Loose Leaf Notes

1. I ran into my friend Triona at the Farmers Market on Saturday.  She, like me, is a roving reporter.  She loves to document and knows a good story when she sees one (she took the picture to the left with her iPad).  I think journalism is in her future.  HERE is the story I did on her for The Floyd Press.

2. “In journalism, we’re told beginnings are all we have, and the worst beginnings are endings too. They’re where people stop reading. And you don’t just begin once. Every sentence, it seems, must be some kind of beginning, leading to the next, arresting the gaze, which on the internet strays so easily. So they say…”  – From Beginning, a first entry of a blog penned by my daughter-in-law-to-be, Emily, about the project she, my son and three other partners have taken on to refurbish an old county jail in Marshall, NC, for mixed use.  She is researching and documenting the stories of the jail’s colorful history.

3. She goes on… “This story is life. There are no good guys. There are no bad guys. Everyone is both. This blog, about the historic jail my fiancee and I bought with three partners, will often traverse the territory of supposed good guys and bad guys, lawmen and criminals. But if these stories stand for anything, they stand for ambiguity, for the complexity of life, for the richness of experience that drives us to seek and exalt the stories of others.  This page is a chronicle of research I’m conducting and stories I hear as I seek to create a small multimedia exhibit for the building as we renovate it. It’s not a history. It’s not an authoritative account. It’s not without bias and complication. It’s an exploration, and it has begun. I hope you’ll come along. Read more HERE.

4. THIS is what the summer’s all about.

5. I’ve been to the local Great Oaks Pool more this year than any other year I can remember. At this rate, I’m going to need more bathing suits.

6. “The language that my grandfather was forbidden to speak is composed primarily of verbs, ways to describe the vital beingness of the world. Both nouns and verbs come in two forms, the animate and the inanimate. You hear a blue jay with a different verb than you hear an airplane, distinguishing that which possesses the quality of life from that which is merely an object. Birds, bugs, and berries are spoken of with the same respectful grammar as humans are, as if we were all members of the same family. Because we are.” –  Robin Wall of the Potawatomi Nation, Speaking of Nature –  Orion magazine

7. I think the wood thrush is the Lao Tzu of birdsong. I’ve been listening to their evening sermons to counter the Nightly News.

8. So we had our first bear intrusion into our corn patch and the corn isn’t even near ripe yet. Joe made sure the electric fence was working and he set up a radio to play all night to deter the critter.   When he told me he put it on Rush Limbaugh (thinking talk radio would be the best alternative to real people voices), I said, “Oh, no, I don’t even want him in our airwaves.”  “Yeah, I hope his negativity doesn’t hurt our vegetables,” he replied.

9. Throwing summer some shade is a good thing, right?  See HERE.

10. What used to stop me in my tracks / and threaten to sink me with its impact / now slips away discreetly at night / like Arctic icebergs breaking off / in someone else’s proverbial backyard / While true-north poets forget their lines / and oar-less boats turn with the tides / parts of me drift away… Read the rest of my poem Losing Ground HERE. 

11. Here are some headlines that I recently posted in my These Headlines are Real Google Them series on Facebook: Scaramucci Deletes Tweets At Odds With Trump, Then Says He’s Being Transparent / The NRA’s Terrible Idea To Solve Domestic Violence: Arming Victims / Question now is will the GOP be able to normalize treason / Good for the rich, bad for the poor: Trump’s healthcare plan is a lot like his tax plan.

12. The secret to The Neck Adjustment is bubble wrap. See HERE.

13. We put up a motion-activated camera to see what was eating in our corn and THIS is the wildlife we caught.

_______Thirteen Thursday

_______Wordless Wednesday

What used to stop me in my tracks
and threaten to sink me with its impact
now slips away discreetly at night
like Arctic icebergs breaking off
in someone else’s proverbial backyard

While true-north poets forget their lines
and oar-less boats turn with the tides
parts of me drift away
in a foreboding and foretold
chain of events

With so much spilled water
I don’t want to add tears
leave innocent children
at the deep end of the world
not able to touch bottom

________Colleen Redman / Poets United

____Shadow Shot Sunday  / Our World Tuesday

1. Question of the week: How do we put a chicken that’s been mauled by a raccoon out of its misery without causing more misery?

2. Best accomplishment of the week: staying at the pool until closing on Sunday.

3. Facebook message from Floydfest folks: Site build is going well.  We just installed the rainbow …

4.  If that’s a Floydfest installed rainbow (right) then the picture below it is of Joe and me and friends in Italy.

5. A new study shows that highly intelligent people are messy, stay up late and love swearing. So THAT explains it.

6. Smarter than the average 4-year-old? Swedish scientists have shown that ravens have the ability to form memories similar to humans. They can pass up a treat for a tool that can be used to get more treats in the future.

7. I think the iceberg the size of Delaware that broke off Antarctica last week is like a metaphor for our country, broken, drifting, displacing the rest in a foreboding and foretold chain of events.

8. My poem, The First 100 Days, has been featured as a Poem of the Day, along with poems by two other poets, at Poets United in a segment called The Poet in Political Times.   Site co-editor Sherry Marr writes in the introduction: As these are topsy-turvy times, politically, I’ve noticed several poets, who normally are not very political, have been moved to write about their feelings. Since many of us feel the same way, I thought it might be timely to feature the following poems,  written by  Colleen Redman of Loose Leaf Notes, Annell Livingston of Some Things I Think About,  and Laura Bloomsbury of Tell Tale Therapy.  The poet often mirrors what is happening in society, as these examples illustrate so well. See HERE. 

9. There was an old story that when a revolution occurred in some ancient land the new ruler was asked, “What’s the first thing to do?” and the new ruler answered “Kill the poets.” ~ Bill Moyer

10. If I complained to William Stafford / that I haven’t written a poem in weeks / he’d say “Lower your standards” / Natalie Goldberg would say / “Keep your hand moving” / Kerouac said dig deep within your soul / and blow freestyle like a jazz artist / But my notes are flat and motivation is flagging / so I google “advice on writing” / and quickly find an ABC formula / that reminds me too much of CPR / One missed step and someone could die … Read the rest of Bookmark This Page HERE. 

11. What is hope?  … Suffering and hope, live from each other.  Suffering without hope produces resentment and despair. Hope without suffering creates illusions, naiveté, and drunkenness.  Let us plant dates even though those who plant them will never eat them.  We must live by the love of what we will never see.   This is the secret discipline…  – Rubem Alves, Brazilian theologian, philosopher, educator, writer and psychoanalyst (1933 – 20149). Read the rest of Alves’s thoughts on Hope HERE. 

12. Best Written Headline of the Week:  Senate Republicans Just Killed Their Health Care Bill Again But it could come back in another form. Like a zombie.

13. And this from my Dharmacratic friend Will: “Right wingers can’t decide whether to wave Confederate or Russian flag in make America Great charade parade.”

_______Thirteen Thursday

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press in April 2017.

Kari Kovick is making a new CD.  The local artist/educator and Heart of the Child Social Emotional Music Education director has enlisted the help of producer Ken Whiteley, an award winning Canadian roots musician who writes songs, performs and has produced over 135 recording projects for numerous Blues, Country & Bluegrass, Celtic, Children’s, Folk, Gospel, R&B, Swing and World recording artists.  “When I heard his music, I knew that was the sound I wanted.  There’s a sense of humor and engagement in what he does, and it’s not overly produced,” she said.

Kovick has been sharing her interactive Social Emotional Learning (SEL) music programs with children at Blue Mountain School and with babies and toddlers at The Floyd Country Store for 17 years. She’s been working with pre-schoolers and young students at Floyd’s elementary schools since 2008.  Using fun songs and hands-on musical play, she engages children and teaches them skills to identify feelings, regulate their emotional responses and choose peaceful behaviors. Musically, Kovick is primarily a vocalist. She plays guitar and writes songs, some of which will be on the new CD.

Kovick and Whiteley have been communicating about the project since 2014.  They met through a mutual friend from The Children’s Music Network, a resource that celebrates the positive power of music in children’s lives and where Kovick finds songs for her curriculums. Kovick’s choice to work with Whiteley was validated when she went through her favorite children’s music CDs and was surprised to find that he had produced most all of them.

Last October, Kovick traveled to Whiteley’s Toronto studio, where they laid down the record’s bed tracks, which Kovick describes as “the foundation upon which we can overlay overdubs.” “It was so affirming to take songs that I’ve written and have only performed a cappella with the kids and then have them arranged.  Ken could hear in his head what would make them better. He brought in incredible studio musicians,” she said.

“The job of a producer is to represent the vision of the artist and that’s what I try to do,” said Whiteley when in he was in Floyd in early April to record the voices of children, some of whom Kovick has known since they were babies in her music programs.

“I’ve been making music for a long time, over 40 years,” Whiteley said.  “When I first started working in the field, children’s music was a blank slate. I approached it as a blank slate.” He went on to describe how he incorporates his wide tastes and is open to all music possibilities when performing and recording songs for children, “so that the music is not shortchanged for children.”

“The idea is to make the best music possible,” Whiteley continued.  “At the same time there are special qualities for making music for children, especially young children, where the material and intent is both engaging and, without being didactic, reinforces positive values.” The weekend recordings took place at the studio of Luke Thomas (Kovick’s nephew) on Music Road.

It was hard picking the songs for the CD because she loves so many, Kovick said.  The record will feature the best of her SEL material, including her own songs, “I Wish My Daddy Was Here,” written to soothe a distressed child at a camp where Kovick was teaching music, It’s  Not My Fault and On and On.  “On and On was written during the recording of Kovick’s Peace by Peace, a collection of songs performed by her and her students as a fundraiser for two local families with children fighting cancer. When one of the children died during project, Kovick channeled her own grief through music. The song begins: “Life comes up and life lays low and in between is when we grow.”

“I’ve made my own homemade CDs and as fundraisers for the town. Every thing I’ve done has been one more step,” said Kovick.  The children involved in the new CD (ages 5 to 11) were raised on the songs included on it, which is why it was important for Kovick to include their voices. “It’s all about relationship.  I want the world to hear children’s music that is based on real relationships.”  Kovick also spoke of wanting to see Floyd be a hub for Children’s music.

The working title for the CD is “It’s You I Like,” which was written by Fred Rogers and is also included in the collection. Other songs that Kari described as some of the kids favorites include I’m Not Scared (Bob Blue) Red, Yellow, Orange, Brown (Patti Gille), I Did It Myself (Kathy Hirsch-Pasek and Mona Goldman Zakeim).  She sees other CD projects in the future with different themes, such as gardening songs or silly songs. Adult musicians that participated were Stella Trudel, John Sutherland, Marcia Winters, Bob Grubel and Kari’s husband Michael Kovick.

Kovick will return to Toronto in June for mixing and editing. She expects the CD to be ready sometime in August and to hold a CD release party in the fall. The CD will be available at the Floyd Country Store and songs will be available online.  She plans to further promote her music programs and attend and give demonstrations at Early Childhood conferences, incorporating her CD as part of her materials packet.

It’s not just for kids,” Kovick said about the CD. “We all need to hear these messages.  I need to give the kids these messages and remind myself of them, that ‘you’re okay. You’re doing okay just the way you are.’

Post Note:   Heart of the Child Music Education depends on fundraising and grant writing to continue its many community service projects.  For more information visit Kari’s webpage HERE or contact her at kariok@swva.net.

If I complained to William Stafford
that I haven’t written a poem in weeks
he’d say “Lower your standards”

Natalie Goldberg would say
“Keep your hand moving”
Kerouac said dig deep within your soul
and blow freestyle like a jazz artist

But my notes are flat and motivation is flagging
so I google “advice on writing”
and quickly find an ABC formula
that reminds me too much of CPR
One missed step and someone could die

Kurt Vonnegut’s advice is worth clicking on
I especially like the part
where he says “Don’t ramble on”
then demonstrates that
by saying nothing further

I add the word “poetry”
to my “advice on writing,” search and find:
Subvert the ordinary
Don’t explain everything
Feel free to write a bad poem

Solitude is mentioned
Charles Simic suggests closing your eyes
I close the instruction manuals
open my mind like a fortune cookie
look for a poem on how to write a poem

Advice given to blocked writers and aspiring poets
by Wislawa Szymborska is helpful
She says “You need a new pen”
“The one you’re using makes a lot of mistakes
Even boredom should be described with gusto”

________Colleen Redman / Poets United

-The following 4th of July Celebration photos first appeared in The Floyd Press on July 13, 2017. 

Family and friends gathered under a shade tree at the Floyd County High School for the annual Independence Day celebration, held on July 7th and sponsored by Floyd County Merchants’ & Businessmen’s Association.

The bounce house was one of the popular inflatable attractions that children flocked to.

Young spectators watch as an inflatables battle ensues.

The Connor family was one of the groups that entertained throughout the evening’s celebration.

Children (like my grandson) come back every year to mix colored sand creations at the sand art table.

Face painting was another popular attraction.

Hungry attendees enjoyed the traditional 4th of July fare.

Attendees line up lawn chairs in anticipation of the fireworks.

Attentive attendees applauded the display.

The evening’s full moon seemed to be part of the fireworks display.

1. Missing:  I come across a letter/ It doesn’t matter what she wrote/ Her handwriting is like her thumbprint/ impressed on me/ A nudge/ A comfort/ A love letter lost/ A clue not meant / for solving.

2. “You know how you get a woman to like you? She has to like you.” Fred Stoller

3. Cheeky or tongue in cheek?

4. When you have a baby, you’re not just having a baby and experiencing the joy of that.  You’re also having a child, a teenager and an adult and making a lifelong commitment.  In death, you suffer a blow and you grieve, but it’s not just about feeling that initial loss.  It’s also about the missing of that person that comes after, and that goes on for the rest of your life.

5. MA for Massachusetts will always be MA for Mother to me.

6. If we could win back years in the lottery, I’d probably play.

7. Seen on Facebook on the 4th of July:  “While sitting at a bar and literally watching it rain on everyone’s parade, We made friends with a dog that had an entire 4th themed tutu as his collar. While watching people scuttle away from the canceled fireworks using impromptu head covers… one man had a bathmat held over his head. How while out for the evening are you more likely to have a bathmat than an umbrella?” – My friend Coriander

8. The full moon looked like part of the fireworks this year.  Watch them Boom to the Moon HERE.

9. The moon tripped across the sky / and landed lopped on its side / It lingered before it crept away / like an all-nighter / in a fender bender …  Read about the hit and run stars and the rest of this poem  HERE.

10.  Also seen on Facebook recently, regarding the state of our country:  The problem is there are a bunch of people smashing a hole in the bottom of the boat to prove that it won’t sink if there’s a hole in it. And as the boat fills and everyone fights over life jackets, the hole-makers are blaming Obama. Or Hillary’s emails. And not the orange guy with the hammer, because he can do no wrong. – My friend Karl.

11. Patriotism Test: If the Russian govt contacts you offering information to help you win an election, you would:  a) Call the FBI  b) All of the above  – from my Facebook friend Bill

13. Whatever Floats Your Boat. See it and smile HERE. 

13. Virginia is for Lovers and Floyd is for Dancers HERE.

______Thirteen Thursday

___________Wordless Wednesday

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on July 14, 2017 with a larger spread of pictures.

Floyd Fandango has been called “Floydfest’s little sister,” “Floydfest’s love child,” and, more commonly, a “Showdown Throwdown.”

The grassroots mini-festival, which took place at the Floydfest site (milepost 170.5) June 23 – 25, is a chance for Floydfest founders to showcase On-the-Rise bands that have won patron-voted Battle of the Bands contests at The Phoenix, their club in Roanoke.

The bands will go on to compete at Floydfest 17, July 26 – 30, for a full prize package and a gig playing on the main stage at Floydfest 18.

Under sunny skies, this year’s warm-up to Floydfest debuted festival co-founder Kris Hodges’ taco truck, OXXO TACO.

Floyd’s Dogtown Roadhouse served woodfired pizza, and Farm-to-Table ingredients for a special meal in the Pink Floyd Beer and Wine Garden were provided primarily by Floyd’s Riverstone Organic Farm.

Local craft beer, wine and cider tasting is a popular part of the event, which costs $20 at the gate and offers free camping.

Fandango also features outdoor adventures and local residents figured in, winning and placing in the 5K Trail Race and a Mountain X Cross Bike Race.

Floyd High School student Cyrus Walker (center) won King of the Mountain for participating in both races, and Floydfest co-founder Erika Johnson (below) won first place in the woman’s 5K race and 4^th place overall.

____Our World Tuesday

We dance on dance floors and on grassy knolls.

On this occasion, it was Rootstock, a Floyd-style summertime bash that our friend Starroot hosts each year with live music, potluck food from our gardens and dips in the Milky Way pond.

It was Starroot’s birthday party, and her children and grandchildren came from Massachusetts and California to attend.  Her brother came from Germany, her native country.

Her cake (delicious!) was made by Barb of Grateful Bread. It was a strawberry shortcake shaped like the white and red polka-dotted amanita mushroom that Starroot incorporates into so much in her visionary art.

Starroot is not only a visionary surrealist artist, she is also a musician whose original cosmic rock rock music we danced to. This  band incarnation is called Forever Now. 

Check out the 2012 story I wrote about Starroot for All About HER HERE.  Her website is HERE.

Meanwhile, we’ll keep dancing!

______Our World Tuesday

The moon tripped across the sky
and landed lopped on its side
It lingered before it crept away
like an all-nighter
in a fender bender
avoiding the sun
full blown and swollen
while hit and run stars
take cover in daylight
as if nothing ever happens at night

______Colleen Redman / Poets United

______Shadow Shot Sunday

1. Virginia is for Lovers and Floyd is for Dancers! See HERE.

2. Siri pronounces Oddf3llas (a Floyd’s restaurant) “Oddthreefellas”

3. The first taste of blueberries picked from the garden, the first splashed dunk in the Country Club pool. Meals on the porch. Everyday an outside tea party attended in sundress style. The lawn chairs are moved from the open sun, tucked under pine trees in the shade. The dog looks forlorn, overdressed in fur. Industrious carpenter ants with appetites for our log home, leave telltale piles of wood dust around. Flip flops flap and butterflies flit. I slow down and listen to the symphony of wild. Every buzz, chirp, tweet, and drone tells me what I want to hear, that summer is in full swing.  -From a 2009 post called Marching to a Summer Drummer

4. “Should goodness ever lose / and evil steal the day? / Should happy sing the blues / and peace would fade away / What would you do, what would you say? / How would you act on that blue day? / Stand up for what you believe / Resist the powers that be / Preserve the land, and save the sea / For the children of destiny / the children of you and me…”

5. The above lyrics are from Neil Young’s new video of his new song “Children of Destiny.” Making a statement about the current political climate, Young teamed up with Promise of the Real (the band featuring Willie Nelson’s son Lukas) to release the video for the 4th of July. It includes footage from the Women’s March and features a 56 piece orchestra. Watch it HERE. 

6. Every summer has an iconic experience that epitomizes summer for me. In the past, it’s been a porch concert under the stars, eating a whole community blueberry pie at the Zephyr pond with friends, a circle of Sufi dancing with friends in a field under the full moon, or a moonlight kayak float down the Little River.  This summer’s iconic summer evening already happened and it involved a porch sushi feast, a baby in my lap and a bonfire that smelled of pine.

7. Usually when Joe goes away, I try on clothes and have dance parties. This time I drank beer, ate bacon and watched Roseanne reruns.

8. My first email to him read: The beans are in and skunks are living under the porch.   HERE.

9. This Popular Painkiller Kills Kindness: A new study shows that Acetaminophen, the most common drug ingredient in the United States, can reduce a person’s capacity to empathize with another person’s pain, whether that pain is physical or emotional…. …Acetaminophen is an ingredient in more than 600 different medicines, according to the Consumer Healthcare Products Association. About a quarter of all Americans take acetaminophen every week….” More HERE. 

10. Another bucket list stop for New York:  In Brooklyn there’s a whole interactive library for sketchbooks. The library started with 1,200 and now has 26,000.  They take them on tour and then add them to their permanent collection. Anyone can make one.   See HERE.

11. “Presently the news is a series of constantly crashing cars right outside your window. One after the next, bang, smash, crash. The symphony of shrieking metal is very, very hard to turn away from….You can look at it, but pick your times. Write or make art first, then go and stare into the unswerving gaze of Sauron himself…” – From Ways TO STAY MOTIVATED IN THIS SH*T-SHELLACKED ERA OF EPIC STUPID, a blog post by writer Chuck Wendig at Terrible Minds HERE.

12. Who gives a crap? Look HERE.

13. Working out issues on a group Facebook site, my friend Karl wrote: In most communities, these squabbles would be settled at the bowling alley, let’s all ask ourselves “What would Richie Cunningham Do?”

_________Thirteen Thursday

_______Wordless Wednesday

-The following photos and captions recently appeared in The Floyd Press newspaper.  

Hoppie Vaughan and The Ministers of Soul played originals and soul standards at the second installment of the Floyd Small Town Summer Music and Movies in the Park.  Hosted in the Warren Lineberry Park by the Town of Floyd, the events are free and open to the public.

Trey Thompson, area director of Younglife and Wyldlife dries off before his next dunk.  Younglife/Wyldlife is one of several community organizations partnering with Floyd Small Town Summer to provide activities and share information about their group.

PFLAG president Jim Best holds up a sign announcing the June 24 Pride March and Dance.

A group of young friends show off their face paint, done by Sally Edelman of Fantasy Face Painting and provided free as part of the community event.

Dancers move in the grass to Hoppie Vaughan’s Classic Soul, R&B, and Funk

Smiling attendees enjoy the music. Some are sampling food vending specialties.

Showtime!  The feature was the critically acclaimed animated film “Sing.” The next Small Town Summer Music and Movies in the Park is scheduled for this Thursday, July 6th a 6:00, and will feature Seph Custer & The Papa Tom Band & Waiting to Exhale and the fantasy movie is of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

____Our World Tuesday

I come across a letter
It doesn’t matter what she wrote
Her handwriting is like her thumbprint
impressed on me
A nudge
A comfort
A lover letter lost
A clue not meant
for solving

_______Colleen Redman / Poets United / Imaginary Gardens with Real Toads