My funny black and white cartoon of Bryan holding a shovel. Drawn by artist Bryan Skinnell.

I love spring.

There’s no denying that spring has arrived and decided to stick around. The sun is warm and bright. The days are longer. The birds are chirping away. The frogs are frolicking in every creek and pond. The bees are buzzing about. Even the air itself has a little something magical going on. And I know exactly what it is too.

It’s pollen.

Once again every tree, weed and herb in Virginia has successfully pollinated me whether I wanted to be or not. Somebody needs to say it and it might as well be me, but I think unwanted pollination should be illegal unless it’s consensual. And if you are one of those weirdos who actually enjoys being pollinated I certainly won’t judge you. But most of us don’t want to be powdered with pollen and I can assure you that I certainly don’t. Our fine state representatives could make themselves useful for once and pass some legislation outlawing unwanted pollination as it’s one of the very few things we all can agree on. If they don’t do it then I’m going to run for office and I’ll do it myself! And artists need someone like me to represent them in Richmond anyway.

Somebody bless me please! I feel a sneeze coming on.

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Why hello there! My name is Bryan Skinnell and I am a middle-aged (50-ish) artist and neighborhood kook who is living the artistic and creative life out in the boonies of Bedford, Virginia. Bedford is one of the largest counties in the commonwealth of Virginia and, for the most part, it’s still a mostly rural one that bridges the gap between Roanoke and Lynchburg. You could say, in more ways than one, that Bedford is the heart of Virginia. I can’t argue with that although I usually think of Bedford more as Virginia’s belly button myself.

I grew up right here in Bedford and have lived and toiled most of my life on our infamous red clay. The sort of clay that makes the stickiest mud known to man after a rain and which clings like super glue from God to anything and everything it touches. If you are so foolish as to get it on yourself you’ll wind up tracking and leaving a trail of red goop everywhere you go for days afterwards to the delight of your family and friends. But I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else and Lord knows I tried as I’ve wandered from one end of the country to the other. But Bedford has my heart and that’s where I’ve chosen to live my life today. In my free time when I’m not stuck in my studio making art I do love being outside gardening or hiking or just pestering the neighbors.

Every day I try to write something that’s original, entertaining, and half-way thoughtful here on my blog while sharing my happy-go-lucky attitude and zest for life. Quite often I don’t have the foggiest notion of what I’ll end up saying in a post. But, whatever I end up writing about, I do hope you enjoy it!

I do keep a mailing list for interested readers and fans. If you would like to get in on the action and follow my musings and rabble-babble, that can be easily arranged. Just give me an email address that you would like for me to send my blog posts to and I’ll see that you get it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Bryan Skinnell

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