I like to explore and tell descriptive stories about places. I also make jewelry, music and mixed-media art.
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 ARRIVALApril 2, 2023, Red Wing Park, Virginia Beach, Virginia Welcome, Spring. After reviving this blog a year ago and documenting visits to some of my favorite areas across the state of Virginia, I had to pause again and take care of home life matters during the colder season. It didn’t snow in our area, and […]
Read More Cherry blossom (sakura) festival, Virginia BeachDecember 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 NeuseOctober, 2022 There is a labyrinth set up at one of the neighboring camps. It’s a sunny, brisk day after night rains left water in our tents, which we had set up after a long, tiring drive the day before. I’m in a temporary ‘town,’ the Alchemy Burn gathering in Northwest Georgia, a pretty area of […]
Read More A traveling labyrinth in a tent town called AlchemyIf 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)Late July, 2022 I’m back at the mountain family property at Fancy Gap, Virginia, clearing paths and finishing construction of the stone labyrinth. There have been storms; trees have fallen, and mushrooms are growing all around (including in the labyrinth). I’m learning to identify these mushrooms, so if you know these species, let me know […]
Read More Mushrooms and a rainy season in southern AppalachiaDates of travel: August 2019, June 2020, July 2022 JULY 2022, GREAT DISMAL SWAMP Yellow flies surround me as I walk through thick, humid air and sunlight, to a picnic table to write notes on the way to a gig in Elizabeth City. I’m near the North Carolina-Virginia line. Beside me is the yellow silt-tinged […]
Read More Great Dismal Hospitality
arianna's creative travels 