While she’s not exactly a medium, she’s far from average. She lives in the N.C. foothills with her Sphynx cat, Lyla.