Loose Leaf Notes

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on November 12, 2020.

Blue Ridge Alchemy, Floyd’s new glass studio gallery, opened to the public in June. Owned and operated by glass blower artists Kenan Tiemeyer of Tiemeyer Glass and Caleb Dickman of Liquid Fire Glass, the shop represents an eclectic selection of local artists and materials, including glass works, jewelry, pottery, wood turned bowls, visionary art and more.

The gallery’s primary focus is on glass and it’s stocked with a wide variety of flameworked pendants, beads, ink pens, candy dishes, glass orbs, marbles, sculptural paper weights and functional tobacco and CBD hemp pipes. The bulk of glass works are made by the owners, but the shop also features the work of other glass artists, including Tiemeyer’s wife, Tree Tiemeyer of the Enchanted Tree, who also does beadwork and makes crochet and batik bags.

Talking to the Blue Ridge Alchemy owners, it soon becomes evident where the word “alchemy” in the business name comes from. “I focus on gold and silver fuming. I vaporize precious metals. The white is pure silver vapor. The orange and pinks are pure gold. Where the colors overlap, you get greens and different hues,” Tiemeyer, who specializes in “light vibration mandala” orbs, explained.

Dickman, a Floyd native, concentrates on copper electroforming, which is done in an acid bath with electricity. The copper transfers from a tubing solution into paint that adheres and builds up. Dickman incorporates crystals, carved antlers, fossils, gemstone insets and more into his pieces. “It’s all very unique work. There’s not a lot of people out there doing it,” Tiemeyer said.

The friends met over 15 years ago at Seeds of Light, a Blacksburg bead and gift shop that was owned by Dickman’s mother before it closed around 2005. Tiemeyer, who has worked in human services and has a degree in Communications/Film and Video production taught Dickman the basics of working with glass, which led to Dickman’s career as an artisan taking off.  Tiemeyer became interested in working with glass after meeting and becoming friends with a glass blower in Michigan, where he lived before relocating to Floyd twenty years ago.

Tucked behind DJ’s Drive-inn off 221, the shop took six months of renovations to transform it from a one-time TV repair shop, a flower shop and second-hand store into a functioning state-of-the-art glass workshop and gallery. An outside sign is in the works, and the owners are preparing to expand their hours from Friday and Saturday noon to 8 pm, to include Wednesday and Thursday. They will soon be offering live glass blowing demonstrations with the help of a large overhead screen.

Next year, “when the coronavirus settles down” they plan on expanding to incorporate a teaching studio. Typically, Tiemeyer teaches advanced classes that draw people from all over the country, but they’ll also be offering beginner classes. “If you take a beginner class you can then rent space and equipment here to practice without having to have your own studio and supplies,” Tiemeyer said.

He wasn’t deterred by the coronavirus to open the shop in June because his business, wholesale and retail, is primarily conducted online, Tiemeyer said. He worked out of a garden shed at his Indian Valley home for 11 years and is happy to have a functioning studio in town.

Everything in the shop is one-of-a-kind and prices range from $10 to up to $3,500. Glass ornaments that hang in the front window remind one of Christmas time and shopping for gifts. Tourist traffic has picked up since the shop was featured in the Floyd Magazine, noted Dickman, who comes from a family of artisans and woodworkers. “And there are a lot of glass paper weight and orb collectors out there,” Tiemeyer added.

___________Colleen Redman

1. “The whole world is celebrating like World War II just ended.” – Richard Engel reporting on Biden win

2. I personally don’t see the divisiveness we’ve been going through as politics, or two sides of differing opinions, but more like choosing to live in reality or a false narrative, harboring good will or fear of others, supporting and improving democracy or sliding into authoritarianism. I don’t feel hateful or revengeful to those who follow Trump, but some people have lost credibility with me, so I keep that in mind. Conservatives might think of me as liberal and liberals might think of me as conservative. The Trump administration has been neither and is more about right and wrong than left or right.

3. The Day Joe Biden Won the Election: Our new Buff Orpington chickens met our old Jersey Giants and were working towards a smooth transition. While I was figuring out how to put my camera through a fence hole, they were figuring out how to live with each other…More HERE.

4. Check out THIS painted mural that purifies the surrounding air the same as 720 trees would do.

5. Did this election really age you, like THIS?

6. “We love it!” answered a Tour de Dirt bicyclist wearing a pink tutu over his clothes when he was asked about the rain. Spirits were up in spite of the morning’s poor weather at Sunday’s 14th annual Tour de Floyd, a “Dirt Roads and Byways of Floyd County” fundraiser ride for PLENTY! food bank and programs. The ride, which is not a race, started at 8 am at Chantilly Farm and concluded at the Farm with a Chili Feast and Deshutes Beer Pub… More from Tour de Dirt Rain or Shine HERE.

7. Enlightened Moon: Buddha moon / Happy glow / A Lotus pose / for the mindful

8. Sometimes I feel like Elvis Costello, whose new pandemic anthem “No Flag” says this, “I got no religion, I got no philosophy / got a head full of ideas and words that don’t seem to belong to me / I could write you verses and recite more than one /  But they’re not worth the paper that they’re written on…

9. I suspect the people who are pushing voter fraud and think Trump could still win the election grew up reading the National Enquirer.

10. The blame game, two can play at that game or fair game at this point in the game?

11. Twist and Shout and Ouch! HERE.

12. When it was announced that Joe Biden won the presidential election Newsweek reported that liquor stores said more champagne sold in Washington D.C. than the last two New Years combined. Then I saw this tweet on Twitter, “Live your life in such a way that the entire planet doesn’t dance in the street when you lose your job.”

13. “Life beats a poor man to his grave / Love makes a rich man a beggar / Love is the one thing we can save / Love is the one thing we can save …”  Elvis Costello

_______Thirteen Thursday

________Wordless Wednesday

Our new Buff Orpington chickens met our old Jersey Giants and were working towards a smooth transition.

Suspicions slowly turned to curiosity.

The four of them were like the adults in the room who had to ‘take it outside’ while four younger new hens were huddled together in the henhouse.

While I was figuring out how to put my camera through a fence hole, they were figuring out how to live with each other.

It was a sunny and unseasonably warm day for November.

__________Our World Tuesday

Buddha moon
Happy glow
A Lotus pose
for the mindful
___________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on November 5, 2020

The Town of Floyd’s first drive-through trick-or-treat was a success, judging by the smiling faces of costumed children and their families.

Due to the pandemic and the Center for Disease Control’s recommendation that door-to-door- trick-or-treating be avoided, Oxford Street was closed to public traffic from 5 –  7 pm on Halloween, Saturday, October 31. Using traffic cones, the road was divided into two sections, one for drive-by trick-or-treating and the other for walking the route, which was lined with individual candy vendors or groups, such as Floyd County Young Life, a non-profit community group for adolescents. Young Life’s area director Trey Thompson said their group of volunteers passed out 500 – 600 pieces of candy and that chocolate candy was the most popular.

Dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West, Sasha Marine stood in front of her Oxford Street home and passed out candy to the cars that cruised slowly by. She said Oxford Street has always been busy with trick-or-treaters on Halloween but that she normally passes out candy from inside her home.

The Sherriff deputies helped guide cars down the trick-or-treat street. Town manager Kyla Cox was there with her children passing out candy. One candy vendor used a grabber to deliver candy.

Another, who came from a rural part of the county and passed out candy from the back of his truck, said he never gets trick-or-treaters at his home. He was enjoying offering treats from a plate with a skull that he made chatter, much to the delight of young children.

-The following first appeared in The Floyd Press on October 29, 2020.

“We love it!” answered a Tour de Dirt bicyclist wearing a pink tutu over his clothes when he was asked about the rain. Spirits were up in spite of the morning’s poor weather at Sunday’s 14th annual Tour de Floyd, a “Dirt Roads and Byways of Floyd County” fundraiser ride for PLENTY! food bank and programs.

The ride, which is not a race, started at 8 am at Chantilly Farm and concluded at the Farm with a Chili Feast and Deshutes Beer Pub (included in the $40 -60 ride fee). Ride start times were staggered and distances varied, beginning with the Full Pull (80 miles), followed by the Fiddy (57 miles), the Lite (37 miles) and a Funn Ride (16 miles). “We will be socially distancing this year. Please bring a mask to use when around others (you will not need to have it on while riding your bike),” the invite announcement read.

At 8:30 bicyclists mulled around the campgrounds preparing for the rides. Some were snapping up their rain gear. Others were enjoying complimentary donuts and coffee from Red Rooster. Eight-year old Silas Tesauro warmed his hands at a campfire and seemed serious about his first Tour de Dirt ride that he was about to embark on with his father, Joe.  “Next year,” said his younger brother, who was not old enough to do the ride yet.

By 10 am the rain had slowed to a drizzle and Morning Dew (a dirt road that parallels and crosses the Blue Ridge Parkway) was marked with bike lines from the early riders. Phil and Philip Nahser, who came from Greensboro and Charlotte, NC, to do their first Tour de Dirt ride, stopped to adjust their gear.

The father and son had left Chantilly Farm at 9:30 and were approaching the first aid-stop at the Wildman home around 10:30. “We had some second thoughts, but we decided to just do it and have fun,” the senior Nahser said about the rain.  “It’s fun and we’ll take some (hot) showers later,” Phil Jr. added.

At the Wildman home on Tuggles Gap Road, volunteer Amy Slate directed riders into the Wildman driveway. Rima Forrest, president of the Floyd Amateur Radio Society, was there with her radio, providing emergency communication support. Deb and Davis Wildman and several other volunteers served riders P&J sandwiches on bread donated from Big Indian Farm, meat sticks from Field’s Edge Farm and other local donated treats.

Motorcyclists Joshua Horst, Daniel Sowers of On the Water, Aaron Cowan of Buffalo Mountain Adventurers and Shane McHale of McHale’s Arborscape talked with bicyclists. The support team of four led riders out from Chantilly Farm and rode the route to check on riders and make sure signs were up and visible. “We’re the ones keeping everyone in line,” joked Sowers.

Also at the Wildman pit stop was David Musick, who came from Macclesfield, NC, on Friday and camped at Chantilly over the weekend. It was his first gravel/dirt ride. It’s 13.5 miles from Chantilly to the Wildmans, Musick said.  He joked that it felt like 113. “I’m a former fat person. Two years ago, I weighed over 300 pounds,” he said. “If I can do it anyone can. Eat less and move more,” recommended Musick, who also runs 5 and 50K races.

At the Chili Feast (compliments of chili chef and Plenty! board member Tom Schaefer), Kerry Ackerson, Plenty!’s executive director, was checking in returning riders. She expressed her gratitude for the successful fundraiser. Two hundred riders applied and paid registration fees and 146 rode. “It’s the only fundraiser we had this year, because of COVID,” she said.

Chili was served inside, spooned into bowls made by Va Tech pottery students, and riders ate outside, under Chantilly Farm’s roofed main stage. Tour de Dirt founder, organizer and bicyclist, Paul Sullivan reported that the tour filled up about three weeks before the ride. More wanted to register but two-hundred is the Covid restriction for group gatherings. Sullivan recalled some of the challenges of the day. The ground was so soft from rain that he was unable to cruise down some steep hills and had to peddle. “But people had some great rides out there. There are some good stories,” he said.

As Sullivan spoke, veteran cyclist Emily Hairfield returned from her Full Pull ride and received cheers from some fellow cyclists. Hairfield, who grew up in Willis, rode 30 miles from Shawsville to Chantilly Farm before taking on the 80 miles of the Full Pull. The aid stations were great, the fog made it hard to see, she dealt with a flat tire and the cold was the worst, said Hairfield, who currently works as a Physician’s Assistant at Virginia Tech’s Student Health Clinic.

But what made the ride worth it?  Hairfield, who was enjoying a bowl of hot chili, cited the sense of accomplishment that she felt. “But it’s also that this is money in the bank for me, as far as fitness goes,” she said.

__________Colleen Redman

1. Looks like Biden is coming into home plate, or as a friend on Facebook said, “It ain’t over until the fat lady sings, and I’ve yet to sing.”

2. The day before the election, I posted on Facebook: I hope the post-election violence prediction is like Y2K. Some of us prepared for the worst but nothing happened.

3. “Donald Trump is like your little brother flipping the Monopoly board upside down when you get the property on Pennsylvania Avenue he wanted.” -Keith Boykin, CNN commentator/author Keith Boykin, responding to Trump falsely declaring victory and talking about stealing the election when votes were still being counted

4. I wore a mini skirt for Halloween, as in “Minnie” Mouse’s favorite outfit. See HERE.

5. We got haunted by a Drag Queen Bat. See HERE.

6. It was the first full moon on Halloween since 1944.

7. The use of “drag” in this sense appeared in print as early as 1870, but its origin is uncertain. One suggested etymological root is 19th-century theatre slang, from the sensation of long skirts trailing on the floor.

8. I say I’m an Independent in the same way I kept my maiden name through 2 marriages. When I was old enough to vote, I lived in Massachusetts where you declare your political status. Not being much a joiner, voting for the best person as an Independent sounded right to me. I still identify that way, but after voting for several presidents over the years, I realized I only ever voted Democrat (to this day).

9. I want to write a poem about cicadas / how they fly blind as bats / and hum like a cult / They hang from their claws / till their bodies turn to ghosts / till they scare little children / when their eyes pop out – Read We’re Not Safe Yet in its entirety HERE. 

10. Abby Road witch crossing HERE.

11. “My eyes squint, I can’t read the small print so probably I will fall victim to a scam and sign away my home and savings and wind up living with relatives, my hearing is failing so I nod yes to questions I can’t hear and so word goes around that my faculties are failing, but actually I’m okay, thanks to this little phone/camera/newsstand/encyclopedia the size of a pack of smokes that I carry around with me. If I forget where I am, I click on the Map icon and it shows me. I can google the Grateful Dead on YouTube and after an ad for calcium supplements and one for a retirement village in Tucson, they sing “Ripple.” So life is good.” – Garrison Keillor

12. “What we said was “YOUR FIRED.” – Steve Schmidt, former GOP operative

13. “Happiness is amazing. It’s so amazing it doesn’t matter if it’s yours or not.” – Rickie Gervais’ character in After Life

_________Thirteen Thursday 

________Wordless Wednesday

It was limited ticketed $eating at Dogtown with tables spread out and masks worn when not eating or drinking.

We went for the dancing (and it was great) and we got a drag show that wasn’t a drag to boot, and yes, I wore boots.

We got haunted by a Queen bat and a mesmerizing incarnation of Janis Joplin lip-syncing Piece of My Heart.

And moved to the rockin’ tunes of Music Road Co with guests DJ Rahbee and Dylan Locke.

Because of COVID everyone stayed with their small groups and dancing was few and far between in a spaciously adapted scene.

Nevertheless, dancing, entertainment, a good beer and good humor made it a night to remember. We made it home in time for the SNL Cold Open of Jim Carey as Joe Biden reading his version of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, which starts:

Once upon a midnight dreary
while Trump retweeted QAnon theories
And rifled through his Adderall drawer
I was writing my acceptance speech
when something stopped me with a screech
’Twas a knock upon my chamber door
’Twas someone still a little sore
Who made me scared of four years more
Quoth the Clinton (Kate McKinnon) “We lost before!”

_____________Our World Tuesday

I want to write a poem about cicadas
how they bore through the ground
like the living dead
How they rise like zombies
in a séance gone wrong
and drop their skin
like the snakes of Eden

I want to write a poem about cicadas
how they fly blind as bats
and hum like a cult
They hang from their claws
till their bodies turn to ghosts
till they scare little children
when their eyes pop out

I want to write a poem
not dedicated to Billy Collins
who was curating a poetry anthology
when he said, “The word ‘cicada’
stops me in my tracks
and I simply cannot continue”

This poem stops here
long enough to bury its memory
but not long enough
to count on an ending
because it starts again
in seventeen years
after we’ve forgotten
it was ever here

______Colleen Redman / Halloween 2020 / Poets and Storytellers United