Loose Leaf Notes

________Our World Tuesday / Wordless Wednesday

On June 1^st Wanda Combs, the editor/manager of our local weekly newspaper, The Floyd Press, is retiring.  I’ve been working as a stringer for the paper under her tutelage for more than a decade and am deeply grateful for her experience, encouragement and guidance over the years. 

In 2006 she took a chance on me. After retiring from Wall Residences, providing services for a person with disabilities in our home for nine years, I began spending more time writing and blogging.  I had some experience writing commentaries for news outlets and writing articles for the Museletter, our local  homespun monthly newsletter. I went to her office and asked her if I could run things by her from time to time for possible publication.  She was open to it, and I sold the first piece I brought to her.

We originally thought I might submit something once a month, but it turned out to be much more than that.  My blog category sidebar of reprinted Floyd Press stories contains more than 400 Floyd Press stories. Some of those were for the magazine inserts that the paper’s publishing company/owners (BH Media Group) put out. 

Over the years, I’ve covered everything from a WWE wrestling match fundraiser and Tractor Fun Run to a Climate Action Eco-Fair, John Meyer and Dave Matthews concert at Virginia Tech and a cowgirl caravan. I’ve covered parades, graduations, 4^th of July fireworks,  memorial tributes, music events and artist’s profiles.  Some of my regular beats have been local theater events, the annual Blue Mountain School Mardi Gras, Floydfest and Floyd Yoga Jam.

In-depth insert features that I wrote with Wanda at the  helm include A Flourishing of the Arts in Floyd (2008), The Restaurants of Floyd County: Something for Every Taste (2011), Floyd’s Growing Music Scene (2017), Founder Brings What He Loves to Floydfest (2017), Floyd- New Pioneers, Artists & the Next Generation (2018) and Discover Floyd (2109). 

I expect to continue as a contracted stringer for the paper and have heard that Wanda will likely contribute in that capacity as well.  Working with her has been a pleasure. Our relationship has had an ease that has built my confidence and skills as a writer. She’s going to be hard to replace.

Note: Look for a full feature on Wanda’s 40+ years at The Floyd Press in this week’s paper.  The photo above was taken at her retirement party.  I don’t know who took it, a lot were snapping and this one turned up on Facebook.  It includes people who work for the paper, past and present. Wanda is front and center.  That’s me second from the right and in front of my friend reporter Doug Thompson. Since I don’t work at the office, I don’t know or remember the names of the rest of the crew, and some are missing from the shot.

Today’s poetry was paper trash
Unrequited loves that broke my heart
Teased out lines written in circles
Big ideas that fell flat
 
So I vowed to quit
but miss it already
I put it in writing
but scribbled that too
 
Now I’m looking for loopholes
to fix what I quit
to write today’s honest word
not tomorrow’s regret

__________Colleen Redman / Poets United/ Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads 

–The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on May 23, 2019

About 40 people were in attendance Sunday May 12th for an afternoon house concert at the Grateful Bread House.  Hosted by Grateful Bread’s Barbara Gillespie and musician Brad Collier, the concert featured Cicada Rhythm, a singer/songwriter duo from Athens, Georgia, who have recently incorporated a drummer into their sound.

Julliard-trained bass player Andrea DeMarcus and guitarist Dave Kirslis performed their topical, whimsical, jazz inspired, roots music with airy delight and grounded rhythms.  Their distinct styles – she reminiscent of Nora Jones or Natalie Merchant and he a mix of Bob Dylan and Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor – complimented each other while expanding the range of their musicality. Their harmonies, originality and easeful interactions with the audience, made for an intimate and engaging experience.

The concert was one was one of several in a series that have been held at the downtown Grateful Bread House venue, which is also host to songwriter circles.  Presenting up-and-coming musicians in a coffee house setting is the intention, Gillespie said.  She, Collier and other local songwriters would like to see the house concert become a regular addition to the Floyd music scene.

1. The weekend was all about the birthday cake, eating cake, trying not to eat cake, taking care of the cake, taking pictures of the cake and sharing the cake.

2. Sign seen on Facebook:  Every child had a heartbeat before being shot dead in school. Where’s that righteous Republican pro-life rage?

3. Two sons and two tracks / across the width of my abdomen / is a tender trust hidden / by stretch-marked flesh  / They’re sliced side-by-by side / but in some places they join together / They don’t reveal the internal / twisted tissue that clings …  Read the poem Not a Birthmark in its entirety HERE.  

4. Joe gave me a Four-Disc Collection of Joni Mitchell’s songs for my birthday.  It’s called “Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting to be Danced” and is her personal collection of remastered songs from her 40 years of recording.   At first I thought of it was a love song to  her fans, or maybe a swan song, but then I started thinking it was a trick to get us to listen to the more avant-garde songs that we didn’t like the first time around.  She mixed them in with her Blue/For the Roses/Court and Spark hits. 

5. After watching some youtube interviews with Joni and reading her liner notes,  I realized how much I projected onto her and other musicians I liked, or put them on a pedestal, feeling that they were peers or leaders of our generation when, in reality, we probably didn’t and don’t have that much in common.

6. I’ve been watching Saturday Night Live in real time since the ‘70s.  One of the highlights from the season finale on Saturday was Leslie Jones Weekend Update bit when she put up a picture of all the Alabama white male senators who voted to make abortion a crime, saying, “This looks like the mug shots of everyone arrested at a massage parlor.”

7. I lie about my age by a year. I call it buffering.

8. This week’s “While Other People are Watching Cat Videos, I’m Watching This” is HERE.

9. Pronouns: I try to speak for myself and put things in my own words because too often using “we” is pontificating, “you” is projecting and “they” is assuming.

10. Check out the recent meditation flash mob in Floyd HERE.

11. My birthday flower used to be lilac but now it’s iris. Is that climate change?

12. How sweet is your slice of life?

13. Thirteen Slices of Thursday HERE.

___________Thirteen Thursday

-The following first appeared in the May 2nd issue of The Floyd Press

About 15 people participated in a Mindfulness Flash Mob in conjunction with Give Big NRV Day as a way to raise awareness about Mindfulness.  It was organized by Jamie Reygle of InStill Mindfulness SWVA (instillmindfulness.org), a non-profit organization that promotes education and classes in Mindfulness as a way to cultivate slowing down, concentration and kindness towards oneself and others. The group met at the Lineberry Park gazebo where Reygle (pictured standing) outlined the event.  

The Flash Mob began by mindfully and slowly walking to a downtown destination before sitting in meditation.  Reygle led Flash mobs in Blacksburg in Radford before the Floyd event. 

The youngest flash-mobber is pictured here with her grandmother.  

Curious onlookers watched as participants filed slowly down Locust Street

Check out inStill Mindfullness on Facebook or click HERE.

________________Our World Tuesday

We spent a little time on the mountain dancing to The Kind at the Pine.

_____________________________Our World Tuesday

“A scar is what  happens when the word is made flesh” – Leonard Cohen
 
The scars around my ankles
from being burned when I was a baby
are almost invisible now
Like the wound of being separated
from mother and home
for a four-week hospital stay
 
We called dragonflies “sewing needles”
when we were kids at Billington Sea
We were scared they would land on us
pierce our skin and stitch it together
with a web of thread
 
We thought snakes lived in the mouths
of carousel horses at Paragon Park
We had to think about where to put our little hands
and what other dangers could be lurking
 
There once was a paisley-shaped scar
under the left side of my rib-cage
I imagined it as a hot splash
that my mother missed
when the dishtowel slipped
and the pot of boiling water crashed
 
When she covered me with butter
to treat 3^rd degree burns
but forgot to take off
my shoes and socks
 
Two sons and two tracks
across the width of my abdomen
is a tender trust hidden
by stretch-marked flesh
 
They’re sliced side-by-by side
but in some places they are joined
they don’t reveal the internal
twisted tissue that clings
 
Sometimes lives are cut short
Pulled from the world as if it were a womb
Two brothers, a sister, a father and mother
have vanished without a trace
 
In Africa they say ‘the blessing is next to the wound’  
Rumi says the cracks are where the light enters you
Is a scar the outer expression of what hurts inside?
Is it the shaping and healing by fire?
 
In Japan they mend broken pots with seams of gold
the gift and pain are both visible
worn like a map to a story turned legacy
held by the strength of resiliency

__________Colleen Redman / Poets United / Imaginary Garden with Real Toads

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on May 9, 2109.

It may never have happened before and hasn’t happened since.  In 1997 four Salutatorians graduated from Floyd County High School (FCHS).  Alongside Class Valedictorian Jeremy Midkiff (center), the four were (left to right) Johanna Neuman, Kelly (Wade) Blackwell, Nicole (Phillips) Connolly and Amber Lutz.

Amber’s mother, Rain Lipson, recalls that all the five graduation speeches that year had a theme. Each graduate acknowledged that they couldn’t have achieved what they did without each other.  But it was not just the five on the graduating stage who challenged and supported each other.  Their fellow honor students from their Advanced Placement Calculus class, taught by teacher DJ Keith (photo below), worked together to raise the bar for achievement. “It was a team effort,” Lipson said. “And now they’re helping each other again and lifting others up.” 

On February 14, 2019, Amber Lutz suffered a pulmonary embolism at her home in Massachusetts. She died at the hospital the following day, surrounded by her loving family.  It was a sudden and unexpected death that shocked and grieved her family and friends.

Not long after Amber’s passing, her Co-salutatorian Nicole (Phillips) Connelly – who is currently a psychologist living in California –  was moved to share photos on Facebook of Amber and the class of 1997’s elementary and high school days, including one of the four Salutatorians. Other classmates joined in, offering condolences and fond memories.  Johanna Newman posted photos of Amber and her growing up together.

Neumann, who was born in Germany, moved with her mother and brother from Tennessee to Floyd in 1987. After finishing 3^rd grade at Blue Mountain School, she chose to go to Floyd Elementary for the 4^th grade (and beyond). Amber was Neumann’s classmate, but also her friend.  They played together, went roller skating together, had sleep-overs and were Girl Scouts together.  Amber’s mom was their troop leader, and Amber was known for selling the most cookies and acknowledged  by the Virginia Skyline Girl Scout Council for that. She was a recipient of the prestigious Gold Award as a Senior Girl Scout.

A week after Amber’s death, Neumann traveled from Amherst, Massachusetts, where she lives with her husband and two sons, to visit her mother, Ruth Neumann, in Floyd.  One day, while in town, she posted on Facebook to let friends know that she was at the Red Rooster Café working online if they wanted to come by and say hello. Neumann is currently the Donor Development Director for the Public Interest Network and has been working for two decades in various mediums for a cleaner and greener future. 

Fellow Honor Student classmate and 1997 FCHS Graduate, Becky Belcher Osborne dropped by the café, and the two friends had lunch. After catching-up, they spoke about Amber’s passing.  “I feel like we’ve got to do something,” Osborne, who lives with her family in Floyd, remembers Neumann saying before she suggested the possibility of an annual scholarship that would honor Amber and help deserving young women pursue academic careers. 

Osborne, the Chief Information Officer of Consolidated Risk Solutions, explained that she became passionate about the scholarship idea because of her love of Amber and Rain, but also because she felt a connection through the lack of women in her own field, even though the company she works with would like more women in the mix. “There are obviously a lot of very smart women. Why are they not working with me now?” she asked. “The more diverse the meetings and the groups I work with, the stronger they are.”   

Before running their idea by Lipson, the pair did some groundwork that included getting contact information for The Community Foundation of the New River Valley (CFNRV), a non-profit 501 (c) (3) that professionally manages charitable donations, including those for scholarships. When Osborne emailed Lipson to ask if she would be interested in a scholarship in Amber’s name, Lipson remembers responding affirmatively “in all caps and with three exclamation points.” 

Lipson and her husband George picked the idea up from there, and the Amber D. Lutz Memorial Scholarship Fund: Supporting FCHS Women Pursuing a Career in Math or Science was born. The goal is to raise $30,000, which will create a sustainable scholarship of $1,000 per year.

As of May 1^st more than half of the fundraising goal had been met, through donations to the CFNRV, as well as through a Facebook fundraising campaign, of which the proceeds also go to CFNRV.  In announcing the progress, Lipson shared,  “I am not the recipient of this fundraiser in any way, but I have reaped its greatest rewards. It has sustained me through my darkest days, given me purpose and focus, and given me hope for the future of the young women in our under-served community. It is with deepest gratitude that I express my thanks for these wonderful gifts.”

Beginning in the spring of 2020 and at every graduation thereafter, the scholarship will be awarded in Amber’s name by her family.  It will be based on GPA (Grade Point Average) as well as financial need, explained Lipson, who was a single parent for many years and remembers how important scholarships were to Amber in pursing higher education. In one of the 200 Scholarship  announcement cards Lipson lovingly sent out, she wrote, “When asked by a cousin to describe his sister, Amber’s brother Cedar replied, “She was smart… so very smart…” After high school, Amber went on to graduate from the Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in Forensic Biology, earning a 4.0 GPA. “Education was always important to Amber,” Lipson wrote.

“Amber was in the thick of it all,” Neumann remembers.  She reminisced about their trips together to the Mountain Academic Competition Conference (MACC) academic tournaments.  Osborne recalls their AP Calculus group getting to school early, meeting in the library to study together.  Neumann recalls the friendly competition between them.

Kelly Wade Blackwell, one of the four 1997 Salutatorians, is the department chair of mathematics at FCHS and has been teaching at FCHS since Fall 2002.  She says, “It was great to have such a strong support group as we took rigorous courses in high school.   Our teachers were great but having peers to work with that truly cared about understanding the content and each other is rare. It was peer pressure but in the best sense of the words. We pushed each other to achieve at our best.” 

“It takes a community” is how Lipson put it.   

Note: To donate to the Amber D. Lutz Memorial Scholarship Fund, make checks payable to CFNRV and mail to P.O. Box 6009, Christiansburg, VA 24068. Please put “Amber Lutz Scholarship” in the memo line of your check. You may also donate online at www.cfnrv.org/donate. Under “Support A Fund” you will fill out the form and enter your donation amount. Under “Additional Details” please enter “Amber Lutz Scholarship.” If you are donating as part of a group you may enter your group name under “Your public posted comment.” All donations are tax deductible and CFNRV will send you a receipt. Note: The last photo is of D.J. Keith’s 1997 AP Calculus class.

1. My friend posted some flower photos on Facebook this week that caused me to comment “ooh la la,” which reminded me of THIS.

3. Joe calls me “sweet pea.”  “If I’m a sweet pea, what’s your flower name?” I asked him.

4. I thought about it for a while and then came up with an answer: Joe Pye Weed.

5. Last year Joe and I went to Mickey G’s Bistro because they advertised “The John and Yoko” chef’s choice for Valentine’s Day.  This Saturday, we headed to the Buffalo Mountain Brewery solely because the name “Apricocous” for their new “Ape-recot” Blonde brew drew me in. The Fat Bean fish & chips and music by C.C. Coates didn’t hurt. See HERE.

6. The next day I went to a house concert at Grateful Bread and was shocked to discover that I knew the band duo, Cicada Rhythm. The guitar player went to high school with my son Josh’s wife Emily, and they played at Emily and Josh’s wedding last year.  The band name didn’t do it. The picture in the paper didn’t do it. But when I got to the house concert and saw the guitarist …BOOM …  it all fit into place. I knew they were high quality at the wedding but so much was going on (a big outside Woodstock type affair).  It was good to sit back, soak up the sound and appreciate their originality and talent. Listen HERE.

7. This is not a real poem/ It’s a phonetic romantic amniotic rhythm / A test tube word zoo just to see what they do / Alpha Beta Delta goose! / It’s a twisted linguistic flash card circus / for all you know it’s a scrambled alphabet / scrabble letter sale – More from This is Not a Real Poem HERE .

8. This is how our Senator Tim Kaine recently described the Trump administration’s policies with Iran (paraphrased), ‘It’s like poking a hornet’s nest with a big stick, and then getting stung, and saying, ‘Look what they did. We have to retaliate.’ 

9. Some bright ideas are brilliant.

10. “Australia has slashed its plastic bag habit by up to 80 percent within just three months, according to Australia’s National Retail Association. Remarkably, this drop in plastic bag consumption did not come directly from any government policy, it was effectively a business decision. This sharp turn around is largely thanks to two of the largest supermarket chains, Coles and Woolworths, deciding to implement a nationwide ban on free lightweight plastic grocery bags in July, replacing them with reusable bags sold for 15 cents. In total, it has potentially prevented as many as 1.5 billion bags from entering the environment.” More HERE.

11. “It was a milestone for Marathon runners in London recently. The event is making worldwide news, but the news isn’t all about the runners. It’s about the edible and biodegradable water capsules handed out along the 26.2-mile route. A new product could help eliminate more than 215,000 plastic water bottles per marathon. Edible water bottles are here and just helped the London Marathon “save a ton”edible water bottles made of natural seaweed membrane. According to the company, they are 100% edible, vegan, and allergen free.” More HERE.

12. Must See Kentucky Derby Hats HERE.

13. I think of a light bulb as a moon wannabe.

________Thirteen Thursday

I’m a sucker for Mustang Sally.

The next day I went to a house concert at Grateful Bread and was shocked to discover that I knew the featured duo, Cicada Rhythm. The guitar player went to high school with my son Josh’s wife Emily, and they played at Emily and Josh’s wedding last year.  The band name didn’t do it. The picture in the paper didn’t do it. But when I got to the house concert and saw the guitarist …BOOM …  it all fell into place. I knew they were high quality at the wedding, but so much was going on (a big outside Woodstock type affair).  It was good to sit back, soak up the sound and appreciate their originality and talent. – Watch for more in an upcoming Floyd Press

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on May 9, 2019.

Drama, humor, song and dance, stand-out costumes and set designs made this weekend’s production of Beauty and the Beast memorable entertainment.  Presented by the Floyd County High School (FCHS) Theatre Department and the Floyd Community Theatre Guild, the Disney classic (adapted by a 16th century French fairy tale) was performed at the FCHS auditorium and featured an engaging and spirited cast of more than 20 actors.

“We’re super exited to put this on for you all,” director/teacher Emily Williams told the crowd during the play’s introduction.  “We’ve been working hard for months. We’ve pulled in so many departments, just about the whole high school got involved. We couldn’t have done it without them,” she said. She thanked the local sponsors and spoke of the role of local theater in fostering the arts in the community. 

  Amanda Keyton as Belle sings about how hard it is to be seen as odd by the villagers and about how much she likes reading books.

 Belle’s inventor father, played by Teresa Mattson, gets lost in the woods and finds himself in an enchanted castle and surrounded by talking household items, a candlestick named Lumiere (played by Jordan Ingram), a clock named Cogsworth (played by Noah Bower, a feather duster named Babette (played by Samantha Cervantes), and tea cup named Chip Potts (played by Cameryn Rinker and tea pot a named Mrs.Potts (played by Rosa Lovo). 

After Belle offers to stay in the Beast’s castle to save her father, she is afraid and upset.  The animated household items invite her to dinner with a zany song and dance called “Be Our Guest.”

After Belle runs away and is attacked by wolves, the Beast, played by Samirah Carson, saves her but is injured.  Here, Belle attends to the Beast’s wounds and her fear of him softens.

Everyone in the village loves the hunter Gaston (played by Fox Slife), and they perform a song called Gaston… No one is as slick, no one hits, fights or shoots like Gaston…

The town finds out about the Beast and vow to kill it to keep their children safe.

 After saving the Beast from the villagers, Belle confesses her love and the spell is broken. The Beast was really a Prince (played by Donya Strange) under a curse. The talking household items return to human forms.

Parts of the production were interactive with the audience and at the close of the play audience members were invited to dance with the actors on stage.

______Our World Tuesday

It’s a list of words I like
A finger pointing mouthful of spelling
Vanity license plate of noisy graffiti
 
It’s not a real poem
It’s a game show in morse code
buy a vowel to solve the puzzle
 
This is the fall of the oral
laid out on pavement
on billboards and keyboards
in jingles and journals
 
This is not a real poem
It’s a phonetic romantic amniotic rhythm
A test tube word zoo just to see what they do
 
Alpha Beta Delta goose!
It’s a twisted linguistic flash card circus
for all you know it’s a scrambled alphabet
scrabble letter sale
 
You never heard this
It isn’t real
 
It’s a fish tale grocery list
Go ask the beatniks
Go ask the experts
what a real poem is
 
This could be an eye chart
and unpublished word search
This could be a counterfeit
Go and ask the experts
 
They know what’s authentic
what’s serious business
This is not a real poem
for all you know
____________Colleen Redman  / Poets United

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on May 9, 2019

It’s fair to say that the 2^nd annual Mayfaire at the Floyd Center for the Arts (FCA) was a hit.  Attendance was up on Saturday and the forecasted rain held off till near closing time. 

There was craft making, kid’s activities, live music, food, art  and craft vendors and artisan demonstrations on the FCA grounds, which were transformed to resemble an Old World village square. 

The Give Peace a Dance troupe performed and taught Maypole dancing.  They passed out flower leis and garlands.  Unfortunately, Saturday flowers brought Sunday showers and downpours, and Sunday’s Mayfaire was cancelled.  

Here, the festively dressed Give Peace a Dance dancers pose in front of the giant flower peace sign they made for their booth. 

Kids gathered around to paint rocks and make pain- print gift bags.

Master Naturalists assisted kids to make seed bombs, wildflower seed medleys ready for planting, made from recycled clay from the FCA potter studio and potting soil.

Making large bubbles in front of the Water Flag/Water Protectors’ booth was a popular activity.  The Duvall kids came to Mayfaire from Winston Salem with their parents, who  learned about the event on Facebook. 

Deborah Harris painted artful faces from her gypsy caravan booth.  She played her handmade ocarina clay flutes in between customers.  

The women of the Rainbow Time Apothecary came from Winston Salem for the Mayfaire.  Artist/designer Amy Fitzgerald (far right) has work in the FCA’s current “The Fiber of Art” exhibit.

Folk artist Ken Peece said  he recently posted a sketch of John Prine on his Facebook page and Prine’s wife “liked it.”  Peese’s art is on exhibit at the FCA. 

 Betse Dunham’s Pottery sparkled with a cosmic tea dust glaze.  She is a regular vendor at the Floyd Artistan Market.

Flying Doves’ Robert McNabb and friends were one of the bands entertaining the crowd. 

Julie Arrington of 5 Mile Mountain Distillery was vending artisan-organic cotton candy, a spin-off from the distillery business of mixing flavor combinations. Mango Chili Powder and Strawberry Lemonade were on the menu.

Deborah Carrino waits with her dog Buddy for a grilled sandwich from the Grateful Bread food booth. Buddy has a Facebook following, and it was suggested that he should be the town mascot, Carrino said.

See you next year!

1. Last week my grandson Bryce told me that his 5^th grade class was banned from saying “Big Chungus.” “Why?” I asked him.  “Because we were saying it too much,” he answered.

2. While other people are watching cat videos, I’m watching THIS. 

3. My friend Mara was explaining “pendulum activism” to me at the Floyd Mayfaire.  Mara: You lean in, step out, lean in again.   Me: Mara you don’t lean in. You go in hard.   Chico: The last time I did that I had to get married.

4. At the Floyd Center for the Arts Fiber Art opening, where she had a water flag installation, she said: “After pursuing all legitimate means to stop pipelines from taking homeowners property and putting waterways at risk”, Mara said that the water flag project has been her most effective work.  “What works is people living in trees,” she said.  She introduced the crowd to two tree-sitters and performed a poem.”  Listen HERE.  

5. “Water is a symbol of knowledge in at least one Aboriginal culture. In languages of the Northern Territory, the word ganma means a place where salt water and fresh water meet. It is used as a metaphor for different people coming together to share knowledge and reach mutual understanding” – from ‘If the land is sick, you are sick’: An Aboriginal approach to mental health in times of drought HERE.

6. First, they came for the journalists. We don’t know what happened after that. – Sign seen on Facebook

7. If absolutely everyone believed professional wrestling was real, it would still be fake. Same with Trump. – My Dharmacratic poet friend Will

8. “These are the experiences that mark us and make us just as much as the joyful ones and just as permanently. We don’t look at the people around us who are experiencing life joys and wonders and tell them to move on, do we?  Grief is one of those things like falling in love or having a baby or watching the Wire on HBO.  You don’t get it until you get it, until you do it.  you’ve been touched by something chronic.  Something incurable. it’s not fatal but sometimes it feels like it could be.” – Ted Talk on Grief HERE.

9. A tectonic plate may have peeled apart—and that could shrink the Atlantic Ocean – Something strange is happening off the coast of Portugal, and scientists have now proposed a groundbreaking explanation. If confirmed, the new work would be the first time an oceanic plate has been caught in the act of peeling—and it may mark one of the earliest stages of the Atlantic Ocean shrinking, sending Europe inching toward Canada as predicted by some models of tectonic activity.- More from National Geographic HERE.

10. On Sunday the United Nations released a report saying that up to a million species are at risk of extinction due to shrinking habitat, pollution and climate change. On Monday Secretary of State Mike Pompeo praised the Arctic region — and its rapidly shrinking levels of sea ice — for its economic opportunities and “new opportunities for trade.”

11. THIS made me cry.  It’s my niece, my late brother Jim’s daughter, and her girlfriend (the blonde) who made the video for a film class.  I think they’re engaged.

12. A Winning Love– We are like two sides / of the same coin / Heads or tails / We both win.

13. It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe, if you don’t know by now. – Bob

__________Thirteen Thursday

______________Wordless Wednesday

We are like two sides
of the same coin
Heads or tails
We both win

___________Colleen Redman / Imaginary Garden with Real Toads

The 2nd annual Mayfaire at the Floyd Center for the Arts is in full swing, or should I say “full spring.”

There are plenty of festive ribbons and flowers to go around.

The rain held off and the sun mostly shone from 10 a.m. till about 4:30.

Tomorrow is another day to check out all the sights, sounds, food, entertainment and that this Old World Faire has to offer.

Look for a photo spread in this week’s Floyd Press. / Our World Tuesday