Loose Leaf Notes

1. I’m always up for live music at Dogtown, and by “up” I mean dancing.

2. Mona is to Bob Dylan what jellyroll is to Van Morrison.

3. During my meditation this morning, my two-syllable meaningless TM mantra turned into four-syllable INTJ (my Meyers Briggs type) when my mind wandered and I wondered if Dylan was a INTJ.

4. When I took TM in the mid-1970s, a teacher gave you your mantra and you weren’t supposed to tell anyone what it was. Now they have chant videos online telling you how to pronounce them.  Listen HERE.

5. My mantra often has a placement or takes on a shape. On one recent morning while starting to meditate, I said to myself, ‘Oh, my mantra is in Marshfield (MA).”

6. So about that Aretha Franklin song RESPECT, which I vowed to dance to when I hear it, no matter where I am. I was playing Scrabble at Outer Space a few weeks and they venue’s playlist of about 10 songs kept playing it over and over. I got up and danced half-heartedly (because I love Scrabble as much as Aretha) before I gave it up and figured ‘I got that out of my system.’

7. I’m not a “colly dog” anymore (a childhood nickname). Now I’m more of a watchdog. I regularly do a news roundup of excerpts on Facebook following the January 6 investigation and more.

8. “Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. He was brought down by law and order allied with religion – which is always a deadly mix. Beware those who claim to know the mind of God and are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform. Beware those who cannot tell God’s will – from their own.” – Barbara Brown Taylor, Progressive Christianity

9. Breakfast with Jerry.

10. Getting older is bittersweet. It’s an acquired taste. It’s also a time of harvest when the fruit is ripe for picking, and the work done over time to get to this stage of age pays off… More from Getting (G)old on a poetry reading at Yoga JamSept. 1 -4 HERE. 

11. When the soul takes the lead / there’s a deep delving / There’s a widening horizon / with the narrowing of life… Read The Last Dance in its entirety HERE. 

12. I love a good torch song, a good reggae song and Eric Clapton  HERE. 

13. “Dylan freed your mind the way Elvis freed your body. He showed us that just because music was innately physical did not mean that it was anti-intellectual.” Bruce Springsteen

_________Thirteen Thursday

-Golden Years: the years of retirement, normally after age 65, or a song by David Bowie.

Getting older is bittersweet. It’s an acquired taste. It’s also a time of harvest when the fruit is ripe for picking, and the work done over time to get to this stage of age pays off.

Katherine Chantal and I will be reading our call-and-response poetry at Yoga Jam’s TeaShanti on Saturday September 3, 1 – 2:30. The readings are a different collection than the one we did at the Jessie Peterman Library in February and will mark the second installation of the Grief and Relief Soulful Aging Tour, our local poetry reading tour that features new work and draws from our poetry  memoir books: Katherine’s Poetic Memoir of a Nascent Senescent: Musings from My Sixties and my Packing a Suitcase for the Afterlife and Objects Are Closer Than They Appear (all available on Amazon and at the reading).

Devoted to attachment parenting (and now grandparenting), and homegrown lifestyles, Katherine’s and my paths first crossed before we met, when we both had articles published in Mothering Magazine in the late 70s, a prophetic foreshadowing.

We met when I moved to Floyd in 1985, and we spent years raising our sons in the same rural neighborhood, as members of a women’s talking stick circle that Katherine guided and, more recently, in a woman’s dialogue circle, which I have described as “an inner life workshop.” Dialogue founder Judith O’Brien has said, “The reflection that the dialogue circle provides can be utilized as a fast-moving current to move participants to the doorway to a transcendent awareness. Dialogue is talk that moves you forward!”

Recently, I wrote a poem for Katherine about our friendship and our similarly themed poetry, titled Depth Psychologists: We dig / and hit pay dirt / A vein that shines when polished/ that runs through the gray of granite / A soul’s inheritance / Awakened subconscious.

Katherine, an herbalist and ceremonialist who guides life passages, including weddings and deaths, writes: Ever has the elder / been in the child / Hidden gem of being / in plain sight…

I, who has spent the last 15 years covering events and writing features for our local newspaper, might respond: When the soul takes the lead / there’s a deep delving / There’s a widening horizon / with the narrowing of life.

That’s how the conversation goes.  We hope to have time for questions and maybe Katherine will offer a few haikus from her latest book A Year in Haiku, and I might share some of my short humorous poems.

When the soul asserts
its right of way
it leads the dance

Grief and honoring
are the blood sisters
that braid the steps

They slow-dance through loss
hold the symmetry of paradox
and for the sake of artful fate
are moved towards transcendence

When the soul takes the lead
there’s a deep delving
There’s a widening horizon
with the narrowing of life

There’s a fading of resistance
with the diminishing of endurance
There’s a honing of timing
a falling into place

________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United/dVerse Poets Pub

1. When the Buffalo Mountain Brewery opened up in Floyd, I tried living a pub life, but, although I love craft beer, I just don’t drink that much. Then, when my part time job writing for the local paper got cut back, I tried living the life of a bookworm, but I enjoy reading articles and browsing the internet too much. This summer, after the paper all but cut its freelance budget to nil, I’ve been living the pool and crossword puzzle life. That really suits me, but the pool is closing on Labor Day, so I’m back to square one.

2. When I bring in some harvest from the garden, I’m like a cat who proudly presents it owner with the mouse it killed. I like to spread it out for all to see.

3. Truth is my religion, honesty my savoir.

4. Do you ever feel like THIS? Verified proof HERE. 

5. At my stage of age, you can proof your life, but can’t change a thing.

6. Words for Nerds HERE.

7. Thirty questions on Death HERE. Unfortunately, they don’t give the answers.

8. “The shadow proves the sunshine.” ― Switchfoot

9. According to Switchfoot rock band member Jon Foreman, the name “Switchfoot” comes from a surfing term. “We all love to surf and have been surfing all our lives so to us, the name made sense. To switch your feet means to take a new stance facing the opposite direction.”

10. My latest favorite Buffalo Mountain pic.

11. Sounds like me. “INTJs are analytical. Like INTPs, they are most comfortable working alone and tend to be less sociable than other types. Nevertheless, INTJs are prepared to lead if no one else seems up to the task, or if they see a major weakness in the current leadership. They tend to be pragmatic, logical, and creative. They have a low tolerance for spin or rampant emotionalism. They are not generally susceptible to catchphrases and do not recognize authority based on tradition, rank, or title. -Meyers Briggs

12. Do you have difficulty reading graphs or charts? Do you have trouble learning athletic movements, dance steps, or anything that requires you to move your body in a certain sequence? Do you find it hard to stick to a budget or keep track of your finances? Do you find it difficult to do mental math and find yourself giving incorrect change or calculating a wildly inaccurate tip? Do you forget phone numbers or addresses, even just a few moments after they were said to you? Do you misplace objects around the house or get lost in familiar areas? Do you lose track when counting and need to use visual aids — like fingers — to help count? You likely have dyscalculia. Dyscalculia can be the cause of problems with time management, spatial recognition, and motor functions. Dyscalculia, often referred to as “math dyslexia,” is a learning disability (LD) that makes math problems confusing.

13. “A poem cannot stop a bullet. A novel can’t defuse a bomb. But we are not helpless. We can sing the truth and name the liars.” Salman Rushdie

____________Thirteen Thursday

Twenty-two teams of four and thirty-eight sponsors took part in The Second Chance Annual Scholarship Golf Tournament at the Hidden Valley Country Club in Salem to raise scholarship funds for students to attend college at Virginia Western Community College.

“This scholarship was created with the intent for students to recognize that they do have a second chance in life to better themselves regardless of their past and/or struggles,” wrote Second Chance creator and nurse educator Darla Summers on the event’s Facebook page.

At the start of the tournament, Summers spoke to attendees about recently losing a young member of her family who struggled with addiction.  “I knew I had to do something to honor her.”

“If these individuals want a college education, that’s what I want to do to support them,” Summers said before thanking the sponsors who helped make the tournament possible. The scholarship funds will also help support students who have dedicated their life to helping people find a second chance at life.

Tournament prizes included a foursome round of golf at Primland for the winning team and a brand new John Deere Tractor for a Designated Hole in One, along with other hole in one prizes.

A silent auction and raffle gifts were part of the fundraising effort.

Golfers warmed up.

And posed for photos.

Lunch was served before the start of the start of the tournament.

Are all those beards real?

There they go!

Check out The Second Chance Annual Scholarship Facebook page for more information.

This is not a sewing bee.

Nor is it a bridge club.

It’s an overflow meeting of minds, the Scrabble kind, enjoying lunch and crunching letters at Outerspace.

1. This is not what I meant by swimming…

2. Having a year-round indoor pool nearby is #1 on my bucket list.

3. Last week I saw a dead possum in the road that someone had attached a balloon to that said ‘Get Well Soon.

4. I dreamt that my dad read a poem that I loved and that moved me. After, I went up to him and said, ”You haven’t written a poem in so long, daddy.” Crying, I said, “You helped me understand who I am and why I do what I do.”

5. After telling the dream to Joe, I said, “I probably wrote that poem (which I couldn’t remember) since it was my dream. My dad made a cameo appearance and covered it.”

6. I want a pink blow-up raft / to drift carefree / in a body of water I belong to / Not like a stone skipping in and out / that plummets to the bottom when it’s done / I want a pink raft more / than a girl wants a Barbie doll / or a pink poodle skirt of quilted satin…

7. I want to fall softly like a single strand of hair / lands on a mirror and sticks / like the windswept curl / that drops across your cheek / and you lift your finger / to put it back in place / I want you to hold me still / while I lie on my back / and float like a petal / like a baby in a cradle / not left to sink or swim – Read about the Pink Raft Therapy HERE.  

8. Malachy McCourt, the brother of Angela’s Ashes author Frank McCourt, is the author of “A Monk Swims,” the title of which is based on his mishearing of the Catholic prayer, The Hail Mary. As a child, I also misheard a line in that same prayer. If Malachy and I had our way, the Hail Mary would read like this: Hail Mary full of grapes (grace) / The Lord is we thee / Blessed art thou A monk swimming (amongst women)…

9. I dreamt I cut off my ear / the way I casually cut fabric / or slice a potato / which made me ask / what other ways do I self-harm? / What other impulsive act /can’t be taken back? / What don’t I want to hear?

10. Do we lose to win / until we have nothing left to give? / Do we pay down our debt / with parts of our self? / Do we give up our borrowed miracles / while starry night lights go out / while fading sunflowers bow / and our busywork winds down… Read What Would Carl Jung Say in its entirety HERE.

11. Green August ages into rust / Days shrink and summer’s wilt crackles / Burdock burrs fatten and threaten to cling / Fireflies like porch lights shut off.

12. Dreaming: “The ongoing effort of our psyche to balance itself takes over, and the dreams counteract what we have done to imbalance our psychological selves.” Carl Jung

13. “The whole world is a series of miracles but we’re so used to seeing them that we call them ordinary things.” Hans Christian Anderson

_______Thirteen Thursday

I dreamt I cut off my ear
the way I casually cut fabric
or slice a potato
which made me ask
what other ways do I self-harm?
What other impulsive act
can’t be taken back?
What don’t I want to hear?

I saved the evidence
but forgot what it was intended for
so I tucked it into the trash
like a bloody sanitary pad
and hid the shame behind my hair

A gateway to harder partings?
A forgotten deal made?
A card laid on the table?
Does it take a death
to generate interest?

‘The sadness will last forever’
said Vincent Van Gogh
before he died of a wound made visible
a gamble of high stakes

Do we lose to win
until we have nothing left to give?
Do we pay down our debt
with parts of our self?

Do we give up our borrowed miracles
while starry night lights go out
while fading sunflowers bow
and our busywork
winds down?

___________Colleen Redman / Poets and Storytellers United /dVerse Poets Pub

1. I drink a beer every day. But only when I’m  at Floydfest. It’s a five-day festival, so do the math.

2. Floydfest Funhouse or too much IPA?

3. Every day at Floydfest is my favorite. Every picture, every scene and every connection with friends felt cherished and full of history this year because it was the last festival on the 20-year site (new location in Floyd County coming in 2023). Endings are bittersweet and I can’t find a path to the chicken coop for the garden pumpkins and weeds at home. I feel grateful for the past 20 years at Floydfest, a truly magical place, and I’m wishing all the best for all those who will be working hard over this year to create something awesome for 2023… More from The Floydfest Beat Goes On HERE.

4. “Our slogan has always been, ‘Music, Magic, Mountains.’ And this year we’re adding another ‘M’ — ‘Memories,’” says Sam Calhoun, COO of Across the Way Productions, the company behind FloydFest. “With the new location, we really feel like we can capture what we want to do, to ensure the whole community we’ve created together here has more space and amenities for an even better experience moving forward.” According to Calhoun, the current site is 80 acres, whereas the new property is over 200. Calhoun looks at the transition as an opportunity to hit the reset button on the festival following the shutdown of the live music industry during the pandemic. “We’re going to use all of the systems and knowledge we’ve gained over the last 20 years and apply it to this new property,” Calhoun says.” – Story on Floydfest in the Rolling Stone

5. I once had a friend who got divorced after her husband ordered her a coke in a restaurant. She never drank coke and felt it was a major insult that he cared so little about knowing her. The coke was the final straw.

6. Speaking of straws, the first time I got drunk I was a teenager and drank a rum and coke with a straw because it was supposed to make you drunk quicker. I got very sick and rarely drink liquor to this day. So that was a last straw too.

7. I once rode by a house with a series of red towels hanging on a clothesline and wondered if they would provoke the bulls in the neighboring field.

8. Floydfest clothesline

9. We picked Friday for our family day at Floydfest because it was Morgan Wade’s Floydfest homecoming and she was playing on the main stage Friday evening. Morgan is Floyd’s own rising star who made a connection with Sadler Vaden (Jason Isbell’s guitarist who produced her first album) while playing Floydfest in 2018. Of course, the whole county of Floyd is fans of Morgan’s including my daughter-in-law. What fun it was to sing-along and hang out next to a group of her old school friends who could barely contain themselves. There was some cross talk with the audience, including with her grandma of course, and some donuts delivered on stage after Morgan mentioned hearing about them. More HERE.

10. And from the Rolling Stone magazine: “Following her mainstage set at FloydFest last weekend, in front of a raucous crowd of thousands, singer-songwriter Morgan Wade takes a seat on a couch backstage. Between sips of coffee, a slight grin emerges on her face when asked what the performance meant to her. “I grew up about three miles from here,” the 27-year-old “Wilder Days” singer tells Rolling Stone, “so I was able to get my dad to drop me off today, which was really nice…” “The last time I played I didn’t have an agent or a manager. I didn’t have a label. I didn’t have any of that,” says Wade. “And I said, ‘The next time I play FloydFest, it’s going to be the main stage, and I’m going to have my bus and have a team.’ I rolled up here [today] and I did it.” – Garret K. Woodward, Rolling Stone.

11. “Dreams are the natural reaction of the self-regulating psychic system. When we dream, the ongoing effort of our psyche to balance itself takes over, and the dreams counteract what we have done to imbalance our psychological selves.” -Carl Jung

12. I’m still waiting for my vertigo to go.

13. “Human compassion is equal to human cruelty, and it is up to each of us to tip the balance.” -Alice Walker

_________Thirteen Thursday

Every day at Floydfest is my favorite. Every picture, every scene and every connection with friends felt cherished and full of history this year because it was the last festival on the 20-year site (new location in Floyd County coming in 2023).

Our family has been to every Floydfest over its 20-year history and it’s a family reunion for us, as well as for our extended family of Floyd friends.

The girl from Indian Valley, Emmaline Hicks, who I wrote about for the local paper HERE showed off her voice and songwriting skills at the Workshop Porch and was a hit.

The Workshop Porch is probably my favorite Floydfest stage and I found myself wondering if it could ever be re-created.

My son and I took a walk in the neighborhood to visit with longtime dear friends on vendor row.

Everyone looks better with art.

Too much IPA in the beer garden?

Yes it did!

Although the weather forecast kept calling for a high probability of rain all weekend, we only got a couple of short-lived downpours late Sunday and the sun came back out for The Turnpike Troubadours.

It was a high point for the closing of the main stage headline performers (cameo by house photographer Rich Cox in this clip).

The band was new to me, but not to the majority of the crowd who whooped and cheered, danced and sang along.

Endings are bittersweet and I can’t find a path to the chicken coop for the garden pumpkins and weeds at home. I feel grateful for the past 20 years at Floydfest, a truly magical place, and I’m wishing all the best for all those who will be working hard over this year to create something awesome for 2023. See you next year!

_____Check out Thursday at Floydfest HERE.  Friday at Floydfest HERE and Saturday HERE.  Click HERE for the sidebar category of Floydfesting for all the past Floydfest posts over the years.

The Carolina Honeydrops’ version of The Grateful Dead’s Ripple (a song that always gives me goosebumps) was the masterpiece of my Floydfest Saturday.

It was New Orleans style

with dancers, horns, a sing-along and even a tuba!

Who Dat? Ready for a sweet Saturday.

But it’s bittersweet because it’s the last year the festival will be held on the current site along The Blue Ridge Parkway, a place we all have come to love.

Seeing as it’s the last festival on the site it was fitting to get a group shot of everyone who had 100% attendance in the 20 years that the festival has been going on.

The festival is moving next year to a 200+ acre site off 221 in the Check part of Floyd County.

Floydfest’s Builder Bob has every laminate staff tag from every year since the festival began in 2002.

Seeing Keller Williams and his daughter Ella on the Children’s Universe stage was a fun pit stop. She writes her own songs and is apparently headed for a career in the family business.

Ann Wilson of Heart was an evening headliner that cranked out the hits and the audience loved it. Watch HERE. 

I didn’t stay for the nighttime headliners (it pays to live 5 miles up the road) but good ol’ boy rockers Will Easter and the Nomads, an On the Rise band, made for a nice send off.

Floydfest Friday was family day with my sons and grandsons on the scene. It all went by fast and I didn’t get my yearly family group shot. This was the closest I came. We’re being photo-bombed by the two little boys on the left. I took several pictures and couldn’t get them to get out of the frame, so we went with it. It’s all one big family at Floydfest anyway.

Joe’s sister was part of this year’s family mix. It’s the second year she’s volunteered her nursing skills during the festival set-up in trade for weekend tickets.

The reason we picked Friday for family day was because it was Morgan Wade’s Floydfest homecoming. Morgan is Floyd’s own rising star who made a connection with Sadler Vaden (Jason Isbell’s guitarist who produced her first album) while playing Floydfest in 2018.

HERE is the story from a Floyd Press interview I did with my friend Morgan in 2019 as she was about to blow up.

But if you put her name in my blog search bar (on the right), you will see I’ve been covering her since her first show at Floyd’s Dogtown Roadhouse.

Of course, the whole county of Floyd is fans of Morgan’s including my daughter-in-law.

What fun it was to sing-along and hang out next to a group of her old school friends who could barely contain themselves.

And look who showed up just in time!

There was some cross talk with the audience, including with her grandma of course, and some donuts delivered on stage after Morgan mentioned hearing about them.

We checked in with our other favorite local talent, Music Road Co. in the Libations Tent.

And checked out a new-at-Floydfest band we got a few recommendations on, The Kitchen Dwellers, self-described as “A Journey to Outer Bluegrass…”

Also, we couldn’t resist stopping for a few songs from Melissa Etheridge. All this and it was only the second day for me. Two more to go!