The Crooked Road

In far southwestern Virginia, there is a "trail" called The Crooked Road. It runs through 19 counties and 54 towns, and starts in Franklin County. It totally misses most of the Roanoke Valley, though, and runs south of the city.

As you can see, it follows a path from Rocky Mount, down into Floyd and makes it way around to the camel's head part of Virginia. There are not many cities down in those directions, though there are lots of towns and communities. Here is another website about it: Click This Link.

Roanoke has an interesting music scene; I don't know why it is not a part of this trail. Maybe it is not rural enough.

In any event, the Blue Ridge Institute and Museum, which is located at Ferrum College, has a display about The Crooked Road.

Over the weekend, we took a ride to the Institute to see what we could see.

The Crooked Road exhibit was mostly placards with information about various types of music and some famous musicians that lived in the communities along The Crooked Road. You may be familiar with Ralph Stanley and June Carter Cash, to name two.

The display was nicely done, with lots of information and photographs.

 

I confess I was a little disappointed that there were no actual musical instruments in the room.

 

However, if one had the time, there was plenty to read and study.

 

Virginia has a deep history of music, with roots in Irish, German, and Scottish sounds.

 

Virginia's music is one of banjos, dulcimers, ballads, and blues.

 

Some of the sounds were heard all over the nation.

 


Bluegrass didn't have its own festival until 1965.

 

Gospel, bluegrass, country music, folk songs -
Virginia is for music lovers.
 

We enjoyed our tour. The Blue Ridge Institute was smaller than we anticipated and the room with The Crooked Road exhibit in it did not seem to be well humidified. I had hoped to see a collection of musical instruments - old guitars, dobroes, banjos, tambourines, harmonicas, or whatever - but none were in sight. The docent on duty said they had a large collection of items in storage; it is a shame they could not be displayed.

Rocky Mount now has a new place for musicians called the Harvester Performance Center, and it is attracting many recognizable names to its performances. It seems to be quite the draw for local folks interested in music.

Anyway, take a jaunt along The Crooked Road sometime - I don't know what you'll hear, but I imagine it will be genuine.

Putting Humpty Back Together Again

The Botetourt Board of Supervisors this week moved the historic structures at Greenfield from their original location to the little historic "park" they have been planning to build for the last 20 years. Articles and video of the move can be seen at these links:

http://wtvr.com/2016/02/25/this-is-living-history-says-group-fighting-to-keep-historic-slave-homes-in-place/

http://www.roanoke.com/news/local/botetourt_county/relocation-of-historic-slave-buildings-in-botetourt-county-completed/article_02979c67-174e-5c8e-bfad-78317f0d141e.html#.VtASBDlPKcg.facebook

http://www.wdbj7.com/news/local/second-greenfield-slave-home-moved-to-new-location/38195702

http://wsls.com/ap/relocation-of-2-historic-slave-buildings-completed/

http://wsls.com/2016/02/26/botetourt-historic-slave-kitchen-moved-county-board-responds-to-complaints/

Below are the last photos I took of the structures while they were still on the hill. In these pictures, the integrity of the structures was already compromised, and had been since about mid-December, at least from a historian's point of view. I am not a historian but I know that when you raise a building off its foundation, it's not the way it was before it was moved. That is when I stopped writing letters to the editor, asking the supervisors to slow down their plans, because I knew the cause was lost. You can read those two letters here, and here. I don't believe they were incendiary or otherwise inappropriate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My concern now is not these structures. They are moved, the deed is done, the county is moving forward with what it wants regardless of public outcry. I will support whatever happens next, just like I did when the county purchased Greenfield initially even though I objected to that 20 years ago.

 

If you want one supervisor's take on the issue, you can read his responses to some questions from a retired journalist at the blog, fromtheeditr. The supervisor in his comments is rather unhappy with those who attempted to keep these structures intact and in place, calling them "white radical historical preservationist [who] played the race card," and "arm chair white intelligentsia" and saying "Everybody loves a messy story, especially if someone screams unresponsive big government and racist. I confess to being a little surprised at the single-minded unrelenting opposition of a talented small minority." 

 

I'll let you make your own judgment about what that says about the supervisor, and you can read the rest of his comments for yourself at the link.

 

What I want now is for everyone to take a deep breath and play nice. There have been multiple letters to the editor about this issue, but I did not perceive any of them to be mean, more like a pleading for the supervisors to stop and think that there might be other ways to accomplish the same goals. I do not know what conversations have been held in private, between individuals. I've been sick the whole month of February, so I have no idea what rumors have been spread.

 

What I do know is that the supervisors moved forward and never actually had a dialogue with the public about this issue. Listening to someone speak for three minutes and then thanking them, without engaging in a conversation, is not dialogue. Whatever happened 20 years ago doesn't count, either. That was a generation ago.

 

In my letter to the editor early when the story broke back in October (I wasn't writing for any paper then, so felt free to do that), I suggested the supervisors slow down to give the public more time to digest this project. They did not. They held one open meeting in late October, and it did not go well.

 

I wish the supervisors had then set up a public information session to better explain themselves, but they did not, and their lack of communication has been perceived as pigheadedness. I know it frustrated me, as someone who had sat in their meetings for two years and knew that something wasn't right here. The secretiveness felt wrong.

 

They forgot that nothing has been done to Greenfield in 15 years except for recreational fields, the sports complex, and the Cherry Blossom trail. This 20-year-old bond referendum the supervisors have referenced on occasion means nothing to anybody younger than 45. Many people who have moved to Botetourt did not even know Greenfield was an industrial park. Of course this move to relocate historic structures surprised those folks. They considered it a county park, not an industrial ground.

 

I initially supported the "talented minority," but backed off in early February. I felt that some of their rhetoric seemed out of control and as a (former) news reporter I refused to be a part of that. I was asked to be involved initially but my involvement was peripheral (I created the initial Facebook page because no one else knew how). The leaders of the "talented minority" asked no more of me and I did not volunteer more. By early February, I was out of it entirely. I did not attend a single one of their meetings. I do not know if any of the supervisors think I was a part of that, but I was not.

 

I remain disappointed in the board's lack of communication with the public, and I feel the supervisor's response at the fromtheeditr blog were somewhat slippery. I think many people wanted a public dialogue, and the supervisors refused to do that. That allowed the opposition to make a lot of noise, so the supervisors hold some blame for this negative publicity for Botetourt. My opinion, of course. I suppose I am one of those "arm chair intelligentsia" people.

 

Some of the statements in the fromtheeditr blog are not exactly true - in 2006 I wrote an article for the local paper and the structures ended up on the national register of endangered places as a result. These structures were county-owned and county officials had promised to care for them, one way or the other, so why should the historical societies have thought otherwise, or stepped in? The county did not ask for their help, and had long ago indicated they would take the lead on restoration. In 2006 the county did take some steps to shore up the structures after they were placed on the endangered list. They did not ask for help from the historical societies then, either, that I am aware of.

 

In 2012  the supervisors at that time, which included three different men, informally promised that these structures would be left on the hill top. I was at the meetings when they discussed it. However, they never made a resolution to that point. Many preservationists, though, thought that their comments were an official decision. So that is why, when word got out in October that these buildings would be removed and the hill leveled, people were surprised. Three years ago they had been promised otherwise, in their mind.

 

Regarding the "race card," I wanted these structures preserved where they were because they were old. Anything pre-Civil War deserves to be studied and looked at before it is bulldozed or torn down or moved or whatever. These were on public property and there had been no hurry for 20 years. It made no difference to me if they were slave quarters or a settler's shack. I just knew they were old and relevant to historical studies. I didn't see why another six months mattered. That would have been time for a more thorough archeological look.

 

Personally, I do not know if slaves are buried near the manor house. They could have been buried a good 30-minute walk away on a 3,000 acre plantation (which it was in the late 1700s - early 1800s). Those graves may have been bulldozed over when the county built the sports complex for all we know. The historic park should have a little monument to "unknown people who may have been buried on these grounds" or something.

 

The hill itself has significance because it has terraced Jeffersonian gardens on it. There may be heirloom plants there. It should be studied before the dirt is carted off. I doubt it will be.

 

Regardless of how the supervisors feel about this, as leaders I do think it is their responsibility now to mitigate this issue and create a better sense of harmony here between the county and the preservationists.

 

If they were to ask me (which they won't), I would advise some kind of open information session. The supervisors wouldn't even have to be there - let the county administrator and the deputy county administrator take the heat. Show what this historic "park" could look like, show what the shell building will look like, show what they plan or hope to do with the other 550 acres. I think it would be worth the $10,000 it would take for a few architectural drawings to restore community trust and harmony.

 

To many, this project seems to have taken place and been decided in secret. Get rid of that perception and it will go a long way to putting Botetourt County back together again.

 

Thursday Thirteen

Thirty years ago today, my area was inundated with 6.1 inches of rain, which caused what is known as the Flood of 1985. Ten people died.

So here is a list of 13 things you should have in an emergency preparedness kit.

Everyone should have a grab-and-go duffle bag full of things they may need for an overnight emergency, if nothing else. (Check its contents periodically to keep things updated.) But many things you should also keep in your home.

1. Water. You should have a least a gallon per person per day. This is not realistic for a grab-and-go bag, so place a few bottles of water in that.

2. Food. Canned food with tops that don't require a can opener or refrigeration are good ideas, such as crackers, etc. For the grab-and-go, place a few peanut butter crackers or other nabs in there.

3. Medication. If you take any medicine, you should always try to keep that refilled and on hand. Stick a few pills in your grab-and-go bag (you may need to tell your physician what you're doing in order to get a few extra pills in your prescription).

4. A change of clothes. These should be something hardy, like jeans, and maybe good walking shoes.

5. Rain gear and/or lightweight jacket.

6. A first aid kit (bandages, stuff for cuts and beestings, something for upset stomachs, aspirin, etc.)

7. An extra pair of glasses if you need them to see.

8. A blanket or sleeping bag.

9. Credit cards and cash. I suspect cash is the better way to go; without electricity the credit cards won't do you any good.

10. A full tank of gas in the car. I never let my car gas tank go below 1/2 full. If the power is out for days, the pumps won't work. You may also want to keep gas in a can somewhere, so long as you're safe about it.

11. Batteries and battery-powered flashlight.

12. Portable battery-powered radio. (They make a solar portable combination flashlight/radio/cellphone charger these days. Good to have.)

13. Any other personal items you may need, particularly for elderly folks, infants, or disabled people.

Another thing you may consider is a generator. They make whole-house generators today that will kick in and keep the refrigerator running. Even a small generator can be useful.

You never know when an emergency will happen. The grab-and-go bag could be useful if, say, you get a call in the night that a relative is sick. You could take the duffle with you and at least you'd have a change of clothes and your medication.

You can see a 1/2 hour documentary of the flood on youtube at this link.

The flood of 1985 is one of those things you don't forget. My husband of two years was a firefighter and on duty. He and his fellow firefighters saved many lives that day.

I spent hours trying to get home from Roanoke (going from one flooded road to another in a desperate attempt to get on the interstate) only to find I could not reach my house because of mudslides and flooding. After finally finding a way home, I found the basement had four feet of water in it even though there was no creek or anything nearby; it was all run-off from the rain water.

This was the era of no cell phones so I had no way of knowing if my husband was okay; nor did he know if I made it home from the city. The phones weren't working, though he finally got through to my in-laws later in the day. I remember his first words to me: Thank God you're okay! 

My father-in-law was the fire chief of the local fire department; they were running rescue calls as well. I spent the night with my in-laws, who were not experiencing the basement flooding that I was.

Hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes - the weather is unpredictable. Try to be prepared!

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 419th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.

Electing No One

Today is Election Day here in the U.S.A. It is not a presidential election year, so we are voting for local folks. The ones who really affect our day-to-day lives.

Except I had no choices on the ballot. Every single person, from the state House of Delegates to State Senator to local sheriff, was running unopposed. There really wasn't any point in voting.

Having never missed a vote, I voted anyway. I chose to write in names for folks I am not happy with, as did many other people I know. At least the incumbents won't get 100 percent of the vote, not that 100 percent of the registered voters will have voted. I bet the turn out is abysmal.

Locally there are a few races that matter, just not in my district. Not far from us we have a Crotch Brothers candidate trying to unseat a long-standing Democrat. Turning out to vote matters there.

When your vote makes no difference, I am not sure what you call it, but I do not call it democracy. In fact, I wore solid black to the voting both, to protest the death of democracy. Not that anybody asked.

Locally, the Republicans have a stranglehold on most of the seats. At the state level, this is in a large part due to gerrymandering. My state senator serves an area that has multiple interests and little in common from one end to the other. To be honest, I didn't even know the guy on the ballot was my state senator. I thought it was another fellow. I guess this happened in 2010 when the legislature created its new districts. That process is now being challenged in court because the districts were found to be less than honorable, to put it mildly.

My county has been red for a long time. Folks seeking lower taxes moved in in the 1990s and brought with them their desires for more government services somehow paid for out of thin air. We've had some real winners on the local governing board in the last 15 years. They represented somebody, but they did not represent me. I was a news reporter at the time and had to keep my opinions to myself.

Why aren't there people willing to run for office? For one thing, it's not a regular person's game anymore. Unless you're a millionaire plus, you may as well forget it. Even at the local level, you have to spend thousands to get what you're after. For another, the election process has become as vicious as vultures pecking out the eyes of a calf. If you have the least little crack in your life's history, the opposition will break it open until your guts are strewn all over the floor.

Who wants to deal with that?

Twenty years ago, the candidates for the local board ran as independents, every one. And then the political parties crept into it, and all was lost. Once that game started, there has been nothing to do but sit back and watch the dive into divisiveness and derision. No amount of sanity is going to save us now.

So go vote. I voted to honor the women who lived before me, who died so that I might exercise my right to write-in the name of a candidate, even if that person will only receive the single vote I cast. It is your civic duty, even if you're as jaded and as regretful as I am over the way the process is handled today.

Go vote because it is the right thing to do. And don't hesitate to write in Daffy Duck if you don't like the candidate.

Remembering the Dead

Last week, we were in Blacksburg and we stopped by Virginia Tech. I had never been on campus even though it is only a little over an hour away. We did not have time for a full tour but I wanted to see the April 16, 2007 Memorial.

On that day, 32 Hokies died at the hands of a mass murderer, who then took his own life. Twenty-seven were students; five were instructors. Seventeen other people were physically wounded. Countless others were mentally harmed.

Following the massacre, students placed 32 Hokie Stones on the Drillfield at the campus. (Hokie Stones are the gray colored stones from which most of the university buildings are constructed.) Later the university dedicated 32 engraved Hokie Stones to honor the memory of those lost in this horrible tragedy. Each stone weighs 300 lbs. A single stone in the center of the memorial honors all the fallen and injured victims.

An overview of the memorial.

 

Each stone has a name engraved upon it.

 

Of all the things I saw during our visit, this sight broke my heart. As we were paying our respects, this gentleman came by. He touched particular stones as he moved around the semi-circle. As he passed us, he murmured, "Those are the ones I knew," and he continued his way around, touching various stones. Tears welled in my eyes as I watched him. I wonder how often this man, whom I suspect is an instructor at the university, performs this sacred ritual.

 


A closer look. I tried to make sure I captured all the stones.

 

The memorial is a somber reflection despite the activity going on around it.

 

A nice touch.

 


On April 16, 2007, we all were Virginia Tech.

Diesel Engine

Saturday while we were in Blue Ridge awaiting the arrival of the J 611 steam engine, a diesel engine pulling a load of hazardous materials cars came chugging through.

My husband, who is a battalion chief with a city fire department, grimaced as he watched the cars go by. "Wouldn't be nothing left of us if one of those derailed right now," he muttered.

Fortunately, nothing happened, and I and many other photographers who were standing around lived to await the steam engine. I noticed they also took pictures of the diesel.

I like trains. As machines, they have beautiful lines and are lovely to look at. I am not sure what draws me to them, but I love to watch them glide along the tracks.

Interestingly, I also like the forlorn look of train tracks as they make their way along the sides of mountains and down valleys. The sight calls out to my heart.

Here Comes the 611!

The N&W J class 611 is a steam engine that is the only one of its kind left in existence.

It is one of 14 built between 1941 and 1950.

The newly restored engine is housed at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke. It has been making a few rounds on tracks in the state since it arrived here last month.

This weekend it, it made passenger runs from Roanoke to Lynchburg and back.

We went to Blue Ridge Saturday to see it come through. We were, actually, in "Webster," as the sign says, at the Webster Brick Plant.

Lots of folks with cameras were there to take photos. I don't know when I will ever get to see a steam engine run again, so I was glad we took this rare opportunity to see her chug along.

Paint Your Palette Blue and Gray



Artwork by Dreama Kattenbraker

My community is not what one might call completely devoid of art, but I don't consider Roanoke to be a pinnacle of it, either. We have the Taubman Museum of Art, which I visit on occasion, and Hollins University has a museum that I enjoy. There are a few other smaller art museums around, too.

We also have some fine local artists. I have the work of some of them hanging in my home, as I like to support them. I especially like renderings of Botetourt or other landscapes. Some of my artist friends deal more in fantasy or expressionism, and I like their work as well. Just as I like to read in many genres, I enjoy many different kinds of art.


Painting by Fincastle artist Ed Bordett

I took a few art classes under Nancy Dahlstrom at Hollins. She is one of our local artists and currently has a show at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum on campus through February 21. I am hoping to get by to see it.

Nancy was a great teacher. Instead of telling me that I couldn't draw (I can't), she would say something like, "That's a great line right there." But even I could see that my talent for visual artwork was lacking.

While I consider myself a creative person, my creativity tends to lie in my thinking and not so much in my doing. I have attempted needlework in the past, and done okay. But I am not very good at crafty things, or folk art, or anything like that.



Wood turnings by local
artist Willie Simmons

Sometimes I think I need to try different mediums. Pottery has appeal; I rather like the idea of getting dirty and throwing mud at something. When I was very young I had a rock tumbler that shined up stones, and I remember I liked that very much. I'm not sure what one does with shiny stones, though.

So while I enjoy arts and crafts, and love seeing the work of others, I feel quite inept in this area.

One of my photos
 

I do take decent photos, and perhaps there is where I should look for improvement. I have not trained in photography, so I feel I could take even better pictures with a few courses. I have read books about it and I took a class in the 1980s, so long ago that I barely remember it. Of course that was using film cameras, not digital.

I know just enough about design to be dangerous and to realize that taking a step in one direction or the other can make all the difference in a shot. But most of the time, I think my photography turns out well simply through luck. That, and the fact that I have always, even when I was using film, taken more than one shot of something, trying various angles to get the better view.

One of the things I would like to do is create something with my photos to sell. Notecards come to mind, but I am stymied by the process. I am not good at graphic design on the computer or making changes to tweak the pictures. I don't have software that "makes" cards. They also need to be professionally printed, I think.

I suffer from "not good enough" syndrome, however one might define that, and while I have sold enough pictures to newspapers and magazines to be considered a professional photographer, I certainly do not consider myself to be one.

At the moment, I have 29,786 images on my computer, dating as far back as 2011. So I take a lot of photos, almost 10,000 a year. Occasionally I go through and delete duplicates, or try to. After all, who needs 20 pictures of the same doe in the front yard? Apparently I do, since I take so many. It comes from trying to be perfect, I suppose.

One of my 1,000s of deer
pictures.

How do you feel about art, dear reader? Is it a part of your life? I feel like art is something that is dying as we focus more of our efforts on making money. Artists have lost their patrons and thus have had to become entrepreneurs. I fear many create what sells instead of what their heart tells them. Art should illustrate our lives and make statements. It can be a force for change, even, or a conveyor of messages, political, religious, or otherwise. Art is not respected by many, and people who want to become artists (or writers) are often considered flighty or otherwise not exactly normal by the masses.

Yet artists are also envied, because they live a life closer to the soul than most of us. They have to look inward, be introspective, and consider the many different perspectives available to them as they begin a project. They have to be self-starters or their work would never be started, much less completed. I think there is something in the artist that we all admire, however secretly. Perhaps we even covet that lifestyle, that freedom to create and be a creator.

I like art. I hope to make more visits to the local museums this year.

Do Not Go Gentle

Botetourt is fortunate to have its very own local theater, the D. Geraldine Lawson Performing Arts Center.

The community acting crew is known as Attic Productions. They put on five or six plays annually.

Saturday night, my husband and I ventured out to see Do Not Go Gentle, a play by Susan L. Zeder. The Roanoke Times reviewed it here.

Director was Katerina Yancey. I was not familiar with any of the cast this go-round. I thought they did a good job. It is, after all, community theater and I don't expect acting on par with Sandra Bullock or Tom Hanks.

The RT review is rather negative, and I do not agree with it. I greatly enjoyed the play. I think it is a woman's play, and therefore the reviewer was unable to relate to what was going on.

He wasn't able to get the messages. Or rather, the reviewer called the messages "old hat" and dismissed them. 

Those messages were that war is bad, killing is bad, violence is bad. That actions of others have consequences that reverberate in places never even considered by those undertaking them. That love endures, despite differences. That pain and suffering are part of life, but so is healing. That art and words matter - that everyone's voice, whatever that voice may be and however those words come out - matters and can and does make a difference, even if that difference goes unnoticed or commented upon. 

These are messages that we need to hear time and again, because we certainly, as a society, don't live like that. We live as if lives are small and of no consequence, that only money matters. We live as if human beings are but another commodity to be bought and sold.

This play, at its heart, exploded that. So of course it's not the kind of show that certain folks around here might enjoy. They might actually have to think, and we can't have that.

However, I was teary towards the end, and the messages of this play came through loud and clear to me.

In the show, Lillian is an 84-year-old woman who dies. Her son comes home from Germany with his daughter to attend the funeral. He meets his cousin and they go into the house for an estate sale. The walls have been covered with dramatic and sometimes scary paintings, of planes in battle, children shooting one another, and other visions. We don't see these, but the director rightly allows our imagination to fill in these blanks. The family rifts and secrets come out, and Lillian's fears about the upcoming war (the play is set on the brink of the 1991 Gulf War) are discovered. The play covers a lot of ground in two hours.

The show continues on October 16, 17, and 18. For $12, it's a good way to spend some time, and who knows, you might feel a sting in your heart of hearts, like I did.

Thursday Thirteen

Today I thought I'd offer up 13 things you may not know about the Blue Ridge Parkway.

2006 Photo

1. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway in the eastern part of the United States.

2. It runs for 469.1 miles through the Blue Ridge Mountains, mostly along the ridge tops.

3. Work on the Parkway began under the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration. Construction started on September 11, 1935.

4. The project was originally called "The Appalachian Scenic Highway."

5. Construction took 52 years to complete; the last of the Parkway was finished in 1987.

Stylized photo of Mabry Mill, which you can see along
the Blue Ridge Parkway. (Photo taken 2006)

 

 

6. The Parkway runs from Virginia's Shenandoah Valley to the Great Smokey Mountains near Cherokee, North Carolina. Skyline Drive in Virginia, which predates the Blue Ridge Parkway, is an additional 105 mile drive through the Shenandoah National Park to the north. The two are often confused or put together, but they are two separate roads and projects.



Looking over Botetourt County from the Parkway. Photo taken 2014.

7. Commercial traffic is prohibited on the Parkway, except for tour buses.

8. The Parkway is free to drive, but the road frequently closes in winter.

9. There are miles of hiking trails along the Parkway. Some of the attractions include campgrounds. There is a fee for camping.

Another shot of Botetourt County. Below I note where our farm is in this picture.

 

10. No road signs tell you where to go or what is available at the next exit from the Parkway. Many communities are only a short drive from the Parkway. (The Parkway runs through Botetourt County and is accessible in the Blue Ridge area.)

11. You can picnic along the side of the road nearly anywhere on the Parkway. There are also designated picnic areas.

12. You are not supposed to pick flowers, gather wood, or otherwise take pieces of the forest with you when you leave.  You are, however, supposed to haul your trash back out with you.

Notation of where our farm is as seen from the Blue Ridge Parkway overlook
in Bedford County.

 

13. Dogs and other pets are allowed, but must be leashed.

More of Botetourt as seen from a Parkway overlook.

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here. I've been playing for a while and this is my 363rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday.