Loose Leaf Notes

1. It was a Double Header. We got 3-4 inches of snow and then 4+ more a couple of days later.

2. Some might call it Double Trouble.

3. A Double Header could also refer to the fact that I covered two stories this weekend for the Floyd Times. One was the 31st annual Winterfest, the other was the town Christmas parade. I took well over 300 photos, which all had to be sorted through, cropped and Adobe photo-shopped. More to come…

4. While watching a line of antique cars at the parade, one old car broke down and some bystanders came and pushed it off the road.

5. I had a lot of fun photographing outtakes of two boys having a snow fight.

6. The grinch hitched a ride.

7. I became interested in the word “grinch” and found this online: The word “Grinch” was popularized by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) in 1957, but he didn’t invent it; it likely stems from a corruption of “grouch,” meaning a grumpy person. Earlier uses include Rudyard Kipling’s 1892 poem featuring “grinching” (a harsh, grating noise) and the surname “Grinch” for severe characters since 1903, with Seuss himself using the name for a cantankerous bird in 1953 before his famous Christmas character.

8. It’s too bad our chickens are molting in December right when they need their feathers for warmth.

9. My mind is a blizzard in a snow globe / The drifts pile up / Sometimes they lean to one side / The leaks are inevitable / when they melt / I bump into door frames / and hold on to walls / I avoid unplanned moves / Crash but don’t fall… Read my poem Vertigo in its entirety HERE.

10. Floyd’s own Morgan Wade has an original Christmas song out. Listen HERE. 

11. One of my favorite part of the Floyd Art Center’s Winterfest is The Festival of Trees, introduced in 2014, where business donate table trees that they decorate and fill with gifts and gift certificates for a Silent Auction to benefit the Center.  These two trees are from Cocoa Mia and artist and store owner Jeannie O’Neil.

 12. In 2016 I bid on and won a tree from Confectious Shenanigans. I was going for the year’s worth of free cupcakes when I bid and that’s what I got, along with a pretty tree. The baker, who created the absolute best cupcakes I’ve ever had moved since then.

I still have that tree! ___________Thirteen Thursday