Floyd’s One Traffic Light is Green
Life in the rural fast lane just got its speed limit raised. For such a small mountain town, there sure is a lot going on. Not only did we turn our house into a gallery this weekend for the Sixteen Hands Art Tour that my son is a part of, we went dancing to the live sounds of Wildlife at the Pine Tavern Pavilion. (Video clip HERE.)
In between sets, Ilima Ursomarso of Rhythm Fire Dance Company performed a hoop dance. Last year she danced with fire and before that she balanced at sword on her head during a belly dance at Floyd’s first Hafla. (Hoop dance video clip HERE.)
At the BlueCow (the non-profit arm of FloydFest) Arts in the Park free concert the next evening, we spread out a blanket on the lawn, ate Dogtown Pizza, talked with friends, and were generally amazed at the turnout. Are we seeing the start of a new kind of Floyd jamboree, I wonder?
Those Hackensaw Boys sure put on some kind of show. At the end of it they jumped off the stage and started a foot stomping jam session as the crowd gathered around. One of the band members (far right) is a friend of my son Josh, having lived in the same dorm as Josh at Warren Wilson College in Asheville. Josh went out to eat with the band at Oddfellas Cantina after the show. (Watch a video clip of the jam HERE. )
Now it’s Monday and I’m thinking that I honestly don’t know how people with 9-5 jobs do it. I need weekdays to recover from all these full Floyd weekends.
Post notes: Life in the Rural Fast Lane is an essay I wrote and read on WVTF radio a few years ago, which can be read HERE. To read a Flourishing of the Arts in Floyd, a 3 part story I wrote for a Floyd Press insert, Know Your County, click HERE.
May 4th, 2010 4:40 pm
When I read about all the things that go one there in Floyd, it is truly amazing….And like you, I don’t know how people who work 9 to 5 do it either….Not only the energy but the time, too…!
Floyd is Rockin’….!
May 5th, 2010 7:52 am
This looks like such fun. So much richness in rural life!!!
May 5th, 2010 8:54 am
When I lived in Bluefield, WV, all of my friends would go to Floyd every once in a while to take part in something like this. I regret that I never had the opportunity to tag along! I just think it’s so cool that Floyd was famous in Bluefield for being a place where the Appalachian spirit has never been crushed! Love this!
January 19th, 2012 11:13 am
[…] THIS banjo player from the Hackensaw Boys (far right in picture four with blue shirt) stayed at my house […]