Loose Leaf Notes

1. Sign seen on Facebook:  April Fool’s is cancelled this year because no prank can compare to the unbelievable stuff that is happening in the real world right now.

2. Have you noticed that Trump appoints officials like he’s picking people for Dancing with the Stars?

3. He doesn’t know how to be president. He thinks he’s still on The Apprentice, appointing bad actors and novices, pitting them against each other, and then rating or firing them.

4. Whether it’s the yellow brick road / or the long and winding one / the bandwagon is full / and the high road is paved / with brimstone and gold / Whether it’s 7 deadly sins / or the stages of grief / prescriptions have side effects / there are no life blueprints/ and every moment is now – Read In All Good Conscience in its entirety HERE.

5. Here in the mountains, we have lions, tigers and bears.  Well at least bear and lions. But what is THIS night sound?

6. I took the above photo on April 1st after I greased the bird feeder with Vaseline.

7. “The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.” — Peggy O’Mara

8. Apparently, when inner speech is occurring, your larynx is actually making tiny muscular movements. More HERE.

9. Along with music, Floyd is known for its arts and crafts culture.  Visitors to the county can check out Floyd’s galleries, specialty shops and the showcase of talent at the Friday Night Artisan Market at the Pavilion.  They might catch an art opening in a renovated dairy barn, known as the Floyd Center for the Arts, take a historic walking tour or an artisan studio tour, check out Cocoa Mia’s chocolate lounge, pet animals at a local farm, kayak down the Little River, or plan for a hike up Buffalo Mountain, Floyd’s highest elevation of nearly 4,000 feet…. More from my article in Discover Southwest Virginia magazine HERE.

10. Soaring into a new festival in Floyd HERE.

11. For some reason, every April 1st, I wake up gullible.

12. But this is no joke:  Scientists Played Music to Cheese as It Aged. Hip-Hop Produced the Funkiest Flavor.   Researchers played nonstop loops of Led Zeppelin, A Tribe Called Quest and Mozart to cheese wheels to find out how sound waves impacted flavor. 

13. Practicing My Religion. It’s not what you think HERE.

____________Thirteen Thursday