Dancing Up a Storm in Floyd

At long last, I have created a slideshow of pictures at the Contra Dance in Floyd last week. This is SOOOO much fun! Just look at all the smiling faces! Contra Dancing in Floyd

On a less than happy note, Please say a little prayer for Debbie Rice and me tomorrow night as I have to inform her that I dislocated a finger yesterday, and we are less than 2 weeks away from our first concert of the Christmas season. Mercifully, good ol' Dr. David was there and successfully yanked it back into its joint less than 60 seconds after it happened.

Swing Your Partner

It's been many moons since we had the time to go to the Floyd Contra Dance. Have fun with the puzzle for now and I will post up some more pics when I can hold my eyes open.

Dancing the Night Away

Today we hiked the Gulley Creek Trail at Cumberland Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's an 800' descent and climb back up the side of the mountain over 2 miles. THEN I logged about another 10,000 steps at the Floyd Conra Dance. Here is a shot by Doug Miller for City Magazine taken last month of yours truly cuttin' up the floor at the dance. The energy and fun is irresistable; Doug returned tonight without his camera to swing his partner, too.

MORE FUN IN FLOYD

This was a fun-filled weekend, indeed! On Sunday we met our dear friends, Ken and Kay at the Villa Appalaccia for their Olive Festival and to celebrate Mimi's (Ken's mom's) ninety-second birthday. The fall colors are growing noticably more beautiful each day.

mmmmm!!! olive oil! 9 varieties! We also got to sample 5 balsamic vinigars, including vinigars with figs, and spice or pear added, and one vinigar that had aged for 25 years. Intensely, sublime!

mmmmm!!!! olives! 10 varieties!

the birthday party

MEET MY FRIEND, PATTY, AND HER NEW HUSBAND!

Congratulations, Patty and Stephen!

It's a good story . . .
I met Patty a year ago on the "Walk to Emmaus". I was drawn to her immediately when I first saw her there, and then we both were providently assigned to the Table of Martha, so we had lots of opportunity to bond. At the end of the weekend, all the Marthas saved our little flower stems and vowed we would be her bridesmaids when she married. Fast forward to this summer. I got an email from Patty asking me about shooting her wedding for her this fall. Big surprise!! I didn't even know that there was a guy on her radar. So when I wrote back to her to say yes, she responded, "hold that thought." hmmm . . . . well, when we got together to make plans for her wedding photography, she introduced me to . . . her husband, Stephen!!! Turns out, she had an unexpected day off from work on a Monday, and when he found out, he asked her what she was doing, and would she like to get married today? So they went to the courthouse in Floyd, got the marriage license, there being no Justice of the Peace in Floyd County, they found the court-appointed marrying official at the Harvest Moon, and got hitched right up there in the garden at the Harvest Moon. At that time, they were still planning on having a wedding celebration at her farm on October 14, but in the meantime, they had to fix up 2 houses to rent, clear the land and build a barn, then move all Stephen's things to the farm. By the time all that was accomplished, they decided not to have a party after all. SO, Dave and I got to spend an exquisite fall day with them in Floyd this past Saturday. We had lunch at the farm, a vigorous hike in the Bottom Creek Gorge Preserve(where I managed to get a few shots of the newlyweds on their "wedding day," and capped the day off dancing the night away at the Floyd Contra Dance which is where they met. What a blessed day!

Stephen, Patty, and Nicki at Bottom Creek

Nicki, Patty's island dog from Haiti, was a great model.

Thanks for introducing us to the spirited fun of contra dancing!