Southwest Virginia was my mountain home for an intense and formative three years when I worked for The Roanoke Times. In the New River Valley, I discovered a rich culture and learned a quieter, humbler way of life connected to land, family and community.
Remembering that rural small town life is music to my soul, an Appalachian Song.
Giles County, Virginia looking north.
Coal cars run along the New RIver from West Virginia through McCoy, Virginia.
Harry Guilliams, World War II veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor, who joined the military at 16. Roanoke, VA.
Elementary school students, both black and white, decide to take up the cause of the Confederacy before a Civil War reenactment at Dublin Middle School in Dublin, Va. The student on the right said he wanted to join the Southern cause because he wanted to "shoot" his best friend who joined the Union.
BLACKSBURG, VA. - "He should come [out] easy," said Chad Joines as he and Christie McAvoy (both CQ) "pull" a calf at the Virginia Tech Beef Cattle Center off Plantation Road in Blacksburg, Tuesday February 5, 2008. The female Charolais calf is one of about 160 calves born each year at the farm according to McAvoy, manager of the Beef Center and Joines assistant manager of Animal and Poultry Science at Virginia Tech.
County road, Stanardsville, VA.
Prize winning canned vegetables and pickled products on display at the New River Valley Fair in Dublin, Va.
Reflection of the empty Pulaski Furniture Factory, Pulaski, Va.
State football championship dreams shattered, Christiansburg, VA.
First ice of the year, Blacksburg, Va. 2008.
Waiting for Michael Vick's autograph, Virginia Tech Spring Football Game, Blacksburg, Va.
On the first day of school ever at the Eastern Montgomery Elementary School in Shawsville, Va, nurses tend to third-grader Brennon Tincher who was nauseated and a girl administrators refused to name who bumped her head on her first day of kindergarten.
Football country, Elliston, Va.
Corn harvest, Pulaski, Va.
RINER, VA - Preschoolers and their parents search for the perfect pumpkins at Sinkland Farms in Riner, Va.
State seal, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
First anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, April 16, 2008, Blacksburg, VA.
FLOYD, VA. - Brian Harman sleeps next to his daughter Destiny, 3, in her room at their home in Floyd. Since the death of his son Chance in 2007 Brian and Destiny have become much closer and even more so since the birth of his new son Chaycen.
Cosmetology class, Pearisburg, Va.
A wrestler heads to the ring during the BWC/BWF Professional Wrestling 10th annual Springtime Bash at Shawsville Middle School in Elliston, Va.
The road to Mountain Lake, Pembroke, VA.
The lake bed at Mountain Lake Resort, the fictitious "Kellerman's" from the movie Dirty Dancing remains empty in October 2011.
"Places like this are few and far between," said Yvonne Empson who dances with her husband, Digby, (both CQ) to "Unchained Melody" before the beginning of a movie at the Starlite Drive-In in Christiansburg. The couple met in 1987 as undergrads at Virginia Tech and never imagined dating. "She was a goody two shoes," he said. "He was a total heathen," she laughed. the couple agreed that the lure of the drive-in is its romantic feel and the simplicity of the past. "You are sharing the experience with the people next to you," Digby. Tonight the preview was love.
DUBLIN, VA - Andrea Glovier, 14, stands with her father's trophy after Timmy Glovier won second place and $40 in the third heat of the Nationwide Demolition Derby at the New River Valley Fair. Glovier's car was pushed over the barrier of the arena after another derby car struck it from behind.
Lost Bible ad, Radford, Va.