Loose Leaf Notes

1. When I was a kid, my siblings sometimes called Colly dog as a play on my name Colleen. Maybe it was a premonition or a precursor to me growing up to be a news watch dog.

2. I use to quote Sting whenever I posted an umbrella picture… It’s a big enough umbrella but it’s always me that winds up getting wet… but now I have a new rock band to quote… with a purple umbrella and a 50-cent hat… guess who?

3. The answer is not The Guess Who.

4. I went to a ribbon cutting event at Mabry Mill on Monday.

5. I was there covering a story for the new news site Floyd Times: “Floyd County’s nonprofit news source. We aim to be an online front porch, sharing news and ideas about what makes Floyd County tick. We’re a brand-new, nonprofit news site built in Floyd County, for Floyd County (We are registered as a non-profit entity with Virginia and are pursuing federal tax-exempt status).” They expect to publish an actual newspaper in the future https://www.floydtimes.com/

6. I like Rob Brezsny’s astrology reading for me this week: “Centuries ago, builders in Venice, Italy, drove countless wooden pilings deep into the waterlogged mud of the lagoon to create a stable base for future structures. These timber foundations were essential because the soil was too weak to support stone buildings directly. Eventually, the wood absorbed minerals from the surrounding muddy water and became exceptionally hard and durable: capable of supporting heavy buildings. Taurus, you may soon glimpse how something you’ve built your life upon—a value, a relationship, or a daily ritual—is more enduring than you imagined. Its power is in its rootedness, its long conversation with the invisible. My advice: Trust what once seemed soft but has become solid. Thank life for blessing you with its secret alchemy.”

7. Irish Pilgrimage is a poetic journey to the Emerald Isle, where I immersed myself in the extraordinary magical, whimsical land of my ancestors. I spent a month walking, discovering, opening to the landscape in County Mayo and County Clare. A bit of a memoir, a touch of the philosophical, and reverence for all my surroundings, the trees, ocean, sky, mountains, are found in this poetry collection, from “one of the edges of the world.” Check out my video posts from my friend Katherine’s poetry reading from her book “Irish Pilgrimage: Third Time is a Charm HERE. 

8. Do you know what Gaga Ball is? See HERE.

9. Tall, yellow wildflowers you might see along the Blue Ridge Parkway include the Cutleaf Coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), a native plant that can grow up to 10 feet tall The Tall Coneflower,

10. The word “parasol” comes from a combination of the Italian and French words para (“to shield” or “to protect”) and sole (“sun”). The full Italian word is parasole, which literally translates to “protection from the sun”. The para- element ultimately derives from the Latin verb parare, meaning “to prepare, avert, or shield.”

11. The word “umbrella” is derived from the Latin word “umbra,” meaning “shade” or “shadow”. Initially, umbrellas were primarily used for protection from the sun, hence the connection to shade. Over time, their use expanded to include protection from rain, but the name remained.

12. The beautiful umbrella posted in the first photo was designed by my artist friend Bronwen. Check out her amazing art HERE. 

13. “Compromise makes a good umbrella, but a poor roof.” James Russell, poet

___________Thirteen Thursday