Bow to Your Partner, Now to Your Neighbor

Caller Warren Doyle had CommUnity Dance goers going in circles on Friday night at the Todd Mercantile. Contra dancing, square dancing and more had them going for hours. Moses (below, under table) found refuge under a table and took a short break from his full dance card.

First Skiff of Snow

After the record heat this summer, I'd started doubting whether we'd ever see snow in these mountains again. Who knew it would be so soon?

Flurries started coming down after daybreak today, and by late afternoon, woods and pastures were turning white on the west-facing slopes. The air is brisk at sunset and filled with snow so there's sure to be a good skiff by morning's light.

It seems like it has been a long time since we've had snow on the ground a full week before Turkey Day.

One More Dance

There was plenty of music and hardly a parking place to be found downtown last Friday night. The General Store drew a robust crowd to the weekly bluegrass jam session and the Mercantile gallery accommodated a respectable congregation for Mac and Jenny Traynham http://macandjenny.blogspot.com/ from nearby Floyd County, Va. The duo's mountain music kept things warm and toasty inside even though the evening saw a bit of much needed rain outside.
Emilie is gearing up for theMercantile's last dance of 2007 this Friday. The Todd CommUnity Dance starts at 7:30 p.m. and admission is a bargain at only $2. Friday night's caller is the wholesome and energetic Warren Doyle, calling a nice mix of dances during the evening -- contras, circles, squares: something to tickle everyone's feet fancy.

Back in '02

I stumbled across this little gem over the weekend. It's a USGS map of the area published in 1902 based on surveys from 1892 and 1897. Todd's the same size as Boone and both are dwarfed by Zionville. My, how times have changed. I can only imagine the tales the government surveyors had to tell when they got back to Washington after rambling through these mountains.

This Old Church

Most of the leaves are down now and revealed again the things which have been hidden since spring. I'd almost forgotten about this old church building sitting off in the woods on the north side of Laurel Knob. Despite development encroaching ever closer, the old building is still standing -- barely. I'm not sure of the name, but it sits just a few hundred yards from the present Laurel Knob Baptist Church. Dad use to tell me a story about a fight that almost happened there years ago when he was growing up -- probably sometime in the 1930s. One of his brothers had become fond of one of the local girls there -- but she already had a beau. The beau and his friends planned on catching my uncle there to teach him to stay away from the girl. Dad spotted the gang and pulled his brother into a ditch where he kept him -- despite his attempts to get up and fight them single-handedly -- until the gang left.