Category Archives: Country Living

I am sure there is a logical reason this picturesque old country store was left to decay, but Poor Farm Rd would not be my address of choice for a commercial venture. The customers are long gone and the building … Continue reading →

It may be something in the air, or in the water, because Floyd attracts creative people from all over the country.

I am not just talking about everyday writers or poets or artists. The people who show up in Floyd are multi-talented people who run companies by day and play guitar at night, potters who write poetry, and business women like Sally Walker (at right) who is an incredible jazz vocalist.

The breadth and depth of the talent pool in Floyd is hard to estimate, because just about the time you have someone pegged as skilled artist, it turns out that he is also a doctor with an extensive practice or a construction worker or a chemical engineer. Even the younger people are multi-talented.

This is the kind of crowd that performed at the spoken word event earlier tonight at the Cafe Del Sol in downtown Floyd, VA. The Forensic team from Floyd High School led off the evening with some startling comedic and dramatic performances. They are entered in statewide competitions and I think they might do very well.

Doug Thompson brought the house down with a hilarious rendition of the "Letter that cannot be mentioned from the agency that must not be named!"

Fred First read passages from his upcoming book, "Slow Road Home." I am reading a review copy of his book and think it will do quite well. He has managed to capture the wonder of discovering a peaceful country life in all its detail. Reading his book is like remembering what it was like to be an inquisitive child discovering nature for the first time.

I discussed how I came to write Danger Quicksand – Have A Nice Day and read a few passages from the book.

My "Advice for Whistleblowers" got a good response, but my final reading, "When All Else Fails – Help Someone Else" seemed to resonate with more of the audience.

This was my first appearance  in the limelight at Cafe Del Sol, but the warm welcome I received encourages me to come up with something new for next month.

The final selection of the night was a poem, "Cityboy Countrygirl" by potter and poet Jayn Avery. She had the audience in her hand from the very first line. I was so enthralled by the poem that I forgot to take her picture. When she agreed to let me publish her poem on my weblog, I made her recreate the reading so you could get a look at her.

She has captured the painfully sweet tension between a sharp-edged city boy and a down-home country girl in  lyric measure. Her words evoked long-forgotten memories of city life and the many years of yearning for a simpler and more satisfying life in the country.

Read her poem after the break. 

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