“On a perfectly straightforward level, I write a lot about North Carolina because it’s my home. Any time I’m writing about relationships with home and grounding, I’m writing about North Carolina. I grew up in Raleigh, near downtown – I…
by J. Michael Welton photographs by Lissa Gotwals Talk to anyone who knows architect Louis Cherry’s work, and one adjective inevitably slips into the conversation: Comfortable. It’s a hallmark of his finely tuned interiors, his mastery of scale and proportion, and…
by Ippy Patterson At 63, having been preoccupied with death as long as I could remember, squeamish, and having never taught anything in my life, I was asked whether I could help run a drawing group in the Duke University anatomy…
“In March we finally start getting more daylight. We’ll be planning our spring planting and getting outside more.” –Jason Botts, coordinator of the Wake County Junior Master Gardeners by Jessie Ammons photograph by Travis Long It’s 6:30 p.m. on a Thursday evening…
“You go from having teammates to having friends and then you go from having friends to having family.” –Richard Flenory, community outreach director of Stonewall Sports League and avid kickball player by Jessie Ammons photograph by Travis Long Spring conjures a friendly…
by Hampton Williams Hofer photographs by Peter Hoffman In the back of a Five Points warehouse, blacksmith Ben Galata produces custom ironwork using tools he’s made himself. On one side of his workshop is a pneumatic power hammer that pummels molten metal…
“The people who are single (in the Triangle) are really good quality people. They are smart; they are successful, educated people; they have good jobs. I like to think I’m helping them screen through all the foolishness.” –Angela Kelley, owner,…
“It seems only children attract other only children.” -Sally Creech, founder of the Solo Sisters group (in the front row, second from the right) by Liza Roberts photograph by Christer Berg “Sally started it,” says Kay Schoellhorn, laughing as she welcomes…
by Henry Gargan photographs by Christopher T. Martin At Saint Agnes Hospital on Oakwood Avenue in Raleigh on Nov. 6, 1958, a boy named Everett Ward was born. Nearly 60 years later, he has a rare opportunity: to keep the very place…
by Settle Monroe photograph by Christer Berg Connection and community are at the heart of Chris Budnick’s work. Like many of the men and women who come to his organization for help overcoming homelessness and addiction, the executive director of Healing Transitions…
by Liza Roberts photographs by Christopher T. Martin Once upon a time, if you were a college student, you most likely shared a cramped dorm room with a roommate or two, walked down the hall to the bathroom, drank stale coffee in…
“When I ring the bell I sing Christmas carols the whole time.” –Patrick Sheehan, Salvation Army volunteer by Jessie Ammons photograph by Jillian Clark If you visit the Harris Teeter at Falls Pointe in North Raleigh this December, you might see –…
“They know that you’re doing it from your heart, and that’s what makes it even better.” –Mary Brown, Moore Square Christmas Day dinner organizer by Mimi Montgomery photograph by Jillian Clark For Mary Brown, the holidays are about giving, not receiving. On Christmas…
by Jessie Ammons photograph by Ray Black III There is no murky water under the bridge for Matthew Starr. “My goal is fishable, swimmable, drinkable water, which means my goal is to stop pollution from entering our surface water.” Starr is the…