Making Ripples: post-corporate adventures in Floyd County Virginia

I didn't make it to Floydfest today

This is Tommy Bell winching my van up onto his tow truck. I had a complete transmission breakdown on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is one of the more scenic places to drive but there is generally no cell phone reception.

After a morning of chores, I had finally got things wrapped up and headed for FloydFest. The sun was still out and I was happily driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway, one of the scenic wonders of Virginia. I did not have a care in the world and I would easily make it to FloydFest in less than a half hour.

Suddenly, the van sighed, at least that's what it sounded like, and I lost all forward motion. The engine was running fine, but the transmission just quit working and I had no way to get off the highway.

After turning off the engine and restarting it, the transmission started working again for a few minutes and I was able to ease the van onto a grassy shoulder which was firm enough to support the vehicle.

I pulled out my cell phone and saw no bars at all, but the phone worked well enough for me to call Gretchen and ask her to send a tow truck. This was an absolute miracle because the Blue Ridge Parkway has really bad cell reception in this area.

It turned out that I was luckier than I knew because I could not receive incoming calls! My phone would chirp and tell me I had missed a call and had a voice mail from Tommy Bell's Road Service. I would try to call him and I could only get his voice mail. We went back and forth for about fifteen minutes leaving messages for each other.

Once he knew where I was, he called the Parkway Service for permission to pick me up and arrived in about 15 minutes. The Blue Ridge Parkway does not allow commercial vehicles so tow trucks have to get permission to tow stranded motorists.

The rain started just as Tommy arrived. He brought the van and me down into Floyd where Protocol Automotive set about determining what was wrong.

Gretchen picked me up and I spent the rest of the day helping out in the studio under the Winter Sun. I figured if I can't get to FloydFest, I might as well be doing something useful.

I will make it to FloydFest tomorrow.

Incidentally, I would have been OK even if the cell phone had not worked at all. Several people stopped and asked if I needed help and the Parkway Rangers stopped by to check up on me and to tell me that Tommy Bell was on his way. People are really helpful in this part of the country.

Floyd County is beginning to party and it's only Thursday

FloydFest 2007 kicks off tonight and I have been asked by everyone today if I was going to be there. Yes I am, because this is the entertainment event of the season in Floyd County. The town of Floyd has been full of excited visitors since early this morning.

I will be attending FloydFest for three days and will try to capture the spirit of this years event with images and sound recordings. In spite of gloomy weather predictions, the weather has been mostly sunny and seems to holding steady. I will bring boots and rain gear just in case.

I would have been there tonight, except I had to work until 9 pm. I am launching a new business venture which has already created enough interest that I have a backlog of work in the shop and more on the way.

This is entirely new area for me, so I will be posting my progress, discoveries and mistakes in getting it organized and up to speed for the use of anyone who is setting up their own small business in a field that is new to them.

This will not be a conventional start-up, so there may be some interesting ideas falling out of this, especially in the area of marketing.

For those who ask, "Why another project?", I can only say that this was a case of doing something to help someone else and getting enough interested responses that I was up and running before I knew it.

I will post more later. For now, I am going to take it easy this weekend and spend some time at FloydFest.

Perhaps I'll see you there.

Ukulele Magic - Jake Shimabukuro

Last year at FloydFest 2006, I missed Jake Shimabukuro's performance.

I didn't think much about it until I heard Scott Perry say, "I used to say I played the ukulele, until I heard Jake playing today. Now I say I am working on playing the ukulele."

Scott Perry is a competent musician and he plays many instruments well so this made me determined to look up Jake Shimabukuro and find out for myself. I found Jake's website and learned that he has an international reputation and a number of CDs to his name.

I still hadn't heard any sound clips, so I kept searching until I found a few brief mp3 snippets on a few sites. These were interesting, but I did not get the sense of a performer of the stature that Scott Perry had described.

I finally found this video on YouTube where Jake is playing George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps". You have never heard a ukulele played like this...

Wine Down the Music Trail - 2007

A Wine Festival and a half on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Wine down the Music Trail is a joyous celebration of fine wine, music, gourmet food and mountain crafts on July 7 and 8 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Villa Appalaccia and Chateau Morrisette Wineries.

The weather was bright and beautiful and people were enjoying themselves playing games on the grass. As a non-drinker, I was there for the food, the music and the crafts, and I had a wonderful time eating, shopping and listening to the music.

The rest of our party roamed through the two huge tents where 16 wineries were doing a brisk business offering samples of their products and ringing up sales.

Gourmet Food

I'm sorry that I didn't take time to photograph the food, but I was sampling everything in sight so I can recommend these offerings:

- Two Trees Catering / Admo's Fish & Chips served Flash-fried Calamari and Beer Battered Cod.
- A stand across the way served up Filet Medallions on Baby Greens and Spanish Paella on rice and there was a huge line waiting to order.
- Natasha Shishkevish, one of my favorite chefs, was selling Sushi, California Rolls, etc and it was going quickly.
- There was a also a stand selling Crab Cakes which everyone of our party agreed was a fine appetizer.

Crafters and Artists

An assortment of wearables and handcrafted works were on display and there were pots  and dishes from our neighbor Tom Phelps.

Delightful Music

Wherever you walked, you could hear the sounds of music drifting from one of the three stages. From the melodious sounds of Scott Perry to the exciting tempos of Blue Mule, you could find tunes that suited your mood.

As I exited the festival to fetch the car, I could hear Gaelic Storm warming up the audience with a tale of surviving a tornado in a Kmart out in the middle of the US. The last words I heard were, "..somehow, I never expected to die, you know, in an aisle in Kmart...(audience laughter) and then the music started and they were off with a wild rush of Celtic music.

They will be open today, so if you are in driving distance of Floyd, bring the family for a fantastic afternoon in the mountain sunshine. It's on the Blue Ridge Parkway, south of the Rocky Knob Visitor Center.

 

A sight you don't see every day

This is a true Paparazzi moment! Woody Crenshaw, one of the most active movers and shakers in Floyd County was caught on camera while sitting down, seemingly at rest.

I was inspired to capture this moment because Woody is never still and almost never sits down unless it is to meet with someone. Actually, I have to confess that this photo opportunity is taken totally out of context.

Woody was actually testing his new purchase, a recycled church pew, which will provide additional seating for visitors to the Floyd Country Store. Within seconds of this photo he was up and on the go again preparing for Fourth of July at the Floyd Country Store.

Now that the Country Store is open from Tuesday through Saturday, with a lunch counter and ice cream bar plus a clothing store stocked with Carhartt and other fine work clothes, there is increasing traffic and those who wait patiently outside while their spouses shop will have a splendid spot to sit and watch the comings and goings on Locust Street.

This will also be a prime spot to sit and cool off during the Friday Night Jamboree. Come by next Friday night and see for yourself.

[Disclaimer: I am the webmaster for the Floyd Country Store as well as for other Floyd businesses. I do not receive compensation for my stories and they do not represent the opinions of anyone other than myself]

There is a lesson in here someplace...

Click on image to see entire house

Every year this building becomes more dilapidated as stormy winds tear pieces of the roof off and every year the roses bloom brightly in great profusion.

It is located at the intersection of Poor Farm Road and Franklin Pike in Floyd County at a spot that is identified on the map as Pizarro, a town that no longer exists, but was the hometown of more then a dozen men who entered military Service during World War I.

The building provided a variety of useful services for many years and now serves only as a rose arbor. It was in a town that had sufficient vitality and public spiritedness to send at least 13 young men to war in 1917 and 1918.

At this time there are probably less than twenty people who live within a mile of this intersection. Only this tired ruin is left to mark what was once a dynamic community, and the roses are slowly taking over.

Perhaps the take away lesson is that there will always be a use for everything we've built, even if it is not the use we intended. Furthermore, whether it is a house or a carefully tended lawn, nature will start to take over as soon as we turn our attention elsewhere.

Even the Pyramids which were among the most massive structures ever built are but a shadow of their former glory. Their polished facades were stolen and dispersed while Europe was still populated by people living in huts and wearing skins.

Perhaps that is as it should be. We create places to live and work in and when the time comes to move on to other things, we build anew with different goals in mind.

There is a certain poignancy in an abandoned building, as it represents an abandoned dream. But the important thing to remember is that there are always new dreams to pursue. If a dream is no longer viable, maybe it is time to seize upon one that is.

Wildwood Farms is open again!

You do not want to miss this opportunity if you have any interest in obtaining the finest in daylilies for your garden. This nicely landscaped garden is located just a few miles south of Floyd on Route 221.

Last year Gretchen and I discovered the daylilies at Wildwood Farms and we were amazed at the number of varieties they had to offer. They have more than 1200 different plants to choose from and the helpful staff makes it very easy for you.

They even have shaded swings for non-plant-buying husbands to rest in while their spouses amble from bed to bed going, Oooh!... Aaahh!... Look at that one!

These images were taken today and the beds are about one quarter in bloom. In the next two weeks, they expect their daylilies to be in full bloom.

To get an idea of the variety of plants they have, see these images and these from the article I wrote last year.

Owner Judy Bowman and her sister Lou Hall are very knowledgeable and they provide an excellent customer experience.

It takes two hands to blog...

There is an old sailing expression, "one hand for the ship, one for yourself" which relates to using one hand for hauling on sails and one hand to prevent yourself from falling to the deck far below.

Unfortunately, blogging is not a one-handed operation. For the past two weeks I have been so involved in the preparations for Floyd's Grand Re-Opening weekend that I have not had time  to blog about them. Now I am trying to catch up.

The Grand Re-Opening celebration ran from Friday through Sunday and involved Gallery openings, a Friday Night Jamboree with Wayne Henderson and The Looping Brothers, a Saturday Ice Cream Social put on by the Chamber of Commerce and a concert by King Wilkie, and a Sunday concert by the psychedelic country rock band, New Riders of the Purple Sage.

To add to the carnival atmosphere, the Carhartt Swat truck which is a high tech clothing showroom on wheels was parked across from the Floyd Country Store and provided an opportunity for the boys (and girls) to test their tire-changing and bull-roping skills.

The Grand Re-opening refers to the fact that both the Winter Sun building and The Floyd Country Store have been extensively rebuilt and refurbished and are great places to bring visitors.

Gretchen and her partners in the Art Under The Sun Gallery had a fantastic opening weekend, and well they should have, because they had worked non-stop for many weeks getting the Gallery painted and set up for business. My task was putting up the track lighting and I could not have done it without help from Mike Limke and Bill Smith.

Here is a glimpse of the the trio who played during the opening and behind them you can see the custom counter built by Mike Limke, which is a work of art in itself.

The Floyd Country Store was packed on Friday night and the crowd overflowed onto the street. As usual, there were visitors from far places at the Friday Night Jamboree. At least one came from Australia and another from New Zealand. They both received souvenir hats from Woody Crenshaw, the friendly proprietor of the Country Store.

Meanwhile, out in the Floyd County countryside, Laurelsong and Luke Staengl celebrated their marriage in a beautiful and moving ceremony along the river that borders their farm. The alternative community and international guests partied until the wee hours to the music of John Winnicki and Sonic Safari.

Click on images to enlarge them

Interesting week so far - can't wait to see what's next

I've found that hyperlocal blogging has expanded my awareness of Floyd and the people who give it a unique character. I try to capture the images and sounds and experiences that make every day an adventure.

On Friday night, the Jamboree went off just as planned, even though the Floyd Country Storefront was covered with scaffolding. I got to hear Blue Moonshine perform in front of the Floyd Barbershop and they gave me their new CD of mountain music to review. More about that later. It is fine music!

Contrary to what you might expect, the more I write about Floyd, the more I see that I want to write about. Every day I see new relationships that were not visible before and new business opportunities being developed by people who are creating startups on a small scale with a minimum of resources.

All of this takes place in the midst of bucolic scenes that fairly scream to be photographed. As I drive around the county on errands, I can't take the time to dismount and soberly set up tripod and fetch the light meter. Instead, I slow the van and shoot through the open window or occasionally through the windshield if it is clean enough.

I spend some of my daylight hours networking with potential clients, visiting with friends, or developing stories for the Floyd Press. I volunteer as staff photographer for the Jacksonville Center and I am constantly shooting photos in an effort to capture a visitor's experience in Floyd County.

In the last few days, I been able to share the excitement of the five artists who have opened a gallery-studio and a teaching studio under the Winter Sun in Floyd. Gretchen and four of her talented friends have been working for weeks to get the gallery ready and are already seeing a steady stream of visitors even though their sign is not up yet.

If you are visiting the Winter Sun clothing store or the Cafe del Sol, make sure you come down the stairs and visit them in the Art Under the Sun Gallery.

In the midst of all this activity I managed to fix up this weblog design and make it a little easier to navigate.  The nice little scrollbars I installed work on Firefox, but not on Internet Explorer, so the weblog appears different to different browsers. I am not through yet, so if you have suggestions or comments, this is a good time to let me know what you are thinking.

Wednesday afternoon in Floyd VA - Slideshow

 

 

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I made a sortie into town today and brought back a sampling of what the local folks are doing. I then created this experimental slide show to see if I could give you an idea of what is going on using the least amount of web page real estate. Let me know if this works better than a static display of 12 pictures.

Woody Crenshaw has a team of men putting in new windows and siding on the Floyd Country Store. You can see them dismantling the scaffolding.

The Greenfire Fund Art Camp is still going strong with children doing wheel thrown and hand-built pottery under the direction of McCabe Coolidge. At the other end of the building, Rick Cooley is instructing both youngsters and adults in the theory and practice of illustration. The reason you see these students holding their hands in grotesque positions is that he has them showing emotion through distortion of the figure.

Out on the Blacksmith Shop students are working with fire and hot steel and having a great time under the direction of Elmer Roush.