The following was published in The Floyd Press on April 1, 2010. “You need only three things for humanitarian clowning,” Ash Devine told a group of Young Actors Co-op (YAC) students, “a twinkle in your eye, a smile on your face, and a willingness to greet.” Devine, a musician from Asheville, North Carolina, who grew [...]
I’ll tell you a story of things that smell lovely Jasmine, patchouli I love you truly Post note: The poem is from my vault of nursery rhymes written in the 70’s – 80’s that I’ve recently been re-writing. The photo is from a Woman’s Wellness Week bookmaking workshop sometime in the early 90’s and [...]
Bryce and his big sister Kaylee came to visit on Saturday while their parents were getting Living Light massages, a February birthday gift that Joe and I gave to Dylan, Bryce’s dad. For six hours we yielded to play in every room in the house, up and down the cellar stairs, at the doll house, [...]
The smell of wild onions and dirt over easy is awakening my appetite for spring
~ The following was published in The Floyd Press on March 25, 2010. 1. On the evening before the first day of spring, warm weather brought out musicians and music lovers for Floyd’s Friday Night Jamboree and street scene. (Video HERE.) 2. Daryn Burkholder, visiting from Covington, entertained passersby with his singing and playing. Burkholder [...]
1. Typos are like ticks. No matter how many times I check for them before posting, the next day I usually find one or two that have stuck. 2. Too many E-mails: Last week I posted that the E on my new keyboard was already worn down to look like an F. This week I’m [...]
~ The following was published in The Floyd Press in February 2010. The warm-up exercises are silly and the class members are giddy, but the proven health benefit of Laughter Yoga is no joke. Studies have shown that laughter can reduce pain, boost cardiac health, strengthen the immune system, elevate the mood, and more. “The [...]
And some dark is light and some light is dark.
The poets came out of the woodwork for a Spring Equinox reading at the Black Water Loft coffee house in downtown Floyd Saturday night. Poems about daffodils and wild strawberries were mixed with readings of Hemingway, Jane Hirschfield, and Shakespeare. There was a leftover love poem from February’s Spoken Word that was cancelled because of [...]
A parade of motorcycles. A red convertible with the top town. An old time jam in the Country Store alley. A red-nosed clown in town (more on that later).
Students in the lower elementary class at Blue Mountain School painted placemats for the third annual Empty Bowls, a fund-raising event hosted by Plenty! to be held at The Jacksonville Center for the Arts this Sunday from 11 – 1:30. A meal of soup served in hand-thrown pottery bowls (which you get to keep) raises [...]
1. A funny thing happened when I changed my blogging platform from Moveable Type to WordPress. After my local web hoster set up the in-house stat counter, I discovered that I had A LOT more (non-commenting) readers than I had previously thought. 2. The compulsion to check my statcounter makes me think of Greek God [...]
This should really read: I backtrack, pull over, and run across the street in the drizzle for barns with blue doors. Post note: In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, watch me reading My Grandmother’s Brouge (in an Irish accent) at the Café del Sol Spoken Word Night on St. Patrick’s Day 2007 HERE.
Porcelain pots simmer Victorian tea parlor Readers see the future in lingering loose leaves
“It was a good run,” Café del Sol co-owner Frank Walker was recently quoted as saying. His wife Sally (aka The Countess of Coffee) posted her goodbye on their website. For seven years the café has been a Floyd hub and a beautiful downtown second home to many. For six years the writer’s group I [...]
Spring’s winning the golden globe I’m done posting photos of snow
The following was published in The Floyd Press on March 4, 2010. Twelve contestants performed at the James Bland Music Contest, hosted by the Floyd County Lions Club at the Jacksonville Community Room on Sunday, February 28th. Although the performance roster was down from previous years – due to school weather cancellations that inhibited student [...]
1. This week I interviewed a handmade paper artist and took a tour of her studio and gallery. I learned that papermaking with plant fibers involves growing, harvesting, cooking, pouring, beating and drying. After the interview, I pulled out of her driveway and said to myself, “That was just the harvesting part of writing this [...]
