My brother Dan and I both learned to pronounce our R’s, the way I, who dislikes punctuation, have had to learn to use commas and periods, although I still lapse into dashes…and dots. When in the South or when writing a book, one wants to be understood. ~ From Pahk the Cah in Hahvad Yahd, […]
After planting summer squash and mounding up potatoes, I went inside for my favorite breakfast – two farm fresh soft boiled eggs on half of a sprouted wheat bagel with plenty of butter. After eating, I was about to get on with my next task when I happened to look out my kitchen window and […]
My husband’s job as a counselor has taken him out of town for trainings on two occasions recently. He takes my car – a black Honda CRV with the license plate that says L3T IT B – because it gets better gas mileage and is more comfortable on long trips than either of his trucks. […]
I managed to burn a pot of vegetables before heading out to the weekend wedding. So now I smell like burnt carrots instead of lemon verbena (the scent of the soap I bathed with). After a few choice curse words and setting the pot outside on the stone walkway to cool, I began to get […]
I attended a workshop on “taking oral histories” sponsored by Floyd’s “Old Church Gallery” this past Thursday night. At one point during the program, the presenter said something to the effect of: ‘You might be one of those people who starts writing the story before it’s finished happening, one who lives more for the story […]
Today I got an escort while driving down Woods Gap Road by a young deer that didn’t know any better. Acting more like a rabbit, and not that much bigger than a large one, it zigzagged on the road before settling down onto a straight path directly in front of my car. I figured it […]
The Boasting Crocus woke us in spring The dandelions are next ready for roaring Walking back from the mailbox yesterday morning, after spending more time on the computer than I intended to, I had a revelation: The border (in this case a fence) between my neighbor’s property and mine is like the difference between New […]
I got an inspection sticker for my car today. When I arrived at the United Muffler shop in Floyd yesterday morning there was a line of cars with expired April stickers waiting to be inspected. My sticker had expired too, but the mechanic wasn’t available until the afternoon. So I made an appointment for 4:30 […]
Semi-retired, that is. And I have the RV (“The Star Trek Enterprise”) to prove it. In truth, I’m not old enough or wealthy enough to retire, but after raising two sons, who are out on their own now, and then doing full-time foster care for adults with disabilities for the past 8 years, my husband […]
It’s like making a community pie from scratch every month – putting together the local newsletter that I’ve co-edited for the past 20 years. Some people email submissions; some leave them at the designated community drop off – a green plastic tub under the stairs of the Harvest Moon Food Store in town. We get […]
Every spring my husband and I go to Asheville, North Carolina, to visit my son – the potter who is also a closet super hero and has recently referred to himself as a “fire keeping alchemist” (a pottery reference, I suppose). We live in the country, where many of our friends have animals, chickens, and […]
In our small town of Floyd, we actually have a street named “Batman Thumper.” The Blue Ridge Parkway goes through the county and tourism is on the rise. Here are a few quirky sites that aren’t on the map: In Oddfellas Cantina, a local restaurant, there’s a Barbie doll wearing a red dress, trapped in […]
