As soon as I saw the title of *Close Your Eyes: A Fairy Tale* I was intrigued. What hooked me was the term 'fairy tale,' making me reflect about how rarely that term is used in contemporary fiction, even when the foundational elements are employed.
Read MoreBurkes Garden is an unexpected find.
A couple of years ago, Dustin was looking online at a map of our greater region - Southwestern Virginia - and spotted a place on the map that looked geologically interesting. And that is how Burkes Garden came to be on our radar.
Read MoreHaving exhausted most of the trails in Breaks Interstate Park, we considered finding a new place to hike on our last full day and found a few trails that piqued our interest in Pikeville, KY, at Bob Amos Park. I already knew that Pikeville was having its annual festival (none other than Hillbilly Days) but figured a hike nearby would be okay and also allow us an opportunity to check out Pikeville. When we looked online for park info in the morning and - thanks to Google - saw that the park was exponentially busier at that moment (at 8am) than normal, we realized the entire area was probably tied up with the festival. So, change of plans.
Read MoreWith temperatures set to soar to the mid-to-upper 80s (yes, in Virginia and Kentucky in mid-April!), we planned a morning hike and an afternoon drive in Breaks Interstate Park. Like the prior day, we looked at the trail map and concocted our own version of a multi-trail loop: Tower Tunnel Overlook (0.2 miles) to Prospector Trail (1.5 miles) to Ridge Trail (0.5 miles), and 0.8 miles back along the road to our car for a total of a 3-mile hike over the course of 2 hours 15 minutes.
Read MoreWe decided to start the morning off with our own created loop trail route, which we became quite good at during our time at Breaks Interstate Park! This loop-of-our-own-creation was a combination of four park trails, totaling 3 miles.
Read MoreWe decided to check out a bunch of the scenic overlooks to enjoy them and also identify good spots for sunrise and sunset trips in the future. We started first at Towers Overlook, inside the park entrance, and got our first real look at the huge massive rock formation that is left as softer rocks eroded away over time. The Towers, as it is called, jets out from nearby mountains and is almost entirely encircled by the Russell Fork River. The general formation looks a lot like the more well-known Horseshoe Bend in Utah. In fact, both of these canyons are about 1,000 feet deep.
Read MoreWhen you embark on a trip with three dogs to a state park where you need to bring your own linens and food, packing the car is a noteworthy activity. A successful car loading looks like this: all of us in the SUV with the ability to see out the back window. That, of course, is the finished product.
Read MoreBreaks Interstate Park, located in a rural section of the mid-Atlantic on the border of Virginia and Kentucky is smack dab in a beautiful, mountainous region with undulating mountains and hills spanning out across the two states, and a 1,000 foot deeply cut gorge called Breaks Canyon. The river that runs through the canyon is one of the deepest east of the Mississippi, one of several places colloquially called The Grand Canyon of the East.
Read MoreAfter a slow-down in March, I picked up the pace and read a total of 19 books over the course of March and April in total, getting me a couple of books ahead of schedule again.
Read MoreThe ten short stories that comprise Sabina Murray’s latest work, Muckross Abbey and Other Stories, range in length from 16 to 34 pages, which means that each is bite-sized and a quick read. I quickly discovered that as I wrapped up each tale, I immediately wanted to move straight into the next and read the entire book in just a few short sittings before bed (more on that later).
Read MoreCrooked Plow begins with the curiosity of two young sisters going awry. Belonisia and Bibiana, enamored by a shiny knife they find tucked away in luggage under a bed, decide to explore the taste of the metal. They wonder: Will it taste like a spoon? This activity is as ill-fated as it sounds with both receiving serious injuries to their tongues, rendering one essentially mute for life.
Read MoreThe Appalachian Trail is established and well-known, perhaps making its greatest foray into general consciousness a quarter century ago with Bill Bryson’s 1997 tome *A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail*. I have lived in the shadow - or the dust, as it were - of the trail for about 30 years with sections running close to several places I’ve lived in Virginia.
Read MoreFebruary added 7 more books to the 8 completed in January, putting me on track!
Read MoreBenedict Arnold: It is a name that is immediately recognizable to most in the U.S. If you were to poll people about what they know about him, most would probably immediately describe him as a traitor and would hopefully also realize that the historic moment he was affiliated with was the American Revolution. Beyond that scratch on the surface of history, probably most people would come up blank with anything else to share about Benedict Arnold.
Read MoreSmith Mountain Lake State Park is in Bedford County, Virginia, about halfway between Roanoke and Lynchburg. The park is situated on the north end of the large body of Smith Mountain Lake, which itself spans both Bedford and Franklin Counties with a small bit in the southeast falling in Pittsylvania County. We live on the east side of Roanoke, closer to the lake, and the drive is roughly 45 minutes, so it is a very doable trip to get some hiking in or otherwise enjoy the amenities on a beautiful day.
Read MoreThe drive from Spokane, Washington to Banff is about 6 1/2 hours but of course that is only if you drive straight through. Stopping for the necessities like food, gas, and bathrooms means it is a pretty solid day’s trek, also dependent upon the border crossing from the US into Canada. The drive left the state of Washington pretty quickly and then spanned much of Idaho’s panhandle before crossing into Canada. From there, the topography began to change with the towering mountains first in the distance and then rising up and around us until we climbed ourselves up into them.
Read MoreI listened to the audiobook version of Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Widsom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants, read by the author herself, in what has to be one of the most soothing voices I have ever heard. Combining her voice with the content of the book itself, I found Braiding Sweetgrass to have a meditative quality, relaxing me the same in a way similar to when I listen to audio-guided meditation sessions.
Read MoreThe first story opens in the Place des Vosges, the first planned square in Paris, where Victor Hugo resided in the 19th century. His home, situated in the southeastern corner of the square, is a museum open to visitors. The ghost of Victor Hugo appears in the square and engages in humorous dialogue with a former teacher of his works. Thus begins Redkina’s romp around the city.
Read MoreWith a title like Looking for the Hidden Folk: How Iceland's Elves Can Save the Earth, I was both intrigued and wary of a tome on the supernatural. Having read a prior well-researched book by the academic author, though, I cracked open the first page ready to go wherever Brown decided to tred.
Read MoreI’ve read 8 books, which means I’m on track. This does not give me great comfort - I like to start the year off further ahead!
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