Loose Leaf Notes

  ___Wordless Wednesday

I knew attending my friend Garry’s mom’s 100th birthday party would be a good way to celebrate my own birthday too. It was the first time we met, but we were both born on May 17th and so, shared a bond right away. Her name is Laura, and she proudly announced that she was born […]

He told me he was 71 and I was ready to believe him because he’s so young at heart. The party was held at the Zion Lutheran Church where Dick was a minister for many years. He’s a well-loved member of the Floyd community and was surrounded by loving attention. There were sing-a-longs, a serenade […]

Candles were lit, and sage smoke wafted through the spacious spread of rooms.  The altars were decked with ceremonial objects. Drum beats rolled and voices rose in song. A black shawl draped. A gold fabric flowed. Earth, water fire and air, east, south, west and north were called in. A priestess declared, “It has all […]

It was our first time at The Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount, and we went for good reason, to see the iconic singer songwriter whose 1970 album that bore his name played regularly on my turntable throughout the ‘70s: Tom Rush. While settling into our seats, we ran into friends from Floyd who also […]

One of my favorite parts of Floyd Mardi Gras are the dance performances by dancers that I’ve been following for years. This year professional dancer Katie Wells wowed the crowd with scarves. She danced to She Comes in Many Colors and led  party goers in an interactive line dance. Yoga and dance teacher Leia Jones […]

So the story goes: Joe was a big attraction when he first came to Floyd. He came from D.C. to be teacher at our independent Blue Mountain School, where my sons went and where I taught a weekly creative writing class.  The first time I saw him was at a community gathering for Harmonic Convergence […]

It wasn’t unusual back then to knock on a stranger’s door and ask about an adjacent abandoned farmhouse. The families of these older houses had moved into modern brick ranches and would sometimes rent the old farmhouse for $100 a month. That’s how we found the “612 House” [christened after its road number]. The young […]

-The following is my story of coming to Floyd that first appeared in Floydiana, an e-book by Randall Wells  Where else but in Floyd can you learn from an old-timer how to forage ginseng one day and then meet Wavy Gravy – the Woodstock clown with an ice-cream flavor named after him –  in town […]

– Please look for a story and spread of photos in this week’s Floyd Press newspaper.

Chai truffles, coffee caramels, peppermint bark, cranberry-orange pecan clusters are just some of the artisan chocolates featured at Cocoa Mia, a new chocolate lounge in downtown Floyd, across from the Courthouse. Morgan Ohland (pictured in blue) is Cocoa Mia’s owner and chocolatier. She crafts chocolate confections daily on site, along with chocolate beverages, which include […]

No, this is not The Blue Man Group. And these aren’t the Blue People . We’re dancing at the Dogtown Roadhouse to Music Road Company, a blend of  Spoonfight (brothers), Color J (brothers) and others, but some might call them Subwonky. We also danced to this opening band, The Universal Truth Orchestra. This is me and […]

Someone got a leopard-skin-pillbox hat for Christmas. The gift box was signed, from Dylan. “There are other people named Dylan besides your son,” Joe said when he gave it to me. Someone was good this year. Some didn’t want to just sit on Santa’s lap but wanted to impersonate, box, sing Christmas songs to and […]

-Look for more Festival of Trees photos in an upcoming issue of The Floyd Press and pictures of Winterfest in this week’s paper.  At the close of 22nd annual Winterfest Arts and Crafts Festival, attendees gathered in the Festival of Trees room to see if their silent auction bids won them a tree.  The trees […]

“I’m sittin’ here on the Group W bench ’cause you want to know if I’m moral enough to join the Army—burn women, kids, houses and villages—after bein’ a litterbug.” The final part of the song is an encouragement for the listeners to sing along, to resist the draft, and to end war.  -from Alice’s Restaurant, performed at […]

Everybody wanted to get their picture taken with two week old Pearl. Or touch Cara’s pregnant belly. Throughout the ‘90s many Floyd women gathered each summer at the Indian Valley Retreat Center for Women’s Wellness Week – a woman’s retreat focused on ceremony, making art, the healing arts and self discovery. WWW was founded by […]

We sang four birthday songs to Alwyn for her 90th birthday, celebrated on a sunny November afternoon in her home at Warm Hearth Village, a local retirement community. There were a couple of deliveries of flowers, and friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen since her 85th, filled her living room and kitchen, and spilled […]

  Even better than sporting a leopard-skin pill-box hat is wearing leopard ears.  Cat ears have been been a theme this Halloween and one of my favorite forms of self-expressive style.  That’s my friend Jayn as a bird-brained farmer.  Now those are some hats!  Is that caveman wearing my skirt? Check out Wendy’s skunk tail […]