Off Main Street: "Down-time" in the Valley

"The happiest people are those who think the most interesting thoughts. Those who decide to use leisure as a means of mental development; who love good music, good books, good pictures, good company, good conversation. They are the happiest people in the world. And they are not only happy in themselves, they are the cause of happiness in others." -William Lyon Phelps

Leisure. At least from my perspective, the word alone brings to mind images of well-earned peace, relaxation, and pleasure. Over the course of documenting the relationship of work and leisure in the lives of individuals in Water Valley, Mississippi, I have also come to realize that leisure, as a time independent of work, often means privacy. Think about it. The vast majority of the time, we engage people whom we are not yet familiar with in work situations - fellow students at university, waiters at restaurants, clerks at store counters, our teachers, the staff at our favorite coffee shop, bakery, bar, etc. Over time these people become our friends, the folk whom we permit into the private sphere of leisure. Until that point, strangers remain relegated to the public sphere; and the public sphere often relates directly to work. It is no surprise then, that when I started my project on Main Street in Water Valley, I found very few people enjoying leisure in that very public space.

Not one to be deterred by things like imaginary self-imposed limits, I charted a new course, moved my explorations in Water Valley off of Main Street. I then found leisure popping up in all the usual places - new friends' homes, local farmer's markets, and parks across Water Valley.

The following photographs and stories are the result of my adventures off Main Street - my perspective on "down-time" in the Valley.

The obligatory photo of Main Street Water Valley, Mississippi on a Saturday afternoon - just for a little perspective. (September 2010)

Grown in Water Valley: Selling Leisure at the Taylor Farmer's Market

Kerry O'Donoghue is one of the most creative and delightful individuals I am blessed to know from my time in Water Valley. Actually, Kerry is the reason I came to Water Valley in the first place. We met at the Taylor Farmer's Market in Taylor, Mississippi, where she sells her homemade breads, jams, crafts, and fresh eggs under the outfit name, Poultry in Motion on Saturdays.

Kerry, a technical writer for a world-wide software company, started Poultry in Motion in 2008. In an oral history interview we did, she described how her leisure evolved into marketable projects:

Actually Poultry in Motion started two years ago when the Taylor Farmer's Market started. I have been a big supporter of farmer's markets my whole life, well as long as I've known about them. I think farmer's markets make life sweeter, and I've always gone. One of my best friends here was the only organic farmer in the Mid-Town Market in Oxford for many years before she had kids and stopped doing it. So I've been a part of that but only from a customer's side. And then our friends, Michelle and Jared, decided to start the Taylor Farmer's Market in 2008, and asked me if I would be a vendor. Because they know we always have a big garden and way too much food, and we're always giving food away, giving produce away. And they said, 'Would you want to be a vendor?' And honestly, I had never thought about it before. It just never occurred to me to be on the other side of the table. So I said, "sure." I mean, they were looking for vendors, especially for the first year. They wanted to have a good showing. So I went. Taylor is a different little town anyway, very quirky in its own right, very artistic. And the minute we set up the market it had its own vibe, and it was really cool and a lot of fun. So that's what really grew Poultry in Motion, just my love of being at the Taylor Farmer's Market.
(Excerpt from interview with Kerry O'Donoghue on September 29, 2010)

On my first visit to the Taylor Farmer's Market, I told Kerry that we "were going to be great friends." That has definitely proven true. Every other Saturday I returned to the Taylor market to not only stock up on various breads, jams, and relishes; but, also to visit with Kerry, whose stories and kindhearted demeanor instantly made her one of my favorite people in Mississippi. The following photographs are from multiple visits to the Taylor Farmer's Market.

Kerry's husband, Kevin (far right), and one of his six bands, The Cake Walkers, providing music at the Taylor Farmer's Market. (Taylor Farmer's Market, October 2010)

The "Poultry in Motion" outfit at the Taylor Farmer's Market, Taylor, Mississippi. This photograph was taken on a Saturday that Kerry, a former zookeeper, was raising money for her annual trip to Belize during which she and her team offer free spay and neuter clinics in order to help control the feral pet population. She is a multi-talented woman, and an incredibly hard worker. (Taylor Farmer's Market, October 2010)

Kerry, who has an organic garden on her 20+ acre property south of Water Valley, enjoys experimenting by combining her fresh produce with various ingredients to make offerings such as Mango Mustard, Picked Watermelon, Pear Relish, etc. (Taylor Farmer's Market, October 2010)

A little girl dances to the music of Kevin's band, The Cake Walkers, and exhibits what leisure should be all about - throwing your hands up in the air and dancing about. (Taylor Farmer's Market, October 2010)

A local musician gets down with her bad self, and her rhythm section boots, at the Taylor Farmer's Market. (Taylor Farmer's Market, September 2010)

Back in the Valley: Baking up a Storm with Kerry O'Donoghue

Once Kerry recognized my sincere interest in Poultry in Motion, she invited me to her home for her regular Friday "baking day" so that I could learn the ropes. Kerry says that although it is time consuming, and labor-heavy, baking is one of her greatest sources of leisure. This was most evident to me, as an apprentice, watching her negotiate her kitchen, going from kneading dough to checking the ovens, all with a big smile on her face. I definitely could not have had a better teacher.

Kerry's biggest quandary in the kitchen is choosing between her Kitchen-Aid Mixer or Antique Mixer. On this particular afternoon, the old faithful antique won out. (Water Valley, MS, October 2010)

Rising loaves of Anadama bread. (Water Valley, MS, October 2010)

Kerry and I worked together to bake her favorite bread from back home in New England, Anadama bread, made from cornmeal and molasses. Legend has it that the bread was perfected in Maine and eaten by fishermen. The wives would make cornmeal mush for their tired and cold husbands coming off the fishing boats. One day a fisherman tired of just cornmeal mush said to his wife, 'Anna, damn it, I'm tired of mush - make bread,' and she did and he called it Anadama bread. While Anadama may be Kerry's seasonal and regional favorite, her current favorite, and one we made many loaves of, is a simple extended-rise bread she calls 'Daily Bread.' The recipe is included below:

Kerry's Daily Bread Recipe:
6 cups warm water
3 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons yeast
13 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Mix all together, let rise 2+ hours (until it start to collapse again). Put in fridge for up to a week. On baking day, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pull off 1-1.5 lb chunk of bread and dust with flour, forming a ball or oblong shape. Let rest 40 minutes. Put in oven along with 1 cup of hot water in a roasting pan on bottom of stove. Bake for 30-40 minutes until dark brown and crusty. Kerry says you can know you've done well when the bread comes out of the oven "singing."


Racks of Daily Bread, Pumpkin Bread, Foccaccia, and Anadama Bread cool on baking day in Kerry's kitchen. (Water Valley, MS, October 2010)

UnkWorks: The Art and Craft of Glassworking in the Valley

During my interviews and baking days with Kerry, she told me many wonderful stories. One of the best was the tale of how she and her younger sister, Deirdre Uncapher, both came to live in Water Valley from New England. Seven years ago, Kerry and her husband, Kevin, decided to leave their home in New England and move South. After a two year search of southern towns, they visited Water Valley and knew immediately that the town was exactly where they were supposed to be. On their moving weekend, Kerry's sister and brother in law, Deirdre and Randy, decided to drive the moving truck down from Maine so that they could see what this whole Mississippi thing was all about.

Once they got to Water Valley, Deirdre and Randy took care of all the errands in town while Kerry and Kevin set up house. The Uncaphers were so impressed by the town - the people, the houses, the art scene - that by the end of the week, they too had purchased a house in Water Valley. Now Kerry and Deirdre, who owns a glasswork art studio called UnkWorks in downtown Water Valley, work and live only minutes apart. It only seemed fitting that I interview Deirdre as well. The following photographs are from a morning I spent with her at her studio on Calhoun Street in Water Valley talking about her love of creating stained glass artwork and her love of Water Valley.

Deirdre Uncapher at her worktable. On this particular morning she was busy crafting place setting holders from old iron rods. One of the perks of learning to work with stained glass, Deirdre told me, "Is that you get confident enough to believe you can do just about anything when it comes to crafts." (Water Valley, MS, November 2010)

"I have to create. It brings joy to my soul," Deirdre told me as she showed me around the studio. She asked me specifically to take the photograph above because she wanted to show off her new stained glass barrette she had recently experimented (and succeeded) with making. (Water Valley, MS, November 2010).

Deirdre poses proudly beside one of her marquis pieces, a stained-glass catfish. "Do you know how hard it is to make glass 'flow'?," Deirdre asked me, referencing the movement of the under-water grass, after I snapped this photograph. I could only respond, "I don't know that I will ever want to find out." (Water Valley, MS, November 2010)


A Day at the Park

On one of my earliest trips to the Valley, I met Mickey Howley, the director of the Water Valley Main Street Association. Over the course of this project, he and his wife, Dr. Annette Trefzer, were more than kind in inviting me to a number of events across town. Because they learned quickly that I was a sucker for communal singing, they made sure that I was in attendance at Water Valley's first ever Community Sing in October. The goal of the Community Sing, hosted by the Water Valley Arts Council, was to offer a chance for all community members in Water Valley to join together in song at the city park in order to help overcome racial boundaries within the community. The Community Sing was well-attended for an inaugural event, and like always, I was there with camera in hand, ready to document the melodic occasion.

A local barbershop quartet, made of three generations of a local family, leads the first ever Water Valley Community Sing. (Water Valley, MS, October 2010)

Participants sing along at the Community Sing. (Water Valley, MS, October 2010)

Across the park, this group of kids had a serious game of touch football going. I worked my way in when I threw a touchdown pass on them. The opposing team was met with choruses of "Oooohhh, you should be embarrassed. You just let that camera lady throw a touchdown on you." (Water Valley, MS, October 2010)


At the end of the game, I asked the boys if I could take a group photograph of them. This is what I got when I asked them to "make an intimidating face." Take note, the boy on the far right pointing at the camera, is the one I threw the touchdown pass against. Booyah. (Water Valley, MS, October 2010)

My new friend, C, is too young (and small) to participate in the pick-up football game, so he hung out with me on the sidelines. At one point during the game, he said, "Hey camera lady, take a picture of me now. This is how bad I'm going to be when I'm big enough." Love. Him. (Water Valley, MS, October 2010)

Later in my documentary adventures, I met friends Reggie and John, taking a mid-afternoon break at another local Water Valley park. Though they were initially wary of not only my camera, but of me, they warmed up quickly and we got some great photographs and conversation in. (Water Valley, MS, November 2010)

A man and his best friend chill out on a lazy Saturday afternoon in Water Valley. (Water Valley, MS, September 2010)


"If you are losing your leisure, look out; you may be losing your soul." - Logan P. Smith