Blacksburg, VA: Shadowlake Village

Blacksburg, VA. What more is there to say other than “Go Hokies!” ? This is a town OBSESSED. They breathe, eat, and sleep Virginia Tech. It was an interesting experience. Iowa Hawkeye fans are crazy. Nebraska Cornhusker fans are even more crazy. But Blacksburg wins the craziest award. Crazy in a weird way :)

It was dark when we pulled into Shadowlake Village…and our contact, John, came out to guide us through their little co-housing community where we would be having a potluck that night. We settled into their common house…in which Bella immediately located a fun playroom to hang out in. John got busy making some pasta and bread…and soon we were joined by several other families.

As people were milling about, I looked over and saw a new face in the crowd. He was tall and dreadlocked and held a beat up guitar in his hand. As I walked toward him, I saw that he had an Another World is Possible sticker on his guitar. I immediately asked him if he had connections to The Simple Way. Indeed he did! Turns out that Jes went to Eastern with Shane Claiborne and is quite involved with their organization…providing the music for their DVD’s. I’m always excited when I can talk with someone who knows about The Simple Way…so we had a great time chatting and listening to him share about his experiences.

Jes has spent the last 10 years in Belize as a river guide and musician…and is currently back in the US touring around and spreadin’ the love with his lyrically rich music. We were blessed with an impromptu concert in the RV…and again back at John’s cabin around a crackling fire. He is on the road full-time…so if you can, swing by his MySpace site and buy a CD (just $10!) to support him. You’ll love his island-inspired music! My current favorite is the title track…”Try on Life”.

We thanked John and Jes for the lovely evening and headed back out into the chilly night…our headlights directed towards Johnson City, TN. Off we go again!

Photo album here.

2 Comments »

  1. Nice! Glad to see you all got to meet up with Jes on tour. Sounds like you and your family have a great thing going on. Please keep us all updated here in Philly!

    Jamie Moffett
    co-founder: The Simple Way
    co-director: Another World is Possible series

    Comment by Jamie Moffett — December 9, 2007 @ 12:30 pm

  2. people always make fun of me b/c I am so HOKIE obsessed :) Best 5 years of my life (so far) were spent there.

    I love that place, I miss that place and I cherish everytime I get to return to Blacksburg!

    Hope you had a blast!
    Lauren

    Comment by Lauren — December 10, 2007 @ 9:21 am

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment