Virginny

Went to a conference at SVU in Buena Vista (Boo-eh-na Vee-sta), VA, which the locals call "Byoo-nah Vih-stah," much to the chagrin and aggravation of my sensitive ears. Why waste a perfectly melodic Spanish name like that?

Anyway, it's nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, or the foothills at least, which, if it hadn't been so drizzly, would have been lovely.





A little different from the scenery around here, but I missed my desert all the same.

Hobnobbed with the bigwigs: breakfast with the Bushmans and Givens(es), chatted up Pres. Smith of SVU, talked at length with R Orman of the LDS Museum, and made many great new friends from various parts, including a solid fellow from Manchester, UK, an independent scholar from the U of U Med School, a whippersnapper on his way to greatness in Iowa, a firecracker mom and scholar from St Louis, and a dark and brooding philosopher from Texas. Finally talked with B Jorgensen and others from BYU English--men I had known about but not really talked with while at BYU. Gave B and our British colleague a ride to the airport on Sunday, and we had a nice visit. Drove the Blue Ridge Parkway, had a lovely Italian meal (terrible Pizza Margherita, but the rest was good), and nice conversation. Great, as always, to see and converse with George Handley.

Presentation went well. Lots of conversation after.



Cloud Quiz Answers: Jonah--eagle's eye, Christopher--dragon. They'd love to hear what you see.

No "This Week in Islam" this week. Still reeling from the trip, and catching up at work. So solly.

We named the dog . . .

Guess what we saw yesterday.





We have a bad feeling about this. Can't even blame Shane L this time.

Something else has been bugging us, too:



Actually, this isn't an inordinately buggy place. We get the odd "cock-a-roach," as Tony Montana would say, but of the outdoor, mulch variety that blunders into the house. Lots of ants, with occasional assaults on the castle, and there are termites, but none in our place at present. Septic mosquitoes, while disgusting, are rare, and mosquito season lasts for about a month, it seems. So we can't really complain. But this innocent little beetle freaked Wendy out, so I had to despatch it: crunchy.

Pop quiz: what do you see in the cloud formation? Click to magnify.



What Jonah and Christopher saw after the jump.