Author Archives: Jo Hawke

Remembering NYC: 2006

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As you can see, I was very pregnant by the time our second trip to NYC rolled around. Just two months later, our Atticus was born. 🙂

The picture’s bad, taken with a cell phone, and recaptured by my Droid tonight from a print. (What happened to those files?!)

Here are some things we remember about this trip:

  • We were only there two nights, July 26-28, the shortest stay so far.
  • We saw “Rent” at the Nederlander Theatre. Awesome production!
  • We stayed at the New Yorker, which was nice enough, but way too far away from any subway stops.
  • We stopped in St. Bartholomew’s on the way to St. Patrick’s. Remember, I was pregnant and it was late July…hot!! This stop changed our lives … long story (to come)!

NYC Wedding Trip :)

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This year marks the first in many that we won’t be spending the end of July in New York City.

Usually, we save up all year long to take a few days alone, Kevin and I, exploring the city. This year, however, all savings went toward a downpayment on our new home. Totally worth it, yes, but we’re still in #miss mode.

We decided to take this week, when we’d originally planned to make the trip, and document the years we’ve enjoyed.

Six years ago next week, we sold whatever we could — jewelry, a guitar, a knife collection, etc. — and scraped together the money to spend a few days in Manhattan … and get married!

We left Danville on Monday, July 25, 2005.

Although I’d been twice (once with students to Columbia’s journalism camp and once to sing with a band at the Hard Rock Cafe), it was Kevin’s first time in New York. You should’ve seen his widened eyes and dropped jaw! Or his panicked look when we rushed onto the first subway car at the last minute. So precious! 🙂

That first train ride took us from near the Howard Johnson’s on 8th Avenue, where we stayed that trip (it’s another hotel chain now) downtown to City Hall, where we waited in line sweating like crazy in the heat to get our marriage license.

After we explained their marriage code to them (long story! :P), we finally left with that license, but it was so late by then that we had to wait until Wednesday to get married…

At 10:20 a.m., on Wednesday, July 27, 2005, we were married in the Manhattan City Clerk’s office. Our witness was a lady who lived in Harlem and got married just before us.

When we left City Hall, we walked right into a “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” set.

We headed up to Times Square, had lunch at TGI Fridays, and experienced “Phantom of the Opera” for the first time!!

After crashing for hours at the hotel, we rushed down to the Empire State Building, getting in line just before 11. We knew they took the last elevators up at 11:15, and we wanted to be up there on the night we were married, so we’d bought our tickets in advance.

So when the guy in charge of the line, already on a major power trip, told us they were closing early, I got pretty upset to say the least. I got on the phone, called directory assistance (no smart phones at the time), and called the manager of the Empire State Building to complain. 😛

Within five minutes, that manager had come down personally to escort us to the elevator!

We spent the final 15 minutes of the day we got married on top of the world. 🙂

And then we ran uptown to Central Park and found the last carriage ride of the night.

It was definitely a day we will never forget. 🙂

Going Down the Road Feeling Bad, Bluegrass-ish

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<the video won’t load… looking for a fix for this>

Part of the Bluegrass Jam at James Lynch’s house, Danville, Virginia, May 31, 2011. Kevin Hawke, vocals and guitar; Jo Hawke, vocals; Ryland Hawker, banjo; Wes Holtsford, mandolin; and Laura Liem, fiddle.

I uploaded all the pictures I had from the night, along with the audio of this song. Thanks, Animoto, for making it so easy!!

UPDATE: Songs & Pics added to Bluegrass Jam

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from left: Wes, Laura, Kevin & Ryland

We’ve added additional pictures and individual song files to the 5/31 Bluegrass Jam at James Lynch’s house — featuring our cousin Wes Holtsford, his friend Laura Liem, and Kevin’s dad Ryland Hawker.

The eight songs include: The Man Who Wrote ‘Home Sweet Home’ Never Was a Married Man, Home Sweet Home, Going Down the Road Feeling Bad, Moondance, Cumberland Gap, Faded Love, Old Joe Clark, and Sally Goodin.

Go listen and let us know what you think. 🙂

Jesus in Stained Glass

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I’ve been wanting to get a good shot of this amazing stained glass window (at
Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Danville, Virginia) for a long time now, but usually there’s so much light that the entire image just washes away to white.

This day, though, I must’ve been there at the right time.

Even though the color’s still a little off and some detail is gone, especially at this size and DPI, at least you can see what it’s a picture of: Jesus with his Sacred Heart, surrounded by angels.

When I was about ten, I made a little mushroom sun catcher. It looks like stained glass, but is really plastic chips that melted in the oven. (I still have it in my “specials” box. :P)

Well, since then, I’ve been fascinated by stained glass. I hope one day I’ll get to learn how to do it for real.

And the P’s Win It!

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I enjoy unpacking and organizing our music collection so much better after it’s already done. I mean, the unpacked, organized state is so nice; the process, not so much.

So, anyway, this time, I enlisted Lucas’ help a little bit. I didn’t insist, but he was pretty good at it while he lasted as helper. And even when he wasn’t there, his version of the ABC song, resonating in my head from countless renditions, kept me smiling.

To be completely upfront, this particular job only got half done at our last house. The CD’s and company made it onto shelves but never in any order. It’s extra-nice to have them back where we can find and listen easily.

So now they’re in order. Ahhh…

And the P’s won by quite a few CD’s, thanks to Kevin’s virtually-every-Pink-Floyd-recording collection … and that’s just the stacks, not even counting the huge “Shine On” box set. 😛

The Hill from You-Know-Where

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This may look like an ordinary residential street in a fairly quiet neighborhood, but don’t let it fool you.

Even 15 years ago (when I was in 150 times better shape), this hill could kick my butt.

Whew! (Imagine it in a slow rasp, and that’s my lungs talking afterward.)

Husk

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It caught my eye as we were walking the other day.

A husk.

Kevin kicked it.

It was empty and brittle.

Yeah, I was a little grossed out.

It was pretty big, bigger than a quarter. A bug…

A shed skin.

Something crawled out of there.

And it made me think…

How often have I felt like that?

A shell of myself.

Numb.

All the color drained from my world.

It’s been a while,

but I have been a husk of myself before.

And most people probably didn’t even know.

Because I was smiling. And laughing. And singing.

As usual.

I was a great faker, the real me shrunk up so small inside.

So weak. So scared.

Maybe I needed to be there in order to get here.

Maybe I needed to experience the husk to appreciate the whole.

The Two Who Stayed

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In the end, there were only two, his mother Mary and his apostle John.

Is it any wonder that Mary was assumed into Heaven and that John was the only apostle whose life didn’t end in tragedy?

All the other 12 apostles — with the exception of Judas, who committed suicide — were martyred for the faith.

[Taken today at Sacred Heart’s chapel. One of the 12 stations of the cross, it was handmade years ago and was in the old church building up on West Main Street.]