I like to explore and tell descriptive stories about places. I also make jewelry, music and mixed-media art.
Fancy Gap, Virginia, late October, 2025 October is a beautiful month in the Appalachian mountains, and this year has been no exception. While last fall, the effects of Hurricane Helene were ongoing, much of the area around Fancy Gap has recovered. A cool front has brought the first freeze, and the weather on my visit […]
Read More Fall at Fancy GapHappy harvest moon from the Northern Atlantic Woodlands! While the sky was cloudy enough last night to almost obscure the moonlight, I was able to spend an evening in its glow over the weekend out at Drekheim (and we howled!). With pleasant weather amid an eventful month (in good and bad ways), nature time has […]
Read More Occoneechee Mountain, a Piedmont side tripSomewhere in the middle of the Piedmont, a rocky river becomes silty and muddy and changes direction. Called the Deep River, it gives its name to the southeast’s largest Triassic rift Basin. The name “Deep River” is a translation of an indigenous name, sapponah (sappony), which, beyond this, has vague (conflicting?) sources but most likely […]
Read More The Deep River and its Triassic Basin: Cumnock to CarbontonJubilee Park, Ivanhoe, Virginia, mid-April 2024 Ivanhoe, the Fair now this is glamping true Revival, handling of the Serpentine embanked New (Kanawha) river The diva waters Still rush past this old railway, blast furnace and mine shaft left to history A fairground in the off-season, nearly empty Jubilee A small town that doesn’t need much […]
Read More Ivanhoe, the fair (a return)May, 2023, A and V We roll into New Orleans at night, crossing the Pearl River after sundown on our way from Virginia to Texas. The crescent moon floats above, guiding us into the Crescent City for what could be a couple of hours or an overnight. This is a spontaneous detour, one we decided […]
Read More New Orleans, a slight returnMay, 2023 While at Stanimal’s hiker hostel, the manager, Bugs, suggests I check out the Russell Museum in downtown Waynesboro while I’m here. This is not something that I have time for, or would have even planned, but I am going downtown. After visiting the local herb and stone shop, Pyramid – which is fairly […]
Read More Waynesboro, part 3: The Russell Museum… and a Charlottesville outroSHE WORE A GREEN LYCRA DRESS TO THE WAREHOUSE PARTY The parties were funded by DuPont as it set up on a spring basin near the river. The scene had been Basic before that, it was all metal. Then came the industrial dance all-nighters and occasional death rock and harsh noise. It got huge, over […]
Read More Waynesboro, Part 2: A Walk Along the RiverMay, 2023, Afton and Waynesboro, VA INTERSECTIONS and PORTALS I’m standing at Rockfish Gap of the Blue Ridge, looking east as Interstate 64 descends toward the Virginia piedmont and Charlottesville. To the west, the highway drops in to the Shenandoah valley. Here the Blue Ridge Parkway meets Skyline Drive, to the south and north respectively, […]
Read More Rockfish Gap and Waynesboro, part 1: CROSSING and ARRIVALDecember 27, 2022 The winter storm blew through before Christmas, freezing pipes and ponds across the Atlantic coastal plain. After a few cold dim days, the temperatures rose and sky cleared up again. Necessary is a nature walk and a visit to a ruin, before returning to Hampton Roads and home tasks. The Neuse River, […]
Read More Milburnie falls and dam ruins on the NeuseIf you like dinosaurs, this is a story for you! Mark Cline says we are experiencing the future right now. In an early morning hour near Natural Bridge, Virginia, I stand outside the Dinosaur Kingdom II, meeting the artist who created this attraction and many other fibrous sculptures and installations. Next to us, motors whir […]
Read More A Tail of Two Dinosaur Roadside Attractions (and the SLIGHTLY fibrous nature of time)
arianna's creative travels 