Couple of Quick Ones
I'm hitting the road momentarily, bound down-valley for the Abingdon vicinity and an all-day sit at the feet of Appalachia's top authors. I'm of a mixed mind about it, with four hours on the road, round-trip, and the expectation of a lot of anonymous shuffling my feet and detached, unfocused sipping of cold coffee somewhere along the periphery of a crowd. Or I could be wrong. I wouldn't be going if I didn't expect to bring something back. We'll just have to see what that something is.
Also in the hopper of postable snippets:
A First FIRST: I'll be adding noise to the airwaves, on the radio two days in a row. Today, on WVTF, a recorded essay (mp3) you read here a few months ago--the piece about the redtail hawks in their mating dance, complete with some recorded calls I asked Beverly Amsler to add, for effect.(Broadcasts on 89.1 FM at 6:55 and 8:55 this morning.)
And then, tomorrow morning (live and local only) I'll be interviewed about the book, writing and Floyd on the Virginia Tech campus radio station, WUVT, 90.7 FM, at 8:00 and off and on during that next hour, I think. (There are directions for online listening on their website.)
Word Sleuthing: I just read an interesting piece on future "water wars" that brings to mind the etymological fact that the term "rival" comes from the Latin "rivalis" meaning "someone sharing a river." Hmmm.
Finally, a local historical event: The Earl Palmer Museum opens in Cambria (near Christiansburg) this weekend. I'm aware of the man as a photographer of local culture, and his photographs are on display in the museum--which is the general store he ran (and which contains many of the products on the shelves in the forties and fifties.) I'm sure I'll stop by sometime in my travels through the area--maybe toting my camera.