It's all about Me

My name is Harold Eaves and I am 24 years and 422 months old. I have all my teeth except one and have a  hairline that recedes to the back of my head. I have been married 38 years and have 6 children and 6 grandchildren. I enjoy movies, pecan pies, music, more pecan pies, a new pen and blank paper, my scriptures, and the word “coooool”. Some things that concern me are horses, mean people, cliff edges, grey anything, spandex, and New York City. I have moved 43 times in my short life, spent 10 years in the U.S. Nuclear Navy and another 6 years in college. Being in small spaces makes my palms sweat and elevators are a blind hole in the building that has the poor breeding to move.  My vision of heaven is the home and hell is being a patient in the hospital with no escape. I have a bucket list that includes scuba diving and spitting in the Grand Canyon. I have a medical condition which really means that I become very interesting if I fail to take my medication. I have worked as a computer systems administrator for 20 years. And finally, I work on Hill Air Force Base and won’t talk about my job. These are the boring facts, the background. I wanted to get them out of the way.

Presently, as I've been working on my preparations for presenting my art work at Peach Days, my house and yard have developed that ‘Back to Nature’ look about them. And as we are already headed into autumn and the growing season is over, it now becomes a priority to batten down the hatches and rig for the coming winter. I love the first of winter when the snow is still fresh and bright. I hate the last of winter when everything is cold and wet and gritty. That’s just me.

I love adventures, and the best ones are those that you survive to talk (see’ brag’) about. I no longer swim with the alligators or chase bears out of my camp. Instead I take the roads that I don’t know and that aren’t on the map. Or I repair a fixture and it doesn’t explode.  Or I skip the deodorant to see who my real friends are. Not as exciting as falling from a cliff or picking leeches from my underwear, but it will do.

Have you ever wondered how a people without the calculator, a written language, an engineer, or an espresso machine made multistoried housing complexes that have lasted over 700 years? Me too. But they did and they are beautiful. The structures that is. Well maybe the people were too. Probably were. And it’s that rugged beauty that fascinates me. I want to share it with others, even those views where I have used a little ‘artistic license’. Some have a LOT of artistic license and some have dropped the pretense altogether and are outright lies. But pretty ones. Ones that I enjoy and hope others will too.

So now you are all caught up with the rest of us. This is a small window into some of my history and who I am and what I’m about. I hope it helps you understand a little better when I shoot my eye out trying to use the grownup words in my blog.

Sunny Summer Picnic

This last weekend we went on a picnic. In North Ogden there is a spring that comes from a stump of fiberglass (it replaced the old cottonwood stump.) The water is very pure from this spring and it is tested twice a month to make sure it stays that way. We filled up our water jugs there.

Doesn’t this just look delicious? It makes me want to take a drink even when I’m not thirsty. And it’s cold even though the day is very hot. If it was allowed and if I had brought my bathing suit, I would be sorely tempted to just lay under the flow of water until I needed the sun again to warm me up.

We then went on a picnic above Hardware Ranch. We found a large meadow and set up our little folding table with all the makings of an exceptional lunch. Evelyn and I sat in the shade of the car and ate while Rachael wandered here and there taking samples of the interesting plants she found. She went as far as the other side of the meadow and into the woods on the other side of the road. Evelyn collected some rocks that she thought looked interesting. I was happy with the view and the food.

We stopped occasionally on the way home so that our botanist could collect more samples. We all had a great time and discovered even more places to have picnics in the future.

Peach Days

This is the first time that I have had a canopy at the Peach Days fair. I learned a great deal and plan on showing my art again next year. Or selling it. That is if I have anything new to show. I think that working to sell anything is like sparing in the boxing ring. You can practice all you want but you will never actually know how good you are until you are in the ring. For an artist selling to the public, you are given an idea of what other people value... color or black and white, large format or small, print or the more expensive originals, inks as opposed to water color as opposed to paint, etc. It was exciting to get that look into the collective public mind. I kinda felt like a voyeur, looking at someone and seeing their emotions when they looked at my work. Sometimes it was a very pleasing and other times it wasn't. But it was always an adventure.

Another thing that I learned was how much work it was to set up and later take down the site. The canopy and all that was in it. I also learned that most people are window shoppers like me. They are curious but aren't really looking to spend any money. I spent six times more on selling than l sold, but that will greatly improve next year because I now have the large expenses out of the way. And the adventure itself is worth a great deal.

Anyway, I had a great time and look forward to returning next year.

This was our setup. It was a great location but there was no breeze or shade and the inside of the canopy was hot and still. So we brought a fan.



My daughter Rachael, the main reason I made any sales.