Ok, so I know that isn’t how the song goes OK? But…the new “MOON RIVER” suite is completed! FINALLY! There were some changes to the original plan; we did not put a whirlpool tub in due to maintenance and health concerns (plus the fact that we will eventually put a hot tub in for all guests to use) and we did not build a wall to make two separate rooms. I was against doing this (rather, not doing it…) but I think we may go with it.

Anyway, it took one heck of a lot of work and there is still some trim and touch-up items to go, but we have the firsts guests in and they are loving it! I’ll post pictures as soon as we have it made up and are able to get some of the suite ready to go!.

Ok, now that I have your attention…

I have MC’d the Floyd County 4th of July Celebration for the Merchants and Businessmens Association for the past 3 years and was asked to coordinate the event this year. While sitting here, racking my brain for inspiration on how to make the event a blow out success, my mind wandered back to 1983 when I was in the 82d Airborne Division and there was a female vocalist that was just tearing up the charts. Her name was Sylvia and the song she really slammed me with was ‘Nobody’: “You say nobody’s after you, the fact is what you say is true…”

Anyway, as I was sitting there thinking about Floyd County and the wholesome, down to earth, true American Community that we live in, it occurred to me that our community is reflected in the image that Sylvia portrayed in her music. She was never a glamor girl; she was the honest to goodness girl-next-door that charmed us out of our shoes rather than shocking us into looking her way. She didn’t need to be provocative, she just needed to be herself in order to command rapt attention. So, I started searching for her- I wondered what had happened to her in the twenty-five years give or take and I found her space on the web. Feeling nostalgic, I emailed her and described our little community and how it would knock our citizens off their feet to have a homegrown gal like her come and sing just one song at our celebration. I knew that there was no way that it would possibly work, but for some reason I was determined to write to her anyway. I figured that the best I would get was a cold email in return telling me that she didn’t have time or interest in our little burg and that would be the end of it.

And then, today, the phone rang.

When I answered it, a voice introduced herself as Sylvia ***** and told me that she was calling me back regarding an email that I had sent back on the 6th of March. I could recognize the voice, but couldn’t place it and was trying to remember the email that I sent when it finally hit me who I was talking to- it was Sylvia herself, calling from Nashville!

I literally almost fell down. I could not believe that not only was I getting a phone call, but a personal phone call from Sylvia herself! As I knew would be the case, it wasn’t possible for her to appear on the 4th for us and that came as no surprise- I didn’t really expect that she would be able to make it on such short notice and surely there was no way that she could possibly appear for free- it just wouldn’t be fair to the paying venues and I know that if she did, she would be inundated with requests for the same. What touched me though is that she actually took time from her day to personally call me to thank me for being interested in her and tell me that she was touched by my email! In a day where people that have spent a second in the spotlight- let alone the time that Sylvia has basked in its rays- expect the world to kiss their feet, this American as apple pie girl-next-door responded to me- personally!

She restores my faith- there really are those gems in the world that are what they appear to be and not just pretenders that try to make you think they are kind and sweet and honest only to show their ugly side when the spotlight is off of them.

Sylvia, if you read this, I thank you for being what you appeared to be all along- genuine.

Take a look at the sidebar on the right for two of Sylvia’s CD’s or click one of the links below. My favorite is “Where In The World” and Kristin’s favorite is “A Cradle In Bethlehem” either one is a great choice but you’ll want them both!

Sunday and Monday I had the great pleasure of fishing with the Shuler family- Father and son on the New River on Sunday and the whole family down at the trout stream on Monday. Among the great fish caught was the monster Rainbow Trout landed by Holiday- a 25″ Citation!

To see more pics, visit the Greasy Creek Photolog

Holiday had never fly-fished before Monday- not a bad ‘first catch on a flyrod’ huh?

I had my first two trips of the season yesterday and today and happily continue the ’skunkless’ streak with two nice smallies yesterday and three nice ones today.

I know that one day I will be skunked, but so far I am continuing last year’s completely skunkless record into 2008!

Finally after searching longer than I want to admit to get someone to come in and fix the driveway properly, it is done!

Previous to our owning the Meadowood, the driveway had at one time been paved in asphalt. When it started to deteriorate, instead of having it ripped up or repaired, gravel had simply been dumped on top of it. Every time it would rain, the gravel would simply wash off of the paved parts and create a huge mess.

From the time we moved here, I contacted numerous people about ripping the asphalt up and properly grading the drive way for gravel, but was either told that they didn’t have the equipment to do it or would be told that they would come out and give me an estimate and then no one would show up! Fortunately I finally came across the right person and they came out with a backhoe and an actual grader to rip up the old asphalt and properly grade the driveway for drainage. The following day, before we could get gravel on it, we had the hardest rain I have ever seen since we’ve been here and the driveway, without gravel, help up great. Once it dried out enough to support the 32,000 lb dump truck on it, we were able to get one load of gravel on the soft spots and then after a few days of driving on that and getting it crushed in we finally got two more loads delivered today to finish it off. It will probably take a couple of weeks to get the gravel firmly bedded in and packed down, but once that is done we will have a nice, solid path up to the house!

Now I just have to keep the state from coming in and putting a highway number on it!