The Bowls are Here

by Suzanne Cushman

The bowls arrived yesterday. Lots of bowls. I’ve never counted – Fifty? Seventy-five?

Their sizes vary like watermelons, from big enough to hold spaghetti for 20 to small enough for a child’s Cheerios. Made in the Twenties, Thirties, and Forties, the once commonplace bowls range in colors that speak the language of the hills in late summer: every green imaginable and the dull yellows and browns of drying grasses. Then – here and there like wildflowers – a bold orange, yellow or blue.

Over the years, these bowls served up everything that came out of our kitchen, but food was only the beginning. They held rocks and driftwood and sand dollars from the beach at low tide. One was for mail still unopened; another for mail stamped and ready to go. The yellow one-minded keys to cars we barely remember. Side-by-side green ones held notes from me to my husband, and notes from him to me. This wasn’t the first life for our bowls. It was number two, or number three, or number four. I wish I had known the people who lived with them before us. These bowls have stories to tell.

Two people got me hooked on bowls. The first was my grandmother – the clever, hugging, say-it-straight-andadd-a-few-salty-words grandmother. When she died, I snapped up the colorful dishes she spread out on her yellow Formica table three times a day. The oval turquoise bowl for cucumbers and green onions, the ivory “nappy” for mashed potatoes with a glob of butter, the yellow gravy boat for whatever sauce she made up for supper that night.

The second was Carolyn, our Salmon Creek neighbor with bright blue eyes, dimples, and muddy work boots. Every Saturday night, we listened for the grinding gears of her old truck as it crept down Bean Avenue. Then, the two honks in front of our house before she backed into her dirt driveway next door. My husband and I would stop whatever we were doing, hurry out the back door, and hop over the low fence to see what treasures she’d found that day. It was a 20-year tradition.

Carolyn bought and sold collectibles, in the jargon of her trade. She got up early every Saturday morning to preview the latest warehouseful of used furniture and household goods on the block at Skips’s Auction House in the next County. Skip got the call when it came time to liquidate an estate. He’d divide the lifetime of acquisitions into manageable “lots” a dealer could haul away quickly when the auction ended.

Carolyn liked to put in a low bid on the smaller boxes of wellworn household items that barely escaped going to the dump before the auction house finished its job. Occasionally she’d spot a valuable find among the worthless pieces. Then she’d be as thrilled as a gold digger discovering a hefty nugget in his pan.

Carolyn had a sharp eye for the vintage bowls I love. Bauer, Brush McCoy, Fiesta, Red Wing, Weller, Hall, and many others. With luck, one of her “Magic Boxes” held an oversized yellow ware mixing bowl with the classic double red band –perfect for popcorn. Or maybe she’d found an 8-inch green Bauer Ringware bowl. That was the hardest size to find because over the years it was used most often and suffered the most life-ending falls to the kitchen floor.

With only a few exceptions, no two bowls look exactly alike. Even those made by the same company and marked as the same size look and feel different. The less alike the better, if you ask me. So much more interesting that way.

Bowls lived everywhere in our house, sometimes alone, sometimes in rows, sometimes in stacks. No one stayed put too long. Always a different windowsill to sit in.

Now the bowls have come to live in our new house. Last week we sold the house we built 30 years ago and bought a new one far away. We felt like visitors here.

The pile of brown packing paper filled the kitchen by the time we finished unpacking last night. We stayed up late retelling the stories the bowls brought with them. Even though the stories were happy, it made us sad to tell them.

When we got up the next morning, there they all were. Bowls covered every inch of counter space in the kitchen. They huddled together with no room to breathe.

We spent the morning moving our old friends around, to the living room, to the bedroom – no, let’s try the bathroom. Is that bookshelf OK? Does this windowsill feel right? That blue one’s perfect for the mailbox key. We need one here for peaches. The more we moved the bowls around, the more settled they became. The more settled we became.

That’s just how they are, these old bowls. They’ve lived this story before and they’ll live it again, when new people fill them up with the bits and pieces of their lives.

Cushman was Northern born with a Southern heart. She embraces the beautiful imperfections of everyday life. Cooking with her husband and her daughter’s smile are 2 of her favorite things in the world!

32nd Annual Spring Show and Sale

32nd Annual Spring Show and Sale

Live With What You Love: Waterway Art Association

Spruce up your space with artwork from the Spring Art Exhibit and Sale. The Waterway Art Association is hosting its 32nd annual event from April 24th through April 29th at Sunset River Gallery in Calabash, North Carolina. The show is free and open to the public during regular business hours from 11 am to 5 pm.

The Spring Show is judged, with numerous prizes offered that exceed $2000. This year’s judge is Janice Castiglione, a watercolor artist and illustrator with national experience as an illustrator for American Greetings, Random House, Disney, and Fisher Price. She currently teaches at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, North Carolina. The awards reception will take place on Friday, April 28th from 4 to 6 pm.

Mon, April 24 - Sat, April 29, 2023

11 AM to 5 PM

Monday April 24, to Saturday April 29, 2023

The annual spring show provides a place for members to exhibit and sell their work. It also supports an annual scholarship for graduating seniors of area high schools who wish to pursue the arts in their college curriculum. The NC Arts Council and Brunswick Art Council help support the many community outreach programs the Waterway Art Association provides.

Sunset River Gallery

11 AM to 5 PM

Sunset River Gallery

10283 Beach Drive SW, Calabash, NC

10283 Beach Drive SW, Calabash, NC waterwayart.org www.waterwayart.org

Raffle Proceeds Support

Brunswick County Schools

Art Scholarships

Established in 1991, this nonprofit’s mission is to encourage artistic awareness and the enjoyment of fine arts and to stimulate growth both on individual and community levels. The organization fulfills its mission with art exhibits and shows, workshops, demonstrations, indoor and outdoor painting sessions, as well as trips to regional art venues.

The Waterway Art Association invites all artists to join this active group of painters working in various mediums. The organization meets on Wednesday mornings to paint and offers free demonstrations monthly. By providing channels for networking and communication, Waterway Art Association members can experience a creative environment for learning, sharing, and building friendships.

First

Dr. Eskridge is a board certified Ob/Gyn and has been practicing Obstetrics and Gynecology 26 years since her residency at Ochsner Foundation Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana.

She received a B.S in Nursing and worked as an RN for a short while before completing her medical training at LSU School of Medicine in New Orleans. She then moved to Lancaster, SC where she practiced for 9 years.

She eventually moved to Charlotte, NC for the next 17 years. There she practiced high risk Obstetrics & Gynecology with a very busy practice.

She and her husband decided to return to SC and permanently settle in Pawleys Island as they had been coming here to vacation for years. In her free time, she enjoys running, reading, cooking and spending time with her two grandchildren.

She is looking forward to continuing her passion for women’s health by providing gynecological care to the women in the Pawleys area and is accepting new patients.