Springtime at Fairystone

What a great time of the year in the Fairystone area. Spring is doing its best to spring. The Redbuds are practically jumping out of the landscape and grabbing attention. It's pretty difficult to miss those purple flowers when they're surrounded by all the other trees and plants that are green and a little bit of gray.

Weekend at Fairystone

Fortunately, I was able to spend the weekend at the Fairystone Cabin. Saturday may have been the nicest day of 2009. The sun was out and the temperatures were in the seventies. The hiking in Fairystone State Park early Saturday morning was perfect. After a great morning hike on Stuart's Knob it was time to take the top off the Jeep and head to the Blue Ridge Parkway for the afternoon.

Some Great Sites

Stuart's Knob is an interesting story. I'll write about that soon. In addition, I visited a couple of very cool places on and near the Parkway. I'll share some photos and the stories that go along with them in the next few weeks.

Go Now!

This is such a great time to visit the area. It's never really over-run with people or tourists, even at the height of the season, but it's especially quiet and beautiful now through the next few weeks. If you can visit the area, I highly recommend you do so---soon!

PBS Tonight: Appalachia Part Two

PBS is the place to be tonight. Part two of the incredible documentary, Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People airs on most PBS stations later this evening. Check your local listings as they say.

Part One was Great

I wrote a post about part one last week. Incredible television! The pictures were beautiful. Most of the first part of this four-part series dealt with the geological beginnings of the Appalachians, the oldest mountains on earth. The numbers and facts shared were extremely interesting. The mountains of southwest Virginia were specifically mentioned in last week's program.

New Green World

Tonight's second part is called, New Green World. It will showcase some of the first people who lived in the mountains. Native Americans were the first, of course, but then came road builders, cabin builders, pioneers, and Europeans. People like George Washington arrived. Tonight, we'll learn about those people and their struggles.

This is Huge

How popular is this series on PBS? It's huge. I have a friend who works at a Virginia public TV station. She says it's a gigantic hit---all over the country. It's even on Facebook so it must be big, right? Whether you saw part one last Thursday night or not, I encourage you to watch tonight. It's really great television.

Have a Great Weekend

I'm headed to the Fairystone Cabin tomorrow for the weekend. Beautiful weather in a beautiful place. I can't wait! Best wishes for a fantastic weekend.

Earth Day Pledge

Earth Day is coming. The official day is April 22nd although most Earth Day activities are taking place on Saturday the 18th. I usually take my children for a hike in Fairystone State Park or volunteer to clean up a nearby trail on Earth Day. This year, though, I wanted to do something different on Earth Day. So, I decided to make a commitment---something that will challenge me and hopefully make a difference.

Git-R-Done

After examining a list of meaningful things I could do to support Mother Earth, I’ve decided that I’m going to stop using plastic bags. I know this isn’t the most incredible thing you’ve read today, and it won’t make headlines, but it’s a big step for me.

Nothing Good About Them

I always knew plastic bags were harmful to the environment but I didn’t know to what extent until I did some checking. This may be old news to you but it opened my eyes.

*People use 500 billion plastic bags each year
*It takes 20 years for plastic bags to break down
*The EPA says only 1% of plastic bags are ever recycled (20% for paper bags)
*The raw material in plastic bags is oil---making us more oil dependent
*A chemical in plastic bags, is linked to cancer, diabetes, and heart disease
*There are more pieces of plastic bags than food in some parts of the ocean
*Some animals mistake plastic bags for food, they eat them, and they die

In the Woods

If you hike, you’ve seen it. You’re walking along, looking at the incredible scenery when something tan or white catches your eye. You look closer and there’s a plastic bag stuck to a branch or under a rock. It’s bad enough that it’s there but unless you go pick it up, it will be there for several years.

Stupid Drawer

I use plastic bags often---rarely at the Fairystone Cabin---but rather at our full time home. We have a huge kitchen drawer there jammed full with them. Last week, the drawer wouldn’t close all the way because some plastic bags fell over the back of the drawer and underneath it, stopping it from closing by an inch. After slamming the drawer closed, only to have it pop open, about 20 times, I began asking myself why we kept all those bags.

So, with Earth Day fast approaching and a kitchen drawer at home that won’t close I thought it might be time to give it a shot. No more plastic bags. I’ve been able to live without them, for the most part, at the cabin. Now it’s time to go plastic bag-free every day.

(Photo by Burton Floyd Photography)

The Fairystone Cabin's Greatest Hits

Have you ever noticed how a setting or a place can determine the kind of music you listen to? Go to a fine dining restaurant and you may hear classical music being piped in. Head to the ocean and some people put an oldies station on their radios. Working out at the gym might mean rock music is in the air.

Log Cabin Music

When I drive to the Fairystone Cabin and the Crooked Road area, I suddenly have an incredible hankerin’ for country and bluegrass. The closer I get, the more I turn up the volume. I’m not sure if it’s the feeling a log cabin gives me or if it’s the region’s unrivaled music tradition. To me, the cabin means great American music. So, why not create a soundtrack---a greatest hits of log cabin music?

Check out the Landing Page

While trying to learn more about blogging the other night, I came across a gadget that allows bloggers to put music on their web pages. I immediately thought of the classic songs I enjoy when I’m at the cabin. So, today I introduce the Fairystone Cabin’s Greatest Hits. If you’re on the landing page of the blog, the list is on the right side of the page. Click on any of the titles and you can hear a snippet of the song.

The Request Line is Open

If you have any suggestions of songs you like to hear when you hang out in a cabin, please let me know. I’ll be happy to change the music on the Greatest Hits list from time to time. The current list features country songs. I may have to start working on a bluegrass list, too. The Fairystone Cabin is an extremely special place. It not only means relaxation, hiking, and spending time with family. But it also means great music---whether inside the cabin or in the many surrounding communities. Turn up the volume!

Mr. Muir & Dr. Peale

There are two quotes that come to my mind when I think of, or visit, our cabin. I thought you might enjoy them.

"Keep close to Nature's heart...and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." John Muir, preservationist and founder of the Sierra Club

"Get away from dirty, noisy cities. Get with streams, meadows, and mountains, if at all possible. Nature siphons off boredom."
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, author and minister