Free flowers

Melody WarnickBlacksburg, Cool projects, Place love

I’ve passed this wooden flower stand and its “Free flowers” sign before, only I’ve always been too late to see anything but empty shelves until today, when four repurposed glass jars full of loveliness were sitting there. I only had spare change for the donation box, but I couldn’t resist stopping and taking a jar that once held lingonberry jam … Read More

Do houses matter more than towns?

Melody WarnickCool projects, Great towns, I would live there

A lot of people make the mistake of confusing houses with places. We think that once we find a really affordable house, or a beautiful one, or one that we can finally squeeze all our kids and dogs and stuff into, that nothing else really matters. It doesn’t matter where that house is. Only the house itself is important. I’ve … Read More

Why I spent a ton of money on Small Business Saturday

Melody WarnickBlacksburg, Buy local

This year, my daughter’s thirteenth birthday happened to land on the day after Thanksgiving, and so, because she’s officially a teenager and required by law to obsess over clothes, we went Black Friday shopping. On Thanksgiving night. For four hours. The mall was exactly the bacchanal of consumerism that you’d expect, and yes, I did get a very cute jean jacket at the Gap, thank you … Read More

The Spookiest Thing I Love About Blacksburg

Melody WarnickBlacksburg, Place love, Virginia

I am a complete and total wuss when it comes to scary stuff. When I was growing up in Southern California, my dad would take my sister and me every year to Knott’s Scary Farm, where mask-wearing maniacs revved their chainsaws on the Log Ride and 20-somethings in evil makeup chased us around the funnel cake stands. Eventually, after a particularly vibrant post–Scary … Read More

I Would Live There: Roanoke, Virginia, edition

Melody WarnickGreat towns, I would live there, Placemaking, Virginia

When people from, say, New York City ask me where I live, and I tell them “Blacksburg, Virginia,” sometimes I’ll add, by way of clarification, “Our nearest big city is Roanoke.” Then they sigh with relief and say, “Oh, I know where that is.” But they don’t. They hear “Roanoke” and their brains waddle to the mental card catalog and pull out “Roanoke, Lost … Read More