If you have ever visited Virginia, hopefully you have ridden on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  My family spent many summers along that road, speechless at the beauty of the Shenandoah Valley, leading into the Blue Ridge Mountains.  It is a peace words cannot describe.

A few weeks ago a 27 ye… Read full post »

One of my favorite Spring rituals began yesterday.  Baseball season officially opened for most teams with the Boston Red Sox coming from behind to beat those New York Yankees in front of a crowd of 37,440.  It's only right that the season opened with these two teams playing each other in… Read full post »

When one thinks of sports, he usually pictures humans.  Our most popular past times and heroes involve very human characters.  But what if there was an animal that had more heart and was more of a hero than most other humans?  There was.

On March 30, 1970, a colt was born… Read full post »

St. Patrick's Day just passed and President Obama noted that the most famous of us American Irish, Ted Kennedy, was missing for the first time in a long series of that Celtic date.  I am currently reading True Compass, his autobiography.  Like his brother Jack, he loved the sea, and du… Read full post »

We seem mighty close to having a health care bill the President can sign by next week.  However, I take nothing for granted and will believe it when the ink is dry.  It has been one muddy, uphill battle with those in opposition at times screaming in our faces.  Yelling down… Read full post »

I live in a small historic town where the James and Appomattox Rivers meet.  On the corner of Route 10 and N. Main St. stands a building which used to be the town theater.  It had plush, burgundy fold down chairs and huge swaths of matching draperies.  Ushers wore uniforms and car… Read full post »

This week seemed to go from zero to sixty in less than 5 seconds.  It was admitted that Toyotas have been doing this and not stopping at sixty miles per hour.  Hit the accelerator on that baby and good-bye pace car.  Toyotas are good cars, some just a tad too fast for… Read full post »

The Virginia General Assembly is in session and our new governor has proposed his budget, which shows why I am glad I did not vote for him.  He has proposed most of the budget cuts in, yes you guessed it, education and health care programs.

I am not shocked or in awe. … Read full post »

I had a couple of thoughts this morning, and decided to write this column before my tai chi class, which will put it all behind me.

This weekend past was big.  On Saturday, Sarah Palin spoke to her Tea Party fans at their first National Convention.  Now I'll be honest and tell… Read full post »

 We got our snow here, 8 " of it on 1/30/10.  I loved every moment of it.   I'm calling it my Blacksburg snow and many seem amazed I've had so much fun in it.  Driving in snow is like riding a bike, one never forgets the technicque.  Low gear even on automati… Read full post »

I lived in California from 1986 - 2005 and during that time, I asked several people why they like the state and what kept them there.  The only answer I received from so many people was "the weather."  No one mentioned the schools, job opportunities, the character of its people or… Read full post »

A lot has happened this week and I have learned an invaluable lesson from it all.  Monday began as we watched with tears the scenes out of Haiti.  Limbs having to be removed with no anesthesia, just as was done during the Civil War.

There is a scene in "Ride With the… Read full post »

There are so many openings to choose, I don't know which to utilize here.  So many terrible things said about a suffering nation near our shores as a radio talk show host and an aging preacher give us their take on the situation, as if we asked them for it.

One person… Read full post »

On April 16, 2007, the worst campus massacre ever occurred on the campus of Virginia Tech.  Located in the charming, polite town of Blacksburg, it is an environment that will instantly win over anyone.  The usual campus energy can be felt but the university has a symbiotic relatio… Read full post »

I ask the question because of reaction I received about my post on OS yesterday, "God Is Not Allah."  153 views, 14 other comments and one favorable rating later, I am speechless at the reaction.

I will leave you to research it if you feel a need to read it, but… Read full post »

Just when I thought it was safe to say I've heard of everything, along comes a report by the Associated Press out of Malayasia in my newspaper stating protests are occuring there.  I'm not even sure where Malaysia is but I know it's not a place I'd want to visit. 

It… Read full post »

I live next door to an odd youngster, one who wears a Halloween mask when he leaves the house.  He is usually seen walking with another kid who wears his breeches half way down to his knees, which I used to think was an odd sight.  The masked man's face is not… Read full post »

I personally don't know any men who would actually start fires in their laps. They value their manhood too much. Add the fact the man is tens of thousands of feet in the air in a pressurized cabin.  The outcome makes me proud of heroes reacting with the message, "You are… Read full post »

I like bumper stickers.  Mostly on other cars.  I have two on mine, a VT Alumni emblem and my favorite Dan Fogelberg lyric.  Last week I was stopped behind a 4x4 sporting "I Love Fast Food," with the picture of a deer.  I laughed out loud in my car, though I would… Read full post »

To paraphrase the lyrics of an old country song, I beg your pardon but no one promised me a rose garden.  I know this to be true, but the current health care bill makes me feel reality slapping me in the face harder than I imagined it would.  This comes as… Read full post »

I am always amazed how many stories can occur in a week and suddenly appear on my television.  Cable news organizations scrape the bottom of the barrel for the latest "scoop."  I watched several sagas over the past seven days, each dripping information and as annoying as a leaky s… Read full post »

I had the unfortunate choice to attend a graveside service and a celebration of life afterwards for one of my high school friends' fathers last month.  She and I were not tight in school but have known each other since first grade and she was one of a tiny handful of people… Read full post »

I have seen it happen in front yards in Charlotte County and Patrick Springs, both in VA.  It is a regular occurrence every first Friday of the month at my church.  It is spontaneous, no planned number of participants or list of songs to play.  It's having one's musical instrument(s) -… Read full post »

Each Veterans Day, I am reminded with pride that my father was a WWII veteran, sent away for 3 years to the Pacific theater.  He was in the army, a combat engineer infantryman.  He island hopped in the Solomons, at Leyte, Luzon, and Bouganville among others. 

This year, the… Read full post »

In case you missed it, Virginia had a governor/state delegate/city office election on Tuesday and Republicans basically took a broom and swept up campaign nonsense, stood atop it and declared themselves winners.   They won fair and square but I wouldn't call them winners.

I have written be… Read full post »