Loose Leaf Notes

The grass really is greener on the other side of the fence. And witches scream meaner when it’s nearly Halloween.

1. Fall at my house – a pine log cabin surrounded by woods – is like a warm bowl of mashed carrots and Yukon gold potatoes. 2. I had every intention of going to Christiansburg to get my hair cut but learned that my hairdresser is in Italy. Now I’m forced to wash the kitchen […]

The following was published in The Floyd Press on October 8, 2009 “I like to get my hands dirty!” shouted one Floyd Elementary School student who was digging potatoes at last week’s Farm to School harvest. Another student, when asked if he grew potatoes at home answered, “No, but I kinda want to now.” Those […]

We are all like flowers Cut from the ground we came from We are all looking out From the vases we are held in Named for our family lines by botanists Hoping our petals will be cherished We are all flourishing and fading Giving and taking our seed to the grave ~ Colleen Redman

This is the time of year when I have to look both ways before pulling out of my little dirt driveway off the Blue Ridge Parkway. As the fall foliage gets brighter, tourist traffic on the normally quiet Parkway gets busy. I live just a few minutes from the Saddle overlook (where Joe and I […]

I followed a car with an Obama bumper sticker down the Blue Ridge Parkway for the 350 Climate Action photo shoot this morning. In the parking lot field, owned by the Chateau Morrisette Winery and used annually by Floydfest, I parked next to a van with a bumper sticker that read “polar bears for global […]

So what really happens on Facebook when someone gets poked? And how did we go from this … … to this? Mara started it on our walk on Zephry Farm Wednesday to see the rune marker on Ray’s grave that was described in our friend Katherine’s story in Moonshine “Appalachian Funeral.” We came across some […]

1. This is the time of year when I can’t tell the difference between a monarch butterfly on its way to Mexico and falling leaves when they cross my path. 2. Favorite word this week: Shenanigan 3. Last week I went for my scheduled dentist appointment for the dreaded root canal. It felt like I […]

I just want a pair of jeans with no designs on the pockets, ones that aren’t bleached or torn to look old, ones that don’t hang like saddlebags on my hips, ones that I don’t have hem or loosen the waist by moving the button, ones that fall below the waist but don’t look like […]

I drove way out into what seemed like no man’s land, to Camp Powhatan in Hiwassee Virginia, on Saturday. I went there to do a story on Camp Treehouse, a day camp hosted by hospice for kids who have recently had a death in their family. I wasn’t there for five minutes when a woman […]

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! ~ Judy O’Brien Therapy or play? A salon or a café? A scientific laboratory or a book club? I don’t know what my […]

1. Too Tired 2. A Heart of Stone 3. A Mug Shot 4. A Blank Check