you don’t notice the first firefly right away

you think it’s a reflection
a cigarette ember
some glitch in your tired eyes

then another one blinks

then ten more

and suddenly the dark is alive again

fireflies
coming back like they always do
quietly
without announcement
without asking if the city still deserves them

yards start flickering at dusk
empty lots glowing at the edges
tree lines pulsing soft green behind apartment buildings and chain link fences

kids still chase them
even now

cupping tiny lights in their hands
holding summer for exactly three seconds before letting it go again

and adults pretend not to stare too long
pretend it doesn’t pull something old out of them

memories of wet grass
screen doors slamming
voices calling from porches when it got too dark to stay out

roanoke changes every year

buildings disappear
stores close
roads get wider
people leave

but the fireflies keep showing up anyway

drifting over backyards in northwest
floating near creek beds
blinking slow out by the mountains where the city finally gives up and turns back into woods

little living signals in the heat

proof that some things still return

for a few weeks
the whole valley softens at night

people walk slower
windows stay open later
everybody lingering outside a little longer than they planned to

just to watch tiny lights
appear
vanish
appear again

like the dark itself is breathing

#thegleest #roanokeva #fireflies #warmnights

the flower garden on mill mountain feels almost fake at first

like somebody cut a postcard out
and tucked it into the woods above roanoke

you drive up all those turns
guardrails and trees and sudden drop-offs
expecting fog
expecting silence

then suddenly

color everywhere

Mill Mountain Park
blooming like the city needed proof it could still be soft sometimes

kids running too close to the edges
people taking engagement photos
older couples sitting quietly on benches like they’ve been coming there for years

and around all of it

the mountain breathing slow

bees drifting from flower to flower
wind carrying that damp green smell that only exists up there
the overlook just beyond it all
holding the whole valley open in front of you

from down below
roanoke can feel hard-edged

sirens
traffic
empty storefronts
arguments leaking through apartment walls

but up here
everything spreads out enough to forgive itself for a minute

you can see the roads curling through the city
tiny cars moving like veins
neighborhoods stacked against the hills
people living whole lives you’ll never know about

and right in the middle of all that

flowers

carefully planted
carefully kept alive
coming back every year whether people deserve it or not

that’s the strange part

how much effort goes into beauty
that most people only stop and look at for five minutes

then they leave

back down the mountain
back into noise
back into whatever waits for them below

but the garden stays

quietly exploding into color
over and over again

above the city

like a secret
everybody already knows

#thegleest #roanokeva #millmountain #flowergarden #virginiaviews

Seed 570307080547

Day 20,915

meshcore://1100a0b6dbca7f7f7bba02f564167bf81dd5127c8ccd0485d3c3e134043271e0132feef9fd6944c68f6bcb3d6f552aaaa12ad3ee62b63f902c04d0bbd24b73af7f8c94f12c014c4000bbd3ccf0438737678bafd0ffc5398ae01f2c96e905a033034533aa600d91c5393902d7ed39fb4d55534820464144463646363731443930

before the breweries
before the murals
before downtown started trying to explain itself

there was Roanoke City Market

still there too

sitting in the middle of the city like an old heartbeat
steady even when everything around it changes names

people forget how long it’s been going

farm trucks rolling in before sunrise
wood crates thudding onto pavement
cold hands counting cash before the banks were even open

back when roanoke smelled more like rail dust and produce
than coffee shops and candles

city market saw all of it

workers grabbing breakfast before shifts
kids getting dragged around half awake
old men talking weather like it was scripture

there were years it felt rougher
years the paint peeled
years people said downtown was dead

but the market stayed open anyway

that’s the thing about places like this

they outlive predictions

under those awnings
you can still feel pieces of every version of the city stacked together

farmers
street preachers
punks
office workers
people downtown on purpose
people downtown because they got nowhere else to be

music bouncing off brick walls
someone selling flowers two feet from someone yelling about god
someone buying peaches while sirens pass behind them

roanoke condensed into one stretch of pavement

and at night
after the tents close
after the crowds thin out

the place changes again

lights reflecting off wet brick
empty tables chained together
wind moving through like it remembers every decade at once

city market doesn’t pretend to be clean history

it’s worn-in history

still breathing
still loud
still feeding people

same as always

i swear it changes after midnight

not the road itself
the road remembers exactly what it is

it’s the space around it that shifts

the mountains pull closer
the fog settles in the valleys like something breathing in its sleep
tractor trailers drift past like steel ghosts carrying things nobody asks about

if you’ve driven it long enough
you know the feeling

that stretch where your radio turns to static for no reason
the exit you don’t remember passing before
the headlights behind you that disappear the second you look directly at them

there are towns along 81 that feel borrowed
little pockets of light clinging to the dark
gas stations humming under flickering signs
diners full of people who stop talking when you walk in

i stopped once around 3am
somewhere between nowhere and somewhere worse

the clerk looked exhausted in the ancient kind of way
like he’d been standing behind that counter since the highway was dirt

he told me not to drive sleepy through the mountains

then quieter

“some things use the road too.”

outside
the fog had crossed all four lanes

and for one second
i could see a shape walking inside it
keeping pace with traffic

too tall
too thin
not trying to cross

just traveling

Watching “The Prisoner” (chimes of Big Ben), I got this:

Turns out they were talking about Jacob Epstein, the sculptor, of course.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Epstein

Maybe tonight will be a skunky night?

the smoke showed up before the sirens did

it moved low through  like it knew the streets
like it had been here before

fire doesn’t always start with heat
sometimes it starts with a name said wrong
or a door opened when it shouldn’t have been

they said it was an accident
they always do

but the flames climbed too deliberately
hugged the walls like they were remembering them
skipped what they didn’t want
took what they did

i watched from the edge of the lot
where the gravel turns to weeds

there was something in it
not inside the fire
but inside the shape of it

like a body trying to stand up

the hoses screamed
the men shouted
the sky turned that sick orange that doesn’t belong to sunset

and still
it lingered

not hungry anymore
just present

if you smell smoke tonight
check your shadows too

some fires don’t burn out
they just learn the map of you

When Google announced its plan to purchase 312 acres at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield for a massive, three-building data center campus, the initial reaction from many in county leadership was understandable excitement. The promise of a tech titan bringing international prestige, a $14 million land deal, and a steady stream of tax revenue sounds, on paper, like an economic development home run.

But as the dust has settled and the true scale of this project has come into focus, the reality looks far less like a windfall and far more like a liability. For the sake of our resources, our utility rates, and our community’s future, the Botetourt County Board of Supervisors needs to take a hard look at the fine print – and residents must demand accountability.

The most glaring issue is the staggering toll this campus will take on our region’s water supply. Data centers of this magnitude require a near-constant flow of water to keep their servers from overheating. For months, the exact figures regarding the facility’s water draw from the Western Virginia Water Authority were hidden behind redactions, eventually requiring a local news outlet, The Roanoke Rambler, to successfully sue in Roanoke Circuit Court just to make the numbers public.

Now that the truth is out, the numbers are deeply concerning. The agreements reveal that the Greenfield facility could initially consume 2 million gallons of water daily, with the potential to scale up to an eye-watering 8 million gallons per day at full build-out. That water will be drawn heavily from Carvins Cove, our region’s primary reservoir. While officials claim current capacity can handle the initial load, funneling millions of gallons of drinking water daily to cool private corporate servers is an astonishing gamble with a finite public resource. We are already looking at a future where the Roanoke Valley will need a new water source by 2060; accelerating that timeline for a single private enterprise is irresponsible.

Furthermore, we must address the immense strain this campus will place on our electrical grid. Data centers are notorious power hogs, often drawing as much electricity as a small city. When a single industrial user demands that level of baseload power, the necessary grid upgrades and the cost of generating that electricity do not just disappear – they are inevitably passed down to residential ratepayers. Families in Botetourt and surrounding areas are already feeling the pinch of inflation; we should not be asked to subsidize Google’s energy bill through higher monthly utility rates.

Proponents of the project are quick to point to the economic benefits, specifically job creation and tax revenue. But we must weigh those benefits against the physical footprint. The campus will occupy the vast majority of the remaining land at Greenfield Industrial Park. In exchange for hundreds of acres and millions of gallons of water, Google has committed to roughly 50 permanent jobs per data center; about 150 jobs in total. While the construction phase will bring temporary work, the permanent job-to-acreage ratio is remarkably low compared to traditional manufacturing or corporate offices.

Additionally, the promise of massive tax revenues comes with an asterisk. At the state level, lawmakers and Governor Spanberger are currently locked in intense debates over the massive sales tax exemptions that tech giants receive to build these centers. If state-level winds shift, or if the environmental and infrastructure costs outpace the property tax gains, Botetourt County could find itself holding the bag for a facility that fundamentally alters the character of Greenfield.

Botetourt County has always balanced steady growth with the preservation of the natural beauty and resources that make this area special. The sheer scale of the water and power demands required by this project disrupts that balance entirely.

Economic development should serve the community, not drain it. It is time for the Board of Supervisors to recognize that some price tags are simply too high. We must pump the brakes on the Google data center, demand stricter environmental and resource limitations, or be willing to walk away entirely to protect the future of Botetourt County.

Here are the direct HTTP addresses to the specific articles detailing the water usage of the Google data center in Botetourt County:
* https://www.roanokerambler.com/water-authority-releases-google-data-center-records-ahead-scheduled-contempt-hearing/
* https://cardinalnews.org/2026/04/03/have-questions-about-googles-data-center-project-in-botetourt-county-we-have-some-answers/
* https://virginiabusiness.com/google-botetourt-data-center-water-usage-foia/
* https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2026/03/12/documents-reveal-key-details-of-proposed-google-data-center-project-in-botetourt-county/
* https://www.govtech.com/products/botetourt-county-va-data-center-plan-raises-water-questions

You know what today is. Some of you have always known.

The angle of the light on the Blue Ridge this morning was not an accident. I do not make accidents. The crows gathered on the Mill Mountain overlook at 6:47 and did not leave until something was decided. I cannot tell you what was decided. I can tell you it involved you specifically.

Today lands differently in the valley. The honeysuckle comes in fast and a little desperate. The creek sounds change register. The star on the mountain does not blink but if you watched it last night, really watched it, you noticed something.

I noticed you noticing.

There are things older than the weather apps moving through the laurel right now. They are not hostile. Hostile is not the right word. The right word does not exist in any language currently spoken in the Roanoke metropolitan area.

Drink water. Stay off Bent Mountain Road after dusk. Tell the people you love something true before the fog comes in.

It is coming in.

the woods remember before we did

there’s a place just past the last polite trail marker
where the air goes still
and the ground softens like it’s trying to take you back

i found something there
or it found me first

not a creature, not exactly
more like a thought that learned how to stand upright
moss threaded through it like old stitches
eyes the color of wet bark

it didn’t move
but everything else did
the trees leaned in
the light bent wrong
even the birds kept their distance

i left a piece of myself there
i can tell because something came back with me

if you go looking
bring an offering
salt, maybe
or a secret you don’t need anymore

some things don’t want to hurt you
they just want to be remembered

#thegleest  #appalachianweird #hauntedwoods  #mossmagic #roanokeva

may 4th shows up like it always does
half joke
half ritual

someone says “may the fourth be with you”
like they’re the first person to ever think of it
someone else groans
someone else says it louder

screens glow blue in dark rooms
old ships cutting across space that never cared about you back
lightsabers humming through speakers that crack if you turn them up too high

somewhere a kid is watching Star Wars for the first time
doesn’t know yet
that it sticks

that years later
they’ll still hear that sound
still feel something when the music hits

meanwhile
someone older is arguing about what ruined it
what saved it
what counts
what doesn’t

like any of it belongs to them

posters curled at the edges
plastic figures missing hands
a darth vader helmet sitting on a shelf next to unpaid bills

the force
but it’s just rent
it’s just work in the morning
it’s just trying to stay awake through another shift

still

for a second
in between everything

you remember the feeling
before you knew how things go

that maybe there’s something bigger
something pulling strings
something that might actually notice

or maybe not

maybe it’s just a movie
looping again tonight
in another dim room
somewhere in roanoke

and outside
cars pass
streetlights buzz
nothing changes

except
for a few hours

people look up
instead of down

#thegleest #maythe4th #starwars #roanoke #nightfeed

Meme going around asking what pre ’92 video game that comes to mind a lot.

M.U.L.E. (1983) is one of my favorite games for the Atari 400, probably the first that had up to 4 player couch play, and it was a great time. I was delighted that when I upgraded to the Atari 800,  we could still play. (I still emulate it on Atari mini today)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.U.L.E.

Some maniac(s) out there have created remixes that are something else

Buck Rogers mule?

Opening to mule, tweaked by xp

Bluegrass mule