🗞️ Pencil Puppet Plays brings handmade theater back to Körner's Folly

🗞️ A downtown landmark that's home to Washington Perk is up for historic status

🗞️ Why making things by hand still matters

🗞️ Why Monday doesn't have to be the worst day

☀️ Hot, building heat | High: 91°F | Low: 72°F

The rain backs off and the heat cranks up to start the week. Expect a mix of sun and clouds, just a 20% chance of a stray shower, and highs climbing into the low 90s with a muggy low around 72. Hydrate, find some shade in the afternoon, and check on older neighbors and pets.

At Körner's Folly, a charming little tradition is being revived, one crocheted puppet at a time.

Marcia Byerly performs what she calls Pencil Puppet Plays, short and funny puppet shows she brings to the historic Kernersville landmark. Her connection to the Folly runs deep. She and her husband have long supported the attraction, even chipping in on its restoration, and now she is giving back in a new way. "I wanted to bring puppet plays back to Körner's Folly," Byerly says, "and I make pencil puppets in crochet." Yes, she crochets the puppets herself.

The performances run about 10 minutes and are packed with music, props and jokes that land for kids and grownups alike. A crowd favorite is her baseball play, which works in a clever "Who's on First" parody that gets a laugh across generations. It is the kind of homemade, heartfelt touch that makes a visit to the Folly linger in your memory a little longer.

Here is where to catch a show. On Saturday, August 15, Byerly performs two plays at Körner's Folly. Plan to arrive around 1 p.m.; the free, family-friendly program is in the Community Room of the John & Bobbie Wolfe Visitors Center (call the Folly at 336-996-7922 with questions). She is also at Main & Mountain Bookstore, 103 N. Main Street, on Wednesday, August 12 and Wednesday, August 26 at 11 a.m., with more dates in September. Down the road she hopes to adapt short stories with even more music and sound effects. What does she want folks to take away? Simple: "That they were very entertaining and amusing." Learn more at kornersfolly.org.

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A familiar downtown Winston-Salem building may soon get an official nod to its history.

The Chatham Building on West Fourth Street, whose ground floor is home to the popular Washington Perk coffee shop and Aperture Cinema, is being recommended for local historic landmark designation. If you have grabbed a latte there, you have been sitting inside a genuine piece of Winston-Salem history. The building was completed in 1931 and designed by prominent local architect Harold Macklin for textile magnate R. Thurmond Chatham and his wife, Lucy Hanes Chatham, in a handsome blend of Stripped Classicism and Art Deco.

For decades it was a downtown shopping destination, home to Frank A. Stith's men's store and Montaldo's until the early 1980s. Now the city is weighing the landmark designation, which recognizes the building's architectural and commercial significance and can help protect its character going forward. City staff have recommended approval, and there is a public input process as part of the review.

It is a nice reminder that some of the best local history is hiding in plain sight, right where you order your coffee. We will let you know how the designation vote turns out.

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There is something quietly wonderful about a thing made by human hands.

Our featured story today is about a woman who crochets little puppets and puts on plays with them. In an age when we can order almost anything with a tap and have a screen do most of the thinking, that is a small act of joyful defiance. Making something by hand, a scarf, a birdhouse, a loaf of bread, a puppet, is slow and a little inefficient and completely worth it. The wobbly stitches and the not-quite-perfect edges are not flaws. They are fingerprints. They say a person was here, and they cared.

Handmade things carry stories the store-bought version never will. The quilt your grandmother pieced from old shirts. The bookshelf a friend built that leans just slightly. The birthday card a kid made with too much glue and all their heart. We keep those things not because they are flawless but because someone we love poured a little of themselves into them. That is a kind of value no factory can stamp out.

You do not have to be an artist to get in on it. Plant something. Fix something instead of tossing it. Teach a kid to sew on a button or bake from scratch. Sign up for one of the craft workshops right here in town. The point is not to be good at it. The point is the making itself, the focus, the patience, the small pride of holding up something and thinking, I made that. In a hurry-up world, that is a gift worth giving yourself.

Somewhere along the way, Monday got a bad reputation. Maybe it is time we cut it some slack.

We groan about Mondays, post the memes, drag ourselves to the coffee pot like it owes us money. But when you think about it, Monday is really just a fresh page. Whatever last week piled up, the missed to-dos, the arguments, the things that did not go your way, Monday quietly hands you a clean start. That is not a curse. That is a small weekly miracle most of us take for granted.

The trick is not to white-knuckle through it. Give yourself a soft landing. Lay out your clothes and set the coffee the night before. Start the morning with one thing you actually enjoy, a walk around the block, a good playlist, five quiet minutes on the porch before the house wakes up. Knock out one small task early so you feel a win before 9 a.m. And go easy on the people around you, because everybody is nursing their own case of the Mondays.

Here is the reframe worth keeping: a Monday means you get another week. Another shot at the goal you set, another chance to call the friend you have been meaning to call, another ordinary run of days with the people you love. Plenty of folks would trade almost anything for one more regular Monday. So pour the coffee, take a breath, and go easy out there, Kernersville. It is going to be a good week.