Joe and I wanted to rename Warbler Road “Waterfall Road” because we didn’t see any warblers on the 13 mile drive (just off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Botetourt County), but we did see, and pulled over for, several waterfalls. And we drove past several more. It was a little early in the season […]
The Roanoke Redbuds are worth trip down the mountain and are in bloom now. Throw in pinwheel show and you’ve got a date.
Sometimes when you live in Floyd you forget that Friday is Jamboree night until you go to town for an unrelated reason and see tourists taking pictures of the Farmers Supply. People are walking around with ice cream cones and the strum of fiddles can be heard. You cross the one stoplight intersection to meet […]
There was a good representation of Blue Mountain High School (BMHS) students who traveled from Floyd to attend the Youth Peace Summit in Roanoke on Saturday. The day-long event was hosted by the Plowshare Peace and Justice Center at the Unitarian Universalist Church. Workshops included Singing for Social Change, Conflict Resolution, Yoga and […]
“They are from France,” I imagine myself answering in a Conehead accent if someone asks me how much they cost. Far less than my recent tooth implant but more than my camera is another answer. I like to go into Troika Gallery in downtown Floyd for the good feng shui, the art displays and to […]
I hadn’t been to a horror movie since my teenager days watching B movie axe murders at the Weymouth Drive-in in Massachusetts. But this movie, the House of Good and Evil, was filmed in Floyd and a friend of ours had a key role. It was showing at the historic Grandin Theater, next to Local […]
I wasn’t at the Mardi Gras for more than five minutes before a man in a devil mask asked me if I’d consider selling my soul. “How many tickets is that worth?” I asked. It cost me 2 tickets for a local craft beer on tap. I was really impressed with how cold it was. […]
Jennifer Greene’s study of water began when she was a child playing in mud puddles. Today, as director of the Water Research Institute (WRI) in Blue Hill, Maine, she teaches hands-on workshops that demonstrate the hidden language of water and helps others develop a sense of wonder and respect for it. “Our task is to […]
“Will we ever see land again?” That’s what I thought to myself by Thursday afternoon after more than 14 hours and 14 inches of snow had fallen. That morning, I put on two layers of wool socks, knowing my boots wouldn’t be high enough to stop the cold white ice from falling in. I was […]
At the new Moonlight Lounge in Natasha’s Cafe the apps are wasabi nut brittle, sweet potato fries, BBQ buffalo sliders on homemade buns, crab cake sliders, smoked chicken wings, beer cheese, marinated olives and more. I filled up on happy hour wine, some Moonlight bites and conversation at the weekend opening. Look for a […]
Before blogging there was A Museletter, the homespun print forum that was created by some of Floyd’s back-to-the-land-settlers more than 30 years ago for the purpose of sharing literary/artistic musings and ideas on self-reliance, growing and preserving food, holistic health, peace and justice activism, home schooling and more. There were no online forums back then, […]
We all let our hair down at Dogtown for Anthony Haynes’ birthday. The party featured the Deer Run Drifters, Spoonfight, a few numbers by Anthony (on the left) and a special belly dance performance. (That’s Anthony’s wife Jessica to his right.) I don’t know if I have ever seen the place that packed with people. […]
Take your pants off Before you fight. – Yoko Ono I’m shocked that it took me so long to visit the Taubman Museum of Art, just down the mountain in Roanoke. We (a couple of close friends and I) went for the last day of the Yoko Ono Imagine Peace exhibit, an interactive, mostly retrospective […]
We watched the ball drop at the bar, over fish tacos and beer, but that was after we had danced two sets straight without sitting down. The Kind at The Pine Tavern is a New Year’s tradition in Floyd. The band has a dedicated following, or should I say dead-icated, since they play mostly Grateful […]
Wordless Wednesday
At a Christmas cookie party last weekend, I ran into a young Floyd friend who lives and works in New York City. He, an artist who has designed sets, software and office spaces, learned most everything he knows about design from Lego construction. My memory may have exaggerated that he built his bed out of […]
“Are you working on something creative now?” the psychic asked me. “Yes,” I answered. “Good. Many people don’t live out their creativity; you are. You have good focus but also some residual persecution issues, and so you may have some trouble with follow-through,” she said. She wasn’t telling me anything new. “It’s very important that […]
Last week Blue Mountain High School students gave their end of the semester Independent Studies presentations. The presentations ranged from a report on a muffin baking business to a presentation on Ancient Egypt, complete with a handmade paper mache mummy and pyramid. A report on local recycling efforts that included a description of an organized […]
