This is the time of year when there are big changes around here. Not only do the trees along the Blue Ridge Parkway light up in blaze of color, but cars, trucks, and motorcycles stream up and down the road to see them. I live down one of those wooded dirt roads tucked away off […]
Fairy Tales Can Come True … It can happen to you … if you’re young at heart … That’s the song that Ceremonialist Katherine Chantal broke out singing while she was marrying our good friend Jeri at the age of 50+. Jeri looked the ‘young at heart’ part in her long flowing white peasant gown […]
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo Da Vinci I’ve never been comfortable with extravagant or abstract wealth. Since I was young girl, I’ve had an awareness that land, water, and food are what define whether one is rich or poor. So much of the rest is a social phenomenon of modern day capitalism, consumerism, and […]
After the ceremony and before the reception people made prayer flags for Nick and Johanna. Some went swimming in the pond or sat on the bank sipping lemonade like they were at Ricky Nelson’s Garden Party. Juniper passed out chocolate chip cookies. Eli massaged my recently injured ankle. Dogs chased sticks and an unattended piano […]
Environmental Organizers, Scientific Researchers, Ultimate Frisbee Champions, Flower Girls, and Flower Children all came together on Saturday to celebrate the marriage of Johanna and Nick at Floyd’s High Flowing Farm. They came from Germany, Massachusetts, Maryland, and California. A Richard Brautigan poem was read and opera was sung. In the sunshine, under a wide sky, […]
While at the high school this past Sunday taking photos of the graduation for the local paper, I found my friend Crystal in the crowd of celebrating graduates. Crystal is the daughter of a family who works for the same agency I did, providing foster care for adults with disabilities. We used to dance together […]
Back in the day, the Pine Tavern was a second home to many of us, especially on Sunday night for the Open Mic. It was a weekly meeting place for the alter-native community to socialize, unwind, and dance. The Pine Tavern closed and when it re-opened under new ownership the Open Mic didn’t return. Recently […]
1. A front row seat at the First Friday Irish Night Jam at Oddfellas Cantina. 2. Lucy Goldman Singing Dougie Mclean’s “Ready for the Storm.” Tina Liza Jones (on the left) was strumming an unusual guitar; I think it was THIS. 3. Several played fiddle and one played a harp. I wish someone in the […]
The following is the third and final installment of a story I wrote about our local art scene for a Floyd Press special insert. Part I is HERE. Part II is HERE. The literary arts also have a presence in Floyd, with a monthly open mic night and at least two writing workshop groups. Poets […]
A Flourishing of Arts in Floyd, Part I is HERE. This story originally appeared in The Floyd Press on March 27, 2008. Another sign that the arts have grown in the community is Floyd’s active nightlife. Music lovers and fiddle players spilling over into the streets for the Friday Night Jamboree is part of Floyd’s […]
This is the first installment of a three part reprint from a story that originally appeared in a Floyd Press special insert on March 27, 2008. A post about the process I went through writing this retrospective on Floyd arts can be found HERE. Whether it’s food and shelter, or creative arts and entertainment, Floyd […]
Johanna is my son Josh’s peer, a Blue Mountain School alumni, Floyd High School salutatorian, a young German-born woman that many of us here in Floyd watched grow up. She’s getting married on the summer solstice. Forgoing a wedding shower, or even the traditional Floyd Blessingway, she requested a Machitun, a shamanic drumming healing […]
