Tragedy at Tech

We just wanted to thank everyone for your calls and emails of support. It's been a terrible few days here. While we don't know anyone personally involved in the massacre, we have friends we are trying to reach out to as they face terrible losses. I'm sure everyone around here is connected to someone who died by far fewer than 7 degrees. The NRV community has pulled together in that dumbstruck way that people do when something tragic and unexpected happens. The streets yesterday were deserted and for anyone not in attendance, all eyes were on the broadcasts of the memorial and vigil services. Today RU heads back to classes , but I don't think people's hearts or heads will be in it. The most we can hope for is that some good will come of all this. It's hard to see where that might be now, but maybe, given time, it will manifest itself.

Spring has Sprung

In Radford the past week, the temperature has been nice and comfortable - around 75 each day. This has suddenly awakened all of the early tulips that were oversleeping while the daffodils were already up and about their business of blooming. Daffodils are a nice sign of spring, but like crocuses, they can be blooming beautifully in crummy weather. For me, it's really a sign that spring has sprung when the first tulips make their appearance en masse. They're like cats. They sleep through the cold snaps and when the ground warms and the sunbeams light them up like spotlights....then they bother to rouse. This weekend is redbud winter for us. That means that winter is officially over. This weekend will have a chance of frost, but after this we should be pretty free and clear. There's still a cool "dogwood winter" to come, but it's usually just jacket weather. In the meantime, I took some pictures of the gardens over the past week.