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A couple of weeks ago Roanoke Times food reporter Lindsey Nair and I traveled to Crozet to spend the day with the women of the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery. The nuns greeted us at 6 am and we were given the opportunity to observe their morning prayer and then head off to the cheese barn for cheese making day. I found this story months ago looking around for ideas online, I but wasn't able to report it until now.

There is a list of 100 "Just Right" things about photojournalism that was created by photojournalist Chip Litherland. I often look at this list and think about how it applies to my work. Number 11 on the list is, "Showing people things they have never seen ever and having the responsibility to introduce them to it in a way that doesn't completely sensationalize the issue."

I think this concept was particularly strong in my mind while photographing this assignment. The nuns at Our Lady of the Angels allowed us into a part of their life with warmth and openness. I left realizing the importance of showing the quiet moments in their life, as well as the louder moments when the women were diligently working.

A furry black and orange creature with clawed feet and crushing, opposable mandibles has been spotted crossing local roadways and paths including the Huckleberry Trail in the New River Valley. Witnesses describe the creature as “cute,” and Virginia Tech entomologist Eric Day does not seem alarmed.

The woolly worm, also known as the woolly bear caterpillar, appears when fall sets in as it searches for a place to overwinter and later pupate. In midsummer, it is seen again, but has transformed into the Isabella tiger moth, Day said.

Folklore suggests that careful reading of the caterpillar’s black and brown pattern can predict the length and severity of the winter. The more black in its fuzzy coat, the longer and harsher the winter, some say.

Science suggests something different can be predicted, primarily how much of a glutton the caterpillar is.

“The middle orange band gets bigger and bigger the longer they feed. If you have a really small black area on the woolly worm it just means they had a really good summer and they had a lot of good feeding,” Day said.

Day welcomes the benevolent creature’s arrival, since he says it isn’t a nuisance or destructive like other fall and winter insects that frequent homes. He associates it with the coming cool weather and the turning of the leaves.

“It’s a harbinger of fall,” he said .

-- Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

Looking back on my childhood, leaves are my favorite memory of fall.

I don’t remember the raking as being fun, but I did help my dad when I had to.

The fun would begin when my brothers and I would gather the smaller piles into one huge pile and jump into it. We would even jump off a swing to land on top of the pile.

Leaves on the ground now are more for looking at and less for play. When the time comes to rake them out of my yard, I can’t rake them into a huge pile on the curb anymore.

I live in Roanoke,  where residents must place them into plastic or biodegradable paper bags. The bagged leaves will be picked up by the city and later be turned into compost.

The best alternative, though, is to use a special mulching blade for your mower so the leaves are chopped up small enough to be used as fertilizer for your grass.

-- Eric Brady | The Roanoke Times

One of the best things about being out in the community daily is the good luck that comes when you run across a great story. Earlier this year, I was at Belmont Baptist Church for a community section story when I came across the foot care clinic. The clinic began in 1990 after an elderly church member fell and hurt her arm while trying to clip her toenails. Today the clinic, which meets once a month, opens its doors to anyone who needs foot care.