Hyperlocal Floyd

We'll not make it this year to Floyd Fest, where from the Dreaming Creek Stage, World Music will come--more musical notes than the number of ants on a Tennessee anthill--from Nashville and the rest of the planet. Here's what was said (Miami Herald) about the Floyd music scene, that includes this past weekend's Wine Down the Music Trail event (Roanoke Times article) held at the same venue as FloydFest on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Larger image here.

Blogger Book Review: Many thanks to David St. Lawrence for offering a kind and perceptive review of Slow Road Home both on his blog (Ripples) and especially for adding it to the Amazon.com reviews of the book--where readers of Slow Road are told they might also like Barbara Kingsolver's new book--a comparison I'm happy about but BK probably had best not learn of it.

Blog to Book: Slow Road Home was the topic of conversation at Blooking Central where Cheryl Hagedorn focuses her attention to the relationship between blogging and book publishing, gathering examples of all the variety of paths that can take. Cheryl included a bit also of an email reply to her about my experience in the blog-to-book endeavor.

By It's Cover: I exchanged several emails with a young man in Israel who had found one of my images posted at Fragments back in 2004 that he thought would make a good cover for his forthcoming book. It was interesting there for a while, and I spent a good bit of time trying to make the image work, but in the end, when I told him I didn't work for free, he decided instead to draw his own cover with a crayon. Just kidding.

Update--8:30 7/11/07! See Gary Boyd's (North Carolina Mountain Dreams blog) wonderful red jeep and flowers--his contribution for the America's Roadside Bloomery project started here a few days ago--now featured on Autoblog. Thanks for picking that up, Alex!

Keeping It Floyd

Build it, and they will come. And the building is underway.

But what will they bring with them, for good or ill? What will they take away? Will they stay? And will Floyd lose even as it wins?

The town of Floyd (a collective for lots of hardworking and persistent folks) has succeeded in funding a face-lift. Local merchants are taking the opportunity to revitalize and build. Changes are coming. You can read about them in this Roanoke Times | New River Valley Current article about the weekend events.

And how to balance preservation and change was a big part of the conversation on Saturday. Finding the point of "dynamic stability" is the work we face. And people are talking. Most are optimistic the balance can be found. No one is certain.

Photo of "downtown" from Saturday.

Local Color

First, before I forget, there might be just the exactly right person for this responsibility out there in the blogging readership (or among Google vagabonds who vastly outnumber regulars these days):

There is a need for a volunteer to staff the desk at the Rocky Knob visitors center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Man, what a great, COOL, and beautiful place to spend one's days, chatting with the wide variety of folks who pass along the nation's longest state park.

Find out more about it here.

Hmmm. I must have had a second point in mind. Wonder what it was? Let's see.

I never mentioned that this past Sunday, we visited Haven's Chapel Methodist Church, right up at the intersection of Goose Creek and Daniel's Run. We didn't have time to get to our regular Presby church over in Blacksburg and back before the John McCutcheon Concert in Roanoke later that afernoon. (And seems I never blogged that either! Man, am I slipping!) Haven's Chapel reminded us powerfully of Berea Christian Church, whose cemetery our property on Greasy Creek in Wythe County bordered. On Sunday, we met quite a few of our neighbors and learned some local history of the houses and families along our road.

And thirdly...well, I'm sure something in the realm of "local color" will come along to fill this in. I'm stopping by the Farm Store (never posted any pix from there yet) and to town for some computer geekiness and lunch. So, third time's charm. More, later.

Image, a local Floyd County resident presides from upstairs (over what used to be Momma Lazardo's) as the new facade of the Country Store is completed, and ready for the official grand (re)opening on Saturday! (You may have seen this particular two-dimensional resident propped on stage at the "old" country store.)

Uptown, Downtown

If you're headed to Floyd this weekend, be prepared to not be the only one.

This may well be the buzziest couple of days all summer long--or at least the first of what promises to be a lot of summer days when cars pile up behind the one traffic light in town.

Ann's scooping ice cream from two til five for the Partnership for Floyd, so I know I'll be wandering around with my camera slung across my neck. Looks like fun.

If you're wondering what's coming up in the weeks ahead in Floyd County and the Greater Floyd area, there's good news: Check out this CALENDAR OF EVENTS which I will certainly put in my sidebar, once the new WordPress blog is ready to go. But here's what appears on the near horizon.

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22 Special Grand Re-Opening Weekend of Concerts
The newly renovated Floyd Country Store will celebrate with a spectacular Friday Night Jamboree with Special Guests Olen Gardner & Friends at 6:30 p.m., Wayne Henderson and Friends at 7:30 p.m. and The Looping Brothers at 8 p.m. It's a night not to miss! The Floyd Country Store is just south of the stoplight on State Road 8 near the crossroads with Route 221.
For more information: www.floydcountrystore.com or

23 Ice Cream Social
Citizens of Floyd are invited to a free Ice Cream Social to Discuss Developments in Downtown Floyd. From 2:00-5:00 PM at the Sun Music Hall Floyd's Town Manager and members of the Partnership for Floyd will be available with information about Community Development seeking input from our Floyd County residents. See our web site for more details http://partnershipforfloyd.blogspot.com/

23 Saturday Night Re-Opening Concert at the Floyd Country Store
The newly renovated Floyd Country Store will celebrate with a Grand Re-Opening Concert featuring Jimmy Costa, Tina Liza Jones and Rounder Recording Artists, King Wilkie. 7:30 p.m. The Floyd Country Store is just south of the stoplight on State Road 8 near the crossroads with Route 221.
For more information: www.floydcountrystore.com or Learn more about the performers at www.dipconcerts.com.

23 A Play Called "Cotton Patch"
The Greatest Story ever Retold is a musical of the Gospel of Matthew and is set in contemporary Georgia. The music and lyrics are the final works of Harry Chapin and the storyline is based on the book by Tom Key and Russ Treyz. Sponsored by Friends of the Oak Grove Pavilion. 7:30 p.m. Rain or shine. Admission is free but a freewill donation is encouraged at intermission. More than $40,000 has been raised for local charities over the years. Oak Grove Pavilion is a gorgeous, covered pavilion in back of Zion Lutheran Church at 635 Needmore Lane NE, Floyd.
For more information: www.floydlutherans.org

This picture of Mac and Jenny Traynham came from Saturday's Oak Grove Pavilion event.

Floyd Virginia : Musical Horizon

There's been some discussion of late over at Blue Ridge Muse in which a false distinction has been made between the washed and the unwashed of Floyd County. Who goes in which camp can be biased by a prejudice against "outsiders" who weren't born here.

If you'll come to the Oak Grove Pavilion performances this summer, any perceived barriers between these two populations of Floyd County residents will crumble. The long-time locals and the recently-arrived locals sit side by side, enjoying each other's company, the music, and the summer darkness under giant oaks, punctuated by the amber flash of fireflies.

This week, our buddies, Mac and Jenny Traynham, perform. They're sure to do quite a few cuts from the newly-released CD compilation of some of their way-back tunes, gospel and otherwise, that have become favorites of ours.

There's plenty of seating under the pavilion, more out under the stars. Bring a folding chair and a picnic dinner if you want, and get to know your neighbors--in tie-dye or bibbed overalls, good folk. See you there.

Click here for directions to Oak Grove Pavilion behind Zion Lutheran Church.

Evening Out

If you get a chance to hear this duo in your area, make the effort. We first heard the smooth "retro-folk" sound of Rebecca Hall and husband Ken Anderson four or five years ago, when we bought their first two CDs. Those disks have gone on to become family favorites, and we're looking forward to CD #3 that is in the works, release expected this summer.

Sorry this image is a little dark and grainy, but I sort of like the simplicity of light against dark--and the tip hat on the stool. I'm still learning my way around the D200, and didn't know how to get it to move to an ISO of 3200. But I do now.

After Oddfellas and the duet and great meal with friends, we visited the Contra Dance at Winter Sun briefly. I had a book to pass on to a friend from Wythe County who lives near and occasionally hangs out with an author whose name you'd recognize. Her mystical awe of nature and light had an important influence on me long before I had the first idea I'd ever find words to describe similar experiences. Could be she'll actually thumb through it. I tried to imagine that, and wondered what piece in the book I might hope she'd settle on, one that she would perhaps read and find herself saying YES! as I did so many times when reading her books as far back as the seventies.

Lastly, from our Be Careful What You Wish For Department--I have an iPod! You'll remember my wishing and washing about this a month or two ago. And as recently as my B'ham trip last week, I considered stopping by Radio Shack to actually talk with somebody about a 4GB Nano, but talked myself out of it (from a frugality point of view). And lo, Saturday morning, Ann picked up an insured package from the Check Post Office: a silver 4GB Nano iPod (plus auto accessory kit) from my blog-reading daughter in South Dakota! How cool is that!?

Having lost ALL my music from my hard drive recently, I had no songs to upload. But as fate would have it, that very day, we received a couple of copies of our friends, the Wolfe Brothers' new CD, Old Virginia Hills, in the mail. (Go here and listen to sound clips from a former Wolfe Brothers album that we've enjoyed, and you will too!)

Now that new album currently represents 100% of the music uploaded to my shiny new iPod--a kind of music-genre purity I'm sure it will soon lose, when I get around to burning 40 or 50 of the lost albums back to the hard drive. Meanwhile, I'm not finding much in the way of free audiobooks for the iPod, though I did download a couple of Sherlock Holmes books and various other moldy-oldey public domain books I can listen to while I work cleaning up the dregs of winter out the back door. Suggestions?

Silage

Gary Boyd guessed correctly right off the bat: the boy's been around (country places).

Last week after having a blogger's lunch (Doug Thompson and Colleen Redman, who joined us accidentally for coffee) I stopped by the Jacksonville Center to explore the possibilities of my Note Cards being made available in the Retail Store there.

I spotted a familiar personality disappearing into the door of the old concrete silo--a prominent feature about which there has been talk for years: how can we use the structure (deemed to be sound from an engineering point of view) to best advantage?

Suzy Nees had just finished "decorating" the entry way and the silo interior. This involved removing considerable pigeon guano and spider webs, and them spreading bamboo canes and leaves around the perimeter of the great tube's interior mossy floor: in a few days, the silo would become a music studio.

I went by on Saturday and sure enough, a sign on the door said "do not enter: recording in progress". I'll let you know more when I find out WHO and WHAT about the music.

So, what you see when looking straight up is very like another planet: Planet Floyd, I suppose. And thanks to Suzy for snapping this picture of Fred, who seems to be suggesting that things are looking up in town these days. If you stop in town, be sure and visit the Jacksonville Center's retail shops, exhibits and galleries.

Healing Harvest: Demonstration March 24

Join Jason Rutledge, the Healing Harvest Forest Foundation, and Virginia Forest Watch for a demonstration of what it means to be a Biological Woodsman serving the forested community of Copper Hill. Meet at the Apple Ridge Farm on Pine Forest Road in Copper Hill at 1:00 pm on March 24 to carpool to the demonstration. For more information telephone 929-4222.

I'm going (read more about it). So is my camera. See you there. Jason is a Floyd County low-impact horse-logger. And while you're thinking sustainable forestry, take a look at this!

Our second media production is now available!

This is a professionally edited one-hour film made at Biological Woodsmen's Week entitled: Community-Based Restorative Forestry, HHFF Style. It features a collection of national, regional and local media, plus homemade video never before seen by the public, including footage of working in the woods, and the panel discussion held at the Airlie Center in Warrenton, Virginia.

The panelists are Troy Firth, Gary Anderson, Wendell Berry and Jason Rutledge.

Floyd County: On or Off the Beaten Path?

This is a comment to yesterday's post, Floyd Among the Giants. This seemed a discussion worthy of more.

This is a real conundrum. Of course we want to live in a place that is a nice, comfortable and attractive, and off the beaten path. We want the town and county to survive, even prosper, but it's chief "product" perhaps is the lifestyle and setting that will be destroyed if enjoyed by too many living too close--or too many at once on a weekend or special event.

That rural places are being discovered is a certainty. That they are increasingly popular as home-building destinations is also certain if you look at what is happening to land prices in places where previously there was a "vacuum" of population.

Perhaps the best we can do for in Floyd County in this netherworld between bucolic isolation and popular exploitation is to 1) decide what's precious about the place, pace and pleasures we enjoy and 2) prepare to protect them by zoning, by conservation easement, by purchase by entities whose goal is preservation and not mere profit. We can exert our influence on our supervisors to listen to more than the cha-ching of the treasury at the prospect of dollars--regardless of impact on the "commons" of the county.

We MUST put values on our sense of place and common "ownership" of Floyd County that aren't measured exclusively in revenue. And yet, money talks. Farming is no longer a livelihood. Farmers own the land and can't pay taxes. And there go open spaces, watersheds, viewsheds, and fertile agricultural soils.

This problem is not going unnoticed, but I haven't heard a great, unified solution to it. And Floyd is a divided community--about fifty percent would welcome commercial development of any kind if it meant greater convenience and more jobs, even minimum wage.

I do know that, since new residents ARE going to move here, I'd rather have people move here that KNOW what life is like in the winter during ice storms; what it is like when you want Chinese takeout or to see a movie; what it is like living an hour's round trip from the nearest gallon of milk or expecting any of the other missing "necessities" of life in the towns from which they might hope to move. Most who would expect these things here are so NOT ready for Floyd.

While some bloggers actively promote development of the county and region, most I know are FAR more concerned with keeping the rate of growth very slow and in maintaining the kind of change compatible with the qualities that brought them here in the first place. Many who have moved here have already left and gone back to less isolated places, as I heard today at lunch in town.

Floyd is far from perfect. And I can't think of any of its problems that will be solved by a massive influx of retirement relocation all at once, or by importing the city amenities--Starbucks, W-mart, and convenience-at-hand--that might come with in-migrants if they don't plan to come to be adopted by the land and lifestyle rather than to remake it to suit their habits and preferences.

This is a matter actively discussed and of great concern: how to love Floyd County, hope for a prosperous future, have affordable land and jobs for the next generation, and not overwhelm the roads, the economy, the rural feel, and the quiet landscapes in the process.

Tiny Floyd: Among the Giants

Who'da thunk it: Floyd, one of the Ten Top Southern American Cities. (click picture for larger image)

I got notice of this a couple of weeks back before it was public and current in Salon Magazine. I still can't find a link to the article or image, so if you do, please sent it along.

Whoa! Check out the top picture--from our very own Buffalo Mountain, taken by our very own Weird Uncle Fred of Fragments from You-Know-Where. We just don't know WHY. Apparently, one of the travel writers that passed through the county last year was smitten by the Floyd Effect.

Wedge and Tong: Cutting Trees, Saving the Forest

I appreciated the space in the Sunday Roanoke Times devoted to the Rutledge's Healing Harvest Forest Foundation's horse-logging practice.

Healing Harvest is based in the Floyd County community of Copper Hill. The nonprofit was established in 1999 to support sustainable forestry and animal-powered logging. They advocate a "worst-first," single-selection cutting program. That means choosing to cut individual trees, taking weak, diseased and unwanted trees first and leaving healthy trees to continue to grow.

"What's important is what's left," Jason Rutledge said.

Cutting the weakest and least desirable trees opens up the forest for other growth, he said. Not only trees, but also mushrooms and ginseng -- which Healing Harvest will help landowners cultivate -- can thrive in a healthy forest.

"You can't have them without the forest," Jason Rutledge said. "You can't grow them in a clear cut."

Watch Jason's team of Suffolk draft horses, Wedge and Tong, do their work in a short video at the Roanoke Times link above.

Read more about Healing Harvest in Floyd County, Virginia.

Art at the Park(way)

I'm still scattered this morning, awash in things undone yesterday in preparation for Thursday's morning-to-midnight busy-ness.

Looking back over Wednesday's Parkway excursion, the thumbnail of this unworked image popped out, and though I should have been taking care of book keeping and contacts updates from the community college last night, I got lost in Photoshop instead..and finding you a link to the image that tells that this is not just another pretty place along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

I actually stopped here to see if I could get a shot of a perfectly symmetrically split pine tree growing in the pasture off-image to the left. It obviously split when young, and both halves of this mature tree are growing at about a 30 degree angle, forming a dark V against the woods and sky behind. But there wasn't enough light for that image after all. But lo and behold, there was Donna and Rick's place begging to be photographed.

At about milepost 155 is the home and pottery studio of two of Floyd County's top-tier potters, Donna Polseno and Rick Hensley. To drive past, you'd never know what art lies inside this unassuming and bucolic farmhouse setting. Take a look at a piece from a 2005 issue of Ceramics Monthly with images of their work, and a nice review of their methods and its meaning.

This is just one example of Floyd County's decentralized arts and crafts, which I think is a wonderful idea--at least for the potential customers. Not only do you get to see and purchase high quality, locally produced art, but you get to traverse some delightful countryside getting there. And there's always plenty of free parking--except during the 16 Hands Tour, coming up in May.

Mountain Stage

I found this view of the newly-expanded Floyd Country Store that I brought home a few weeks back. You know, I think this is one of those things that, no matter how big you build it, it will fill to capacity.

But the scale of it seems about right. And so many things are better in the new version of the Country Store--not the least of which is the lighting. But then, no great surprise here: the store's owner, Woody Crenshaw, owns Crenshaw Lighting. And he is a photographer and knows how difficult it was to get anything like a usable shot with the old lighting.

I think Ann works Friday evening. Maybe, if there's enough left of me after work, I'll head to town and see what's happening "of an evening" in Greater Downtown Floyd. Ah, soon with warmer weather, the music will spill over onto the street, and the 2007 Music Season will have officially arrived.

Room in the Inn

Okay kiddies, it's Creative Juices Time! Here's the project I need your input on (and this is for real):

A new motel is under construction in the heart of downtown Floyd, undertaken by Jack Wall and Kamala Bauers (of Wall Residences). I only know the edges of the tale. But I know that it is designed so that the motel will employ folks who couldn't work independently in most other settings, giving them a safe working environment, some dignity and a little income. It will seek to encorporate into its construction and later, offer a venue for conferences on green architecture and alternative energy.

And, per Jack's design, the rooms will have significant individuality by being decorated according to themes--one of which will be (GET READY!) the "FLOYD WRITERS' ROOM". Yep, that's right. And along with blogger-writer Colleen and a few other folk, I'll be making suggestions about how the room should be furnished, decorated and equipped.

We're meeting Wednesday evening about this, and since I've only heard about this recently, I haven't had much chance to think about it. I did talk with Colleen the other day, and some more old fashioned writerly things--like a roll-top desk, a manual typewriter, an ink well and quill pen, lots of book shelves and books, a gooseneck lamp--will certainly be included. But then, we would want it to have more modern writing features as well, a wireless connection at a minimum.

And it should give the guests some flavor for the spoken and written words of Floyd County. Perhaps a montage of poetry, stories, biographies of local writers could cover one wall. Copies of the Muse Letter going back to Year One? Maybe a blog could be created specifically for guests of that room to enter their own "guestbook" comments directed at one or more of the Floyd writers whose works they'd perused while staying in the room. Might be nice to have available some audio recordings of Spoken Word at Cafe del Sol.

What else? You've got a budget of xxxx dollars. How will you spend it to give one room the flavor of Floyd's wordsmiths? Don't be shy. We really need ideas!

P1nk Fl@yd

I wish my hands hadn't gone numb so quickly Friday night. I'd have loved to hung out on the corner of Locust and Main on the Courthouse lawn and fiddled with the camera under unique lighting conditions.

I'm still far down the learning curve on the Nikon D200, especially for night photograhy, motion photography and am still learning what the vibration reduction will do for the 18-200mm lens.

Even so, I was pleased enough with the way this shot turned out, especially as I only came away with a half dozen before I went stiff with cold.

(I disguised the name of this post a bit so I don't get disappointed music fans coming here down a Google wrong turn. Also, I'd hate Adsense to head off in the direction of advertising grunge music on Fragments from Floyd. Ya know?)

Floyd Friday Nights

Last Friday night was my first time in the "improved" Country Store, and I was pleased.

Much of the character (including the hornets nest hanging from the ceiling) remained. The same folks--the regulars--were there predictably attired and in their usual places with usual partners on the dance floor.

There's just more room now. Better lighting. A significantly revamped sound system. And air conditioning when 200 dancing bodies send the temps soaring. Lots more shelf space, waiting to be filled with local offerings. An active soda fountain. And soon, open beyond Friday nights.

I was pleased during my short stay at the store to be able to congratulate Woody Crenshaw, owner and renovator of the store, a man who must be very gratified to see the task completed.

I'll be pleased to offer Slow Road Home in the book section at the Country Store, and hope a new population of visiting readers will discover it there in the "heart of town" over the coming months.

And I'll be back--for more pictures!

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Where in the world do your blog vistors come from? And why? How many of them do you know? Does it matter that visits are almost entirely anonymous? These are questions I'm pondering on Nameless Creek this morning.

An Uncommon Remembrance

From where I stood to take the picture of the store (posted yesterday) I could have reached behind me and touched this stone and bronze memorial. Placed by Clyne Angle's wife, Myrtle, I wonder each time we pass this marker about the generations that have walked, driven wagons, ridden horses, and navigated Model T's past the store that bears its last owner's name.

I wonder, too, about legacies. The best most of us can hope for is a rank and file slab of granite far from where we spent our days. Here is a tribute in place, marking where the celebrated life was lived.

Click the image to read the inscription. How unpretentious and simple. How heartfelt.

What would your memorial say? And where would it be placed to show the center of your life's work and joy?

Note: Visit Nameless Creek (Fragments Annex) today for the first of several pieces on Roscoe Willis' Store on Goose Creek. This series is possible because of the kind contributions by several readers after yesterday's post on Floyd County history. link

Book-ends

I feel the first stirrings out of hibernation after a long winter of oblivion to writing, speaking, thinking about Slow Road Home or whatever might come next.

I'll have at least two events between now and the middle of April to make me think in concrete terms about the future of my writing and photography--two complementary passions I hope to bring together in new ways in the coming book year.

For both my events (in Wytheville VA and Birmingham AL) I will arrange for a digital projector to run a little pictorial preamble before my discussion about writing, Goose Creek, sense of place, and Slow Road Home.

I think if listeners can gain a visual context for the story, it will mean so much more to them. Do you agree?

And so, even if "whatever comes next" borrows heavily from SRH, it is a second step I think worth taking, plus of course adding some new material as well. Details very much TBA.

But the book year is about to bloom. What it took to make me realize this is the call I got yesterday requesting more books for my best public perveyor to Floyd visitors: Bell's Studio and Garden on Main Street, just down from Oddfellas Cantina.

I am so proud to have my book on their checkout counter. If you come to town, be sure and stop by to see Billy Bell's incredible photographic prints, JoAnne Bell's glass creations, and other pieces representing local craftspeople. Plus, it's just such a nice place to hang out and get a sense of the heart of Floyd.

Here's David St. Lawrence's account of the Bells' fine establishment, written at the time of their opening--coincidentally taking place the same day in April that 1100 copies of Slow Road Home were delivered to Goose Creek! Find store hours and more details on my Nameless Creek site.

Clyne Angle's Store

I feel certain that, while I'm not able to find anything on the web, there is plenty of information about Clyne Angle's Store at the Floyd County Historical Society.

Mrs. Angle still lives in the house across the road, there at the intersection of Shawsville Pike and Daniels Run, and there is a commemorative plaque to Mr. Angle embedded in a stone marker. I don't think I have any photos of it, but wish I did. It's text would shed some light on this image, and on the old Post Office (Floyd County's first, I think I remember) and a building that was active during the Civil War.

You can see the small, green sign in the window that locates the store in the community of SIMPSONS, now not much more than an intersection of two roads. This was once a thriving farming community. A steep mountain path, and later a motor road, was constructed by hand to allow mail delivery and commerce between Simpsons and the similarly active community down the mountain in Goose Creek.

That old road follows along the descending waters of Nameless Creek, and ends up at our barn. We walk it every day--another place in our valley that harbors "good ghosts" as I say.

I'd be interested if there are any readers who have knowledge, stories or recollections of Simpsons or Clyne Angles Store. Please offer comments or emails to share.

Floyd County, VA: Blog Grand Opening!

Please stop by Southern Mountain Melodies, the brand new and still growing website for our friends Mac and Jenny Traynham. These local musicians are familiar faces (and voices) in Floyd, and it's time their music gained a wider listenership.

This is a specially important time for them to become more publically accessible in as much as they will soon have two new CD's available. You'll learn about that on their blog.

And please turn up your speakers! There are THREE audio files (two excerpts and one full song) to sample their sound--traditional mountain, gospel and blue grass duets, solos and instrumentals you'll enjoy.

Leave a comment, add them to your blogroll, and when the time comes, get yourself some CDs--and a couple for your friends! Watch their schedule for performances in and around Floyd!

Every Home's a Stage

Another Saturday in Floyd County, another house concert. Last week, music of the mountains, sitting in folding chairs, in jeans. This week, classical music of the ages, seated in an elegant living room, in a coat and tie.

The setting: The Inn at Hope Springs Farm, almost to the Carroll County line, on 221 the other side of Willis.

We met the owners, Candace and William, a couple of years back through a friend who was filling their extensive needs for custom draperies, upholstery and such. Last night, the music also was from local talent--Mike Mitchell playing the masters on violin, with accompaniment on the grand piano.

Walking in last night, we realized this was a different crowd. We recognized only the host and hostess, and our veterinarian. But from the remaining strangers, we met quite a few new couples. Some were guests at the Inn from Richmond or Greensboro. Others, like Sandra and Ken, had local ties--and connections to the Inn owners by their common interest in alpacas. Here's their alpaca website.

And so there was some conversation that followed from my question: "So you think I could actually turn a profit on our six acres of level land with these animals?" Boy, did I ask the right question to the right folks. The tax benefits are significant. There's even an Alpaca 101 page that seems likely to answer all our questions. Yours, too.

So we have had two Saturday house events in a row, and sampled the diversity of music and culture that is available in this wide place in the road. No, you won't find a civic center in town. No movie theaters or streets lined with ethnic restaurants. But there's plenty to do. It's just that we enjoy much of our entertainment where we live: at home. And invite the neighbors.

Straight Path to the Crooked Road

This spring (oh I like the warm sound of that word!) promises to be a great season for touring the "Crooked Road"--southwest Virginia's Music Trail that passes through Floyd.

Other stops along the way include Galax and Stanley country, the Birthplace of Country Music Museum in Bristol, the Blue Ridge Music Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Galax, the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons, the Country Cabin in Norton and the Blue Ridge Institute at Ferrum College. You can see and read a bit about them all on the clickable map.

According to Ralph Barrier writing in the Roanoke Times...

"The idea came at a time when old-time roots music was undergoing a huge popularity surge thanks to the success of the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" movie soundtrack. The album featured updated versions of Depression-era songs and sold more than six million copies and dominated the 2002 Grammy Awards. Southwest Virginia's stake in the CD's success came through the inclusion of Stanley and bluegrass star Dan Tyminski, formerly of Ferrum. The time was right to capitalize on the newfound popularity of old-time music."

Cultural tourism is a growing phenomenon as traveling families want to learn more about their own heritage and roots, and that comes from the getting there as much as it is the destination.

"Southwest Virginia has the greatest tradition of old-time string music than anywhere else in the world,"said Roddy Moore, the Blue Ridge Institute's executive director. "The eight spots are just the high points. The Crooked Road is really what's in between. I would take the sidetrips off the road and see the landscape and meet the people."

If you're new to traditional Appalachian music, consider a trip down the Crooked Road as the Baptist introduction: total immersion, head to toe, in "that good ol' way". It's been ringing in these hills for generations, and the invitation is out for others to listen in.

Wounded Wood

Back when we first moved to Goose Creek, I was chatting excitedly with a woodworking friend about my idea to grow walnuts on our land as an investment crop for our children's future. Walnuts make exceptionally beautiful pieces of handcrafted furniture.

"I wouldn't bother" she discouraged me. "Walnuts growing in Floyd County are often gnarled and misshappen. They can be used for some interesting small pieces, given their distorted grains, but they don't do much as saw lumber."

And since then, we've burned a good bit of walnut as firewood (culled from the edges of the wannabe-garden). A half dozen cast shadows on (and grew their roots into) where we wanted veggies to grow, and we're burning them this winter for heat. And they have without exception have had warty-gnarly trunks with little clear grain for more than a foot or two. And my presumption now is that this might be due to genetics: our local walnuts have inherited poor wound healing genes.

You can see in this picture what I found when I unloaded the truck one day recently. I had been cutting up a walnut dropped up the valley along the old postal road that follows alongside our pasture. This tree is only about 45 years old, so the lead bullet slug I cut in half with my chain saw earlier that day couldn't have come from Daniel Boone's black power rifle. Shucks. I can't say when it was shot, but long enough ago that you can see the tree has grown "scar tissue" down over the entry point; you can almost visualize the turbulence created in the layers of spring and summer wood as the bullet arked its way to a stop deep in the trunk.

And it is just this kind of swollen hump that are found so commonly on our walnuts--even those that haven't been filled full of lead. It may be something as simple as normal limb self-pruning that leads to this unsightly wounding in our genetic population of walnuts, while others elsewhere make nice clean scars that don't damage the quality of the beautiful purple-brown wood.

On this single-digit winter morning, I have one other observation about walnut: as firewood, it makes more light and ash than heat, and I hope not much more of it goes through the woodstove doors. My kingdom for some oak! Brrrrr! (More on tree genetics and wound healing here for the one person out of a thousand who would care to know.)

HELP! Has my sidebar disappeared in MSIE? Just checked it from work and it's gone! If it is missing, has it been missing for days? Anybody noticed? - FF

4 PM Tuesday: Home now, and MSIE from here shows the sidebar. AND the Google Ads are more relevant in MSIE than in FireFox, which among others at this minute shows PASCO COUNTY--Florida? Common Google. RELEVANT! Surely you can do better!

This is only a test

Here's a shot from the house concert--toward the end, when the hosts are up front playing a tune or two with the featured artists-friends they hosted for the evening.

I've been trying to share my ignorance with Mac there with the banjo. He and his wife and singing partner are wanting to get another album out and also to set up a simple web presence for their music appearances, CDs and such.

So here I've uploaded directly from Picasa --which I will recommend he download, as the price is right. We'll set him up blog, and maybe a wiki through pbwiki.com to refer to in his sidebar for pages about their albums, maybe some background on their music interests and backgrounds, and as a place to upload some music clips.

So this, dear folks, is just a test. You can see the back of Ann's head there next the chair vacated by the photographer. There are far more people behind me than in front of me. The place was packed. And a nightmare for photography what with only the table lamp. This was shot at ISO of 3200 with the D200--grainy, but heck--we got the shot!

Mountain Music

It's a fur piece from Goose Creek to Ferny Creek--a good two-thirds the length of Floyd County. But for a house concert like last night, it is worth the drive.

Some faces were familiar: characters from around town, friends of the hosts, and some folks we'd met before only at previous gatherings like this, and in this house. And there are always a few initiates, first-timers who appreciate old-time traditional Appalachian mountain music on the close and personal stage in someone's livingroom.

We're hoping before the summer is over to host a house concert here, in the AnnEx. Or heck, maybe we'll just take the lawn chairs out under the stars along the banks of Goose Creek and let'er rip.

Friday Shorts

Blog to Book ~ It's a natural progression, and likely to become increasingly common. Take a look at this long list of entries (including Slow Road Home, of course) for the LuLu Blooker Award. Top prize: $10 thousand!

No Fair Peeking ~ When something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Peekvid.com would show me full episodes of X-files to my hearts content. I'd so far seen only the pilot, saving these for special occasions. Man, I missed Maulder and Scully! But no. Peekvid got busted, I heard as I left the house Wednesday morning, for pirating copyrighted material. It sure was love while it lasted. (Star Trek Enterprise has survived so far!)

Ad (non)Sense ~ Well so far, I'm unimpressed with context-driven ads. I thought Google's mentation was a bit quicker than to saturate my sidebar with ads for Colorado condos. But then, it IS winter so it got that part right. And heck, it's only been four days. And I'd best hush. Your visits to ad sponsors is making a difference in the bottom line here at chez Goose Creek, and much appreciated.

Slow Road Scan ~ I debated the matter, did some reading, and in the end, decided to let Google Books scan mine. It will also be available as an eBook. Some day. The process is taking a while. So far, this place holder is up. I'll let you know when it is finally birthed.

Size Does Matter ~ 120 Gigabytes seemed far more than I'd ever need four years ago when I got the Dell XPS. But then, file size max was 2mb. Now Nikon RAW files are 16mb, plus all the copies and versions that come from some of them. So a Lacie 500 Gig external is on the way. I can do a total backup and still have years worth of space for pix (he said). Memory is cheap, some of these photos are personally priceless, so I'm over the guilt of the expense. Think of it as insurance.

Jamboree Remake ~ Tonight is the first night of the rest of our lives in Floyd, Virginia: the Country Store has been face-lifted and expanded, and reopens tonight! Welcome back to the Friday Night Jamboree in downtown Floyd, Virginia! (See Doug Thompson's post about it.) I know I'll be whupped from work, but the winter storm that we expected only grazed us, so roads should be passable. See you there!

Treacherous Travels

The dog barked his "people" bark--different from his squirrel or deer bark: more urgent with overtones of anticipation. His assumption seems always to be that humans are coming here to admire him.

This particular visitor yesterday around noon was a stranger--very young, very cold and very careless about the roads he chose to travel in his jeep for a Sunday afternoon joy ride. Said jeep was now only partially on the ice-covered bobsled run that is Goose Creek a hundred feet higher and west of here. One back tire hung in the air, off the cold shoulder of our steep, northy not-for-winter road. Could I please come with some chains and my truck and pull him to safety?

Well no, son, sit down by the fire here. Sounds to me like you need something with a lot of weight and a lot more traction than my small Dodge Dakota truck will get you. I'll call 911. The sheriff's office will know of a garage that is on call over the weekends. Might need two trucks: one uphill to anchor the front end while another tries to pull your back wheel back up onto the road.

Three hours later, the boy and his father (they live in Shawsville) stopped by to thank me for what little help I offered. And I resisted the fatherly lecture, shuddering to think how, if that tree hadn't been there, that man's son could have been down in that creek bed upside down in his mangled vehicle overnight before anybody else was foolhardy enough to take the winter road less traveled.

Buffalo in the Back Yard

Another image picked up on the way home from the winery last weekend--and the first using the combination of (new) tripod, 80-200 telephoto lens (and new tripod mounting collar for same) and the 2x teleconverter.

The silhouetted shape behind the house takes the reposing form of a buffalo, hence its name, Buffalo Mountain.

Were there buffalo in these parts in the days before the western migration of the white man? Does anybody have any info or stories about that? I'd like to know.