The babies were cute and the Country Store Christmas stage looked pretty. How could I resist documenting the event? One photograph led to another and soon snapping pictures and videos took precedent over my urge to dance. The turnout was good, the music top notch, the fellowship fun, and the reason we were there was […]
That’s what I said to Joe Christmas morning when we woke up to an ice storm, when the power went out and I wondered how many turkeys wouldn’t get cooked for Christmas dinner and how many families wouldn’t be able to travel to see relatives that day. “We won’t even be able to light the […]
Days of Yore Jack’s Shack Winter Sun Shines Bank Makes a Statement Floyd Photos: Finders Keepers, On Woods Gap Road, Winter Sun, Blue Ridge Bank Drive-in Window.
In this storybook I’m the Matchbook Girl, on the outside looking in. I’m the girl who wants that pair of red shoes in the window but doesn’t have the money to buy them or the nerve to really wear them. I’m the girl who wants to come in from the cold, sit by the fire […]
There’s nothing like a winter wonderland snowglobe to stir the spirit of the Christmas season, or to shake up weekend plans. Although our town’s Christmas parade, planned for today, was postponed till next week due to snow, some festive weekend events did herald in the holidays. Pictured here are some cast members from the Young […]
In the fall, our house and yard and the woods that surround them are colored coordinated. Everything looks good enough to eat, like a warm bowl of mashed carrots, Yukon gold potatoes, cranberry sauce, and butternut squash. Fallen leaves cover the open acre of green grass like candy corn. Poplar, oak, and maple trees catch […]
Like the rest of Floyd, I’ve been watching the new Floyd Community Market take shape for weeks now and stopped for the above photo after my friend Rowan (right) hollered down to me from the roof. A downtown farmer’s market and more, built with the goal of supporting local food and commerce, the timber framed […]
Or maybe it was Journey to the Center of the Earth, inside the Dixie Caverns in Salem, Virginia with my sister Trish and her family who were visiting from Massachusetts. The caverns were named after the dog named Dixie who fell through a hole in the side of the mountain in 1920. Some farm boys […]
~ Most of the following photos were recently published in The Floyd Press newspaper. Jam sessions fill the street with music every Friday night in Floyd. (Soundtrack video clip is HERE.) Tamra Billand (left) with her sister, who was visiting from out of town, her nephew, and her son Jade, who had purple hair HERE. […]
The mother in me can’t help but brag and the documenter in me can’t help but keep track. Last weekend while covering the 2009 Floyd County High School Graduation for the local paper, I discovered something unique. Both the graduating valedictorian and the salutatorian have educational roots in the Blue Mountain School, Floyd’s parent-run cooperative […]
Being interviewed on WUVT radio reminded me of, but wasn’t as bad as, the time I testified in court. At that time, I had a story to tell and wanted to tell it, but once on the witness stand my mind went blank and I had to count on the lawyer asking me questioning me […]
I’ve typed the name Mckibben so many times in the past few days that I can actually spell it now without using a cheat sheet. The environmentalist and best selling author came to Floyd on Tuesday and spoke at The Floyd Country Store on sustainable local economy to an engaged audience of about 140. I […]
