Got a jones for the open road, ready to go again

July 3, 2022

I hadn’t been out of the car for a full 24 hours before I shot off the first link. “11 Epic Fall Foliage Road Trips to Drive This Year.” Whoosh. No sooner had it reached its recipient than my phone dinged with a return text. “Look at you already jonesin’ for another trip,” Chad replied after putting a “love” react on the previous share. And he’s right, I was jonesin’, indeed. Hard. Feeming for the open road, hurting to be back out there in the world — stopping whenever and wherever the urge and his special hat took us, gazing up at glorious ...

West Virginia Public Theatre continues its summer season with “I Do! I Do!”

June 22, 2022

By Jade Ruggieri A man from upstate New York. A woman from Kansas City. One show in 2010. A love story itself, Dan Fenaughty and Larrisa Klinger met through acting — doing a show in New York in 2010 — and made a life in professional performing arts. Performing 18 shows together, ...

Washed out: Best laid plans a thing of the past

June 19, 2022

Katie McDowell Anyone who knows me knows I’m a bit of a planner I’ll dog the details to death — Google menus at restaurants where we’re going, check the weather a thousand times, curate an outfit for any possible outing. I can’t tell you how many times someone has asked me to look into something for them, because, well, I’m really good at going down rabbit holes, researching the museums, passes, tickets, start-times, rentals, tours, what have you of a place. And that’s before I take on the food potential. My friends used to call me “The Cruise Director” — ...

A COVID-19 time capsule: What can it tell us?

May 23, 2022

When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the time capsule buried in front of my elementary school (shout out to William Tyler Page in Montgomery County, Md.) It was planted in among an herb garden in a little square near the entrance (the smell of fresh thyme still takes me there), a stone bearing a plaque with two dates: when it was set, and when it would finally be unearthed. I didn’t understand what it was at first, only that it seemed like some sort of treasure, or clue. When I asked my mom about it I only became more obsessed. What could be in it? Who would be alive when ...

Sobriety is possible, even enjoyable — I swear

April 24, 2022

Katie Long McDowell Sometime back around 2013, I was put on a 10-day course of strong antibiotics to battle an infection I had. When prescribing the drugs, the doc was adamant: I was to stay away from alcohol the entire time, as ingesting it while taking the pills could make me “super sick.” “I mean it,” I still recall her saying. “Not even mouthwash. You will puke everywhere.” “Got it,” I told her. “No sweat.” The truth, of course, was that I was sweating it very much, indeed. I hadn’t gone a week without a drink for long, long time — never ...

Guess what? There is no Shelob at Valley Falls

March 27, 2022

Katie McDowell We were coming up the trail at a good clip when he stopped me. “Wait,” he said, holding me back. “Look.” I followed the direction of his pointing finger with my gaze — about 10 feet in front of us there was a mass of branches, growing in a strange swirl. “It’s a giant wood spider web,” he told me. “The spiders themselves get to be like this big.” With his hands, he made a circle shape about the size of one of my Fiestaware dessert plates. His eyes were wide. “Oh my god!” I said. “That’s terrifying!” Then I looked solidly ...