Loose Leaf Notes

______Wordless Wednesday

Joe named our camp “Camp Quattro,” because there were four of us. It’s actually part of an old Civilian Conservation Corps (a public works program for young men during the Great Depression) Camp along Rock Castle Gorge Creek. The camping is primitive and there’s a short hike in to it. I think Liam’s tie dye […]

It was all in the family when we ran into our grandsons’ aunt and uncle and cousin Julian at Dogtown Roadhouse Saturday night. It turns out that cousin Julian is my new best dance buddy! Everyone wants to dance with that boy! Even strangers (new friends). The band was great and Julian made an impression […]

Green means go! Play outside! And We Have Lift Off! That was the description on the invite of the “more-than-10 but less-than-50 persons” Space Jam party at OuterSpace, the collaborative Locust Street venue of John Beegle’s Bootleg BBQ, Erika Johnson’s Revolution Juice Yurt and Barbara Gillespie’s Grateful Bread Magic Bus. Guests enjoyed a gourmet dinner […]

We spotted it while hiking the trail along the Rock Castle Creek. It was caught in a spider web. Every time I saw a yellow swallowtail after that, I thought it could be “our butterfly.” _______Our World Tuesday

“My hands never leave my wrists,” promised juggler, puppeteer and circus act entertainer Gypsy Geoff. This trick involved a volleyball Geoff called “Wilson!” Don’t try this at home, only at grandma’s house. It was the grandmas who pooled their resources to hire Gypsy Geoff to put on a show for the grandchildren, which included some […]

Does green mean to GO to OuterSpace, the hip downtown outdoor hangout? I pulled over after talking with OuterSpacer Ashleigh Ward because the light was just right and everything was cast in a summer glow. I learned from Ashleigh that, along with Magic Bus Grateful baked goodies and art, Revolution Juice smoothies and Bootleg BBQ, […]

_________Our World Tuesday /Wordless Wednesday / Welcome to My Corner of the World 

After four months of pandemic life with no live music in a town known for it, the music scene in Floyd is coming back.  It started with an outdoor backyard concert with Junior Sisk, Sammy Shelor and others at The Floyd Country Store a couple of weeks ago. Last Saturday night Music Road Company musicians […]

There were no fireworks in Floyd this year, but our waitress at the  Dogtown Porch bar brought the July 4th spirit. A family of kids put on a show at the Warren Lineberry Park to the bluegrass tunes of Junior Sisk, Jesse Smathers, Sammy Shelor and Barry Collins coming from the Floyd Country Store Concert […]

My energy has been lower than my normal abnormal low energy.  My work at the local newspaper has slowed to a drip. Because of the pandemic, I can’t go to Dogtown and dance to live music. Floydfest, our town’s renowned music festival, has been cancelled and there aren’t even any July 4th fireworks to look […]

In these pandemic times, we take our entertainment where we can find it. It was a lovely break from my stay-at-home routine to spend time at the Villa Appalachia winery on Saturday. Not only did Jim Sharkey sing Wagon Wheel, but the wine was exquisite, the cheese plate delicious, the sun shone the whole time […]

Every town is a microcosm of the whole world. If we stay where we are and invest in our own community, the whole world eventually comes to us. – From Homegrown, the 2005 essay that I read on the air at WVTF Public Radio in 2005 The man in the photo, carrying the Confederate flag, […]

I’m pretty sure if I had my car parked in the yard, Mrs. Robin would try be a hood ornament. She poses all over the yard as if she was auditioning for the job. She does have something to preen proudly about. This is Mrs. Wren. Every time the birdfeeder gets near empty, she starts […]

To the sound of Tarzan yell… _______Wordless Wednesday 

It’s like watching a birth. Cicada nymphs crawled out of the ground this week after 17 years. There were so many of them that they looked like a clone army climbing up trees. Once settled, their backs split open and they slipped out of their old bodies, reminding me of the old movie, The Invasion […]

My grandson Bryce and I share birthdays, three days apart in May. We celebrated with a camp-out on the Little River. We cooked our lunch on the camper stove and made ourselves at home. It was a first kayaking experience for some of us. (Thanks to Daniel at On the Water Outfitters). By the end […]