Next stop was Roanoke, where I lived for several years.  It's a small city, surrounded by mountains, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Appalachian Trail.  Traditionally a railroad town, it has a casual blue-collar feel, though slowly getting a little more high-tech and artsy.  Norfolk Southern's buildings are prominent features of downtown, and the...

The past few days, I took a little time off of painting to head up to Virginia for a kind of vacation.  The first stop was Blacksburg and Virginia Tech, where I got my B.S. in Biology and Minor in Theater Arts (so I could become an artist, of course!).  Both have changed quite...