The Backpackers Are Beside BestBuy- Entry 2

Actually, this entry was supposed to be on "Politics, Culture and Other Wastes of Time," our sister blog, but we got mixed up. Perhaps because we are posting this blog from a local library where there are all sorts of distractions; I'm sooooo glad I don't have kids! (Entry One in this series is on that other blog)

At any rate, I left off the first entry in downtown Roanoke where I had taken several snapshots of "Connect," the second of the seven art pieces from Art in Roanoke, that I had photographed.

My next destination was to go to Williamson Road to rediscover "Starburst" by Greeley, Pa., artist Tom Holmes. The piece is one of the easiest to find around town as it is located beside the Williamson Road Library.

There was a bit of annoying traffic on Williamson Road, which is known for being a place where teenage boys and girls cruise in search of potential members of the opposite gender. It is sort of like the Discovery Channel in that aspect, I suppose.

According to the "Art in Roanoke" web site, Holmes likes to make his work unique to its environment, and the sculpture is made out of wood.

I noticed that the landromat across the street from the library was filled with patrons. If I were an intrusive professional photographer, I would've seized the opportunity as if I were a crocodile pursuing a zebra in the jungles of Zimbabwe. But, I simply had other things to do.


SIDEBAR: Only in America, will one see a liberal blogger plugging a gun show, and that is the case here. The VFW 115 Flea Market and Gun Show in Hillsville, Va., is somehow the largest event taking place in Virginia on Labor Day weekend even though Hillsville is in southwest Virginia, far away from the DC and Richmond-metro areas.

But, the event draws 500,000 visitors into Carroll County from Friday until Monday. The Town of Hillsville is strongly advising those interested to come early.

I should add that there are many great antiques (full dsclosure: it is the family business) at the flea market.

Those coming in from Roanoke and points east should know there is also a Virginia Tech football game against Appalachian State in Blacksburg, which will likely bottleknock traffic from Salem to Christiansburg en route to Hillsville. The game starts at 12:30 p.m.