Warm Hearth Village August 1

Bee Balm

I’ll be returning to Warm Hearth soon–the full-spectrum retirement community in Blacksburg. I have fond memories there from a couple of previous speaking events, but more, from the year or more that I saw patients in the assisted living facility, Showalter. If you are nearby and free on an early Thursday afternoon, I hope you consider joining me there. Details as follows:

Fred First will offer a multimedia presentation, Finding Our Place: a Personal and Natural History from the Blue Ridge. Location is the Karr Activity Center, Warm Hearth Village, Blacksburg. Date is August 1 and time is 130pm.

The Floyd County author-photographer weaves “images in words and pixels” to tell the story of belonging in and to a very particular hardscrabble creek valley, Appalachian ecology and vibrant rural community he calls home.

The 45 minute program will feature samplings of the author’s writing about sense of place and our relationships to nature, plus a 15 minute “visual essay” consisting of First’s digital landscapes and natural history photographs, with Appalachian-musical background and a sampling of relevant quotes from John Muir, Wendell Berry and others.

First’s book, Slow Road Home and What We Hold In Our Hands, and photo-notecards will be available for purchase. The public is invited to attend.

Image Caption: Bee balm, Monarda didyma, growing not far from home. Click to enlarge.

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Fred First holds masters degrees in Vertebrate Zoology and physical therapy, and has been a biology teacher and physical therapist by profession. He moved to southwest Virginia in 1975 and to Floyd County in 1997. He maintains a daily photo-blog, broadcasts essays on the Roanoke NPR station, and contributes regular columns for the Floyd Press and Roanoke's Star Sentinel. His two non-fiction books, Slow Road Home and his recent What We Hold in Our Hands, celebrate the riches that we possess in our families and communities, our natural bounty, social capital and Appalachian cultures old and new. He has served on the Jacksonville Center Board of Directors and is newly active in the Sustain Floyd organization. He lives in northeastern Floyd County on the headwaters of the Roanoke River.

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  1. Boy you’ve been busy since las I dropped by. Have a good time with your talk and hike. I invented ‘Slowpoke Nature Walks’ here, ’cause the hikers go too fast for me. Led a great walk to look at trees just two days ago.

  2. Your photo looks like the Velvia setting on your camera has got you hooked, as it has Allen. Or is green in Floyd County truly that vibrant?

  3. I was @ your presentation @ Warm Hearth today. It was enjoyable and the photos were outstanding. I’m looking forward to reading your musings via your blog. I’m @ the age now where watching nature and the beauty of God’s creation is precious and I want to make sure I cherish every moment I can tuning into what is very important as nourishment for the soul. Thank You for taking your time to visit WHV.

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