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Vaughn Wascovich

@roseskunk

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I remember that my dad took me the first time. Then it was years later, Larry’s, behind the Boardman library. Larry’s was a small place but he had a Coke machine; ten cents for a Coke in a recycled bottle. The machine had a lever, who remembers? On top of the machine were the Playboy magazines. I didn’t know how old you needed to be to grab one of those- probably just confident enough to do it.

There was the barbershop in Beardstown; I went there looking for Native American artifacts. He put a massage machine on your neck when he was finished cutting your hair. Three bucks for a cut. Three. Bucks.

In Paris Texas there was a great old shop in the first floor of what used to be a bank building. The barber and the shop were ancient. He’d spend an hour doing a cut and a straight razor shave. It was magical, spiritual, and intimate.

Today was the same. Maybe the best cut of my life. Ricardo has only been cutting hair for two years. Decided he really wanted to be a barber, and you can tell. He spent an hour and a half with me, half a dozen hot towels, magic potions. It was amazing.

You don’t forget good barbers. Skippers Clippers. taken in Bareneed by @roseskunk

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4 days ago

I’m just a guy from Youngstown, Ohio. And I’m in Newfoundland, staring at the Labrador Sea in the North Atlantic. From Youngstown. I can’t believe it. Honestly.

Everything comes full circle in ways. I don’t know.

💙 by @roseskunk

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4 days ago

Today’s mood; Erik Satie.

It’s been good, I’ve been away from IG except to post, don’t hear much about the orange dung beetle and his band of miscreants except that they’re going after farmers now. And Jack Smith.

And the rapes at Cornell.

I called the university but of course you can only leave a message. Tried commenting on their social media, but comments are turned off.

How ‘bout we prosecute everyone involved in that crime, including the university administrators responsible for protecting women and failing, and especially university administrators who are protecting rapists? Most especially the men actually RAPING. They should be in jail. For a long, long time.

Of course we have the Epstein ruling class running the country now, so it’s doubtful anything will happen.

But just pretend for one minute that that was your daughter.

Erik Satie. Gymnopédie Number One. by @roseskunk

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4 days ago

Ah, friends! So much is happening right now! Where do I even begin?!

This is the studio where I’ll be staying for the month of October. My view is Bay de Grave, in the Labrador Sea.

I promise that I’ll get caught up with my travels soon! You have to hear about Woody Point in Bonne Bay, and Trout River, and, and… taken in Bareneed by @roseskunk

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5 days ago

Yes, I’m in Newfoundland, but there are a few stories that I didn’t get to mention from my time on Nova Scotia.

The last day before the ferry, I was at Cheticamp, Mabou was maybe an hour and a half south. I had to go to Mabou.

The information center was actually the post office where I met Sue. “Sue, there’s a very important person who had a home here in Mabou…”

She thought for a moment… “The Rankin Singers?”

“Nope. The person I’m thinking of published a very influential photography book in the late 60s”

“Oh, Robert! I was good friends with June and Robert. They were really very lovely people“

Robert Frank and June Leaf lived in Mabou for a time. Frank’s book was The Americans. 🇺🇸

Sue told me a few stories about Robert and June, and then she gave me directions to their house. After a bit of a goose chase, I found it, there on the hill. I stopped and talked to one of their neighbors, who apparently was one of the Rankin family. He also said the Franks were very nice people and he told me I could probably drive up the driveway, but I didn’t want to.

Seeing their home from the road and seeing what they saw every morning when they looked out of their window was enough.

I showed Sue the picture I took of her. She made a funny face and said she didn’t like the photo. “Oh I’m so old.“

Sue, I think you look elegant. You’re a beautiful woman. by @roseskunk

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9 days ago

My former scoutmaster, Emil Rauschenbach would likely roll his eyes seeing me use a fire starter to build my fire.

I remember trying to earn a badge or something, I had to start a fire using only two matches. In the rain.

Emil was watching out of the corner of his eye as I lit my first match, and it immediately went out. I could just see him muttering to himself and shaking his head. “No,” he mumbled something in German and came over to me.

The sticks from my fire looked just like the ones in the scout book, a perfect little teepee, all stacked together so that no air could get in. Emil took one look at it and kicked it over with his boot. “Come on,” he said, and we walked off into the nearby woods in the rain. We were under a pine grove and Emil reached up with his big paw of a hand and grabbed a bunch of the dead twigs that had grown from the sides of the pine trees. “This is what you want. See how it snaps? It’s dry even though it’s raining; that’s because it’s off the ground. You don’t want wet wood, and you don’t want wood that won’t snap between your fingers.“

Emil grabbed a big handful of twigs, and we walked back to the campfire. He bent over and just dropped the messy bird nest in the middle of the fire ring. It didn’t look like anything from the scout manual.

Emil took the remaining match from me, and on the zippered fly of his pants with one stroke he lit it. “You don’t light a match away from you, you light it toward you so that you can cup it in your hand, like this.”

With that, he bent down again, and pushed the wooden match into the bird nest. It immediately caught fire like a flare.

“OK, now you try it.“

I’ll never forget Emil. He was an old German house painter and would show up to scout meetings in his battered and paint splattered old station wagons always with a splintered wooden ladder tied to the roof.

Emil died in 1974, a few years after I stopped being a scout, but a bunch of us still got together for a flag ceremony at the old campground, where we saluted Emil one more time.

I’ll never forget that guy. by @roseskunk

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9 days ago

The ferry across is huge; those are tractor trailers below the pigeon. Ten stories high, with at least two for cars and trucks.

It took about 5-6 hours to cross and the sea was very calm, though on the top deck it was pretty windy.

I was surprised that it only cost 77.00 Canadian for a one way trip, including my car. Gizmo stayed in the car, no, she wasn’t happy about that. You can purchase reserved seats and private sleeping berths, but what fun is that? taken in Upper Ferry, Newfoundland and Labrador by @roseskunk

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10 days ago

This was my camp last night, on the Mira River. I made a pretty big fire as it might actually be my last in Nova Scotia.

Today was the ferry to Newfoundland! And yes, I almost missed the boat because I didn’t read that you need to arrive two hours early. I was literally the last one on!

But I made it! I’m actually in Newfoundland! by @roseskunk

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10 days ago

The North Atlantic. taken in Grand Codroy RV Camping Park by @roseskunk

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10 days ago

by @roseskunk

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12 days ago

Cape Breton. by @roseskunk

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12 days ago

A few spots where I’ve had the beach all to myself. by @roseskunk

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12 days ago