Author: Ashley Atkins

What’s in a name?

~ Ashley Atkins ~ Leave a comment

~~ Originally printed in Carrboro (NC) Free Press, January 2009 ~~

I’m fascinated by language, words, names, and naming. Not just proper names, but the names that have been assigned to objects through the ages. The way mythology teaches of the world being spoken into creation, followed by the naming of all the creatures.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Names reflect consensus, agreement within a group of people that a word or sound belongs with a certain object. At some point it was agreed that the thing you hold and read, with pages of writing between two covers, is, in English, a “book,” and the leather thing you pull on to keep your feet warm and dry is a “boot.” Continue reading →

Rock ’em, sock ’em

~ Ashley Atkins ~ Leave a comment

~~ Originally printed in Carrboro (NC) Free Press, November 2008 ~~

My people are North Carolina people. Mountain people. My mother’s mother went to high school with Andy Griffith in Mount Airy. Mimi’s daddy, Quilly pack, was the original “Floyd” the Barber. My father’s mother’s father actually was the Deputy Sheriff in Pilot Mountain. I mean, Mount Pilot.

When Grandma Pack wanted some Yuletide mistletoe, she used her shotgun to blast some out of the treetops. And my father’s father’s father was a bootleg moonshiner. There’s a story about him shooting up the police station to break out his son. Or something. The details are a bit sketchy. Continue reading →

The town, it is a changin’

~ Ashley Atkins ~ Leave a comment

~~ Originally printed in Carrboro (NC) Free Press, October 2008 ~~

Sometimes I miss Golden Skillet. I’m sure I am better off since they’re not around, but it was fun when my mom would drop the old family truckster off at Sparkle Car Wash on Ladies’ Day and we could all sit next door and eat crispy, delicious fried chicken, waiting for the car to be cleaned. No, that is not my stomach growling. You must be hearing things. Continue reading →

Burger envy

~ Ashley Atkins ~ Leave a comment

~~ Originally printed in Carrboro (NC) Free Press, August 2008 ~~

I love a good burger. In fact, I fancy myself to be a bit of a burger connoisseur. There is something so completely visceral and just, well, satisfying, about eating something so decadent that must be gripped solidly with both hands. Fighting to wrap your mouth all the way around it. Trying to get all the goodness into a single mouthful. And though heaven knows you need a napkin, you really don’t want to stop and put it down to reach for something to wipe your chin.

A good burger, done well, makes a bun mandatory for soaking up the juices. A good burger, done well, will be seasoned just so – to let the flavor of the beef come bursting through. And a good burger, done well, will never be well-done. Continue reading →

I like to ride my bike

~ Ashley Atkins ~ Leave a comment

~~ Originally printed in Carrboro (NC) Free Press, April 2008 ~~

I was a child of the seventies. So the bike I remember most vividly was banana yellow with, of course, a yellow banana seat. The white plastic basket on the front had one pink daisy and one blue, both with yellow centers. For fun I put neon-colored straws on the spokes of my wheels.

I lived on Booker Creek Road, the last street in Lake Forest in Chapel Hill, in a J. P. Goforth house. I went to Seawell Elementary, which was the new school in town. I knew all the words to Free To Be You And Me. In the winters I prayed for snow. In the summers I smelled of lake water. Continue reading →

What’s your sign?

~ Ashley Atkins ~ Leave a comment

~~ Originally printed in Carrboro (NC) Free Press, January 2008 ~~

It’s pretty incredible to me that I can get through most days without noticing all the signs around me. Even traffic signs I obey perfunctorily, without really looking at them. But this week, as I have made my daily treks through Carrboro, I have been looking for signs. Actually looking at signs.

There are great big banners announcing events free to the public. There are little tiny hand-lettered signs reminding me to close the door. There are business signs. Information signs. Entertaining signs. For sale signs. Warning signs. Maybe even signs from above. But I really love the intimacy of the personal signs. “Face Up” scribbled on a sticky note on an office copier. “Turn off lights and printers” taped by the exit door. “86 Grouper” in a restaurant kitchen. “Check pockets” at the dry cleaners. And “Owes me 50 cents” on a vending machine. Continue reading →

A Carrboro Century: Fitch Lumber turns 100

~ Ashley Atkins ~ Leave a comment

~~ Originally printed in Carrboro (NC) Free Press, November 2007 ~~

Friday morning at Fitch Lumber Company had a decidedly festive atmosphere. Flyers were posted announcing Fitch’s 100th Anniversary. Working folks were gearing up for one last day before the weekend. Homeowners were making household purchases.

David Fitch was on the phone.

A couple of guys were tussling by the counter, where Marc and Mike were ringing up orders. Someone was in a headlock. Marshall was passing around a tin of butter cookies, encouraging everyone to have some. Michael Brown was pointing to the horns of former UNC mascot, Rameses #11, up on the wall. Continue reading →

The treasure man: An interview with Billy Arthur, Jr.

~ Ashley Atkins ~ Leave a comment

~~ Originally printed in Carrboro (NC) Free Press, October 2007 ~~

Billy Arthur, Jr., is constantly finding things, from jewelry and coins to children’s toys and unique rocks. “I’ve always been interested in what’s on the ground,” he said. “Where am I? On the ground.” He laughed. “I live on the ground. I look in all the change slots. If someone drops a penny, I pick it up.”

For those of you who don’t know Billy, he’s not the tallest guy around.

But Billy doesn’t just rely on his close proximity to the ground. He also has a metal detector. Two, in fact. His favorite one has three different ring tones. “If it goes over silver,” he said, “I know exactly what that is.” On Saturday, Billy took a metal detector to Chapel Hill where some houses had been prepared for demolition. “They were roped off and ready for the bulldozers to knock them down,” he said. He proudly displayed his find: a miniature metal train engine. Continue reading →

Welcome to Carrboro Free Press

~ Ashley Atkins ~ Leave a comment

~~ Originally printed in Carrboro (NC) Free Press, October 2007~~

It is 6,342 steps across Carrboro.

Along the way, you will pass McDougle School and the Carrboro Branch Library, two streets called Oak, two grocery stores, and Fitch Lumber Company, where Marc, Mike, and Marshall are ready to ring up your purchase of six picture hangers, three switchplates, two duplicate keys, and a fire extinguisher.

Along the way, you will see eight cyclists, six runners, three city buses, and eleven people waiting at bus stops, including three women jostling babies and bags of groceries and wishing there was a bench to sit on. Continue reading →