Hey, y’all. It’s Amie.

The signature sound of snapping open a Red Bull greeted me just in time to write today’s official “welcome back” newsletter. Yeah, I know one went out yesterday—but I’d actually written it a couple of weeks ago and scheduled it. Today’s is fresh off the press.

My, my, what a time it’s been. Santa was very good to our little boy (who turns 8 this week); he brought Pokémon cards galore. Figgy Purrding—the sick kitten we found in the bushes right before Christmas—is all better now and growing in both size and purrsonality. And I have a new random obsession: Breyer horses, which now adorn a second-story mantle.

I hope each of you entered 2026 with a renewed joy of everything a new year can bring. I’m looking forward to finding out what all it has to offer. And I’m so glad you’re here. 

Several of Grayson Highlands State Park’s resident wild ponies. (HokieTim/Shutterstock)

By Aila Boyd

Here’s what you need to know: Situated high up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Grayson Highlands State Park is unlike any other in Virginia. With never-ending alpine views at elevations of more than 5,000 feet, a smorgasbord of outdoor fun, and even a herd of wild ponies, Grayson Highlands should be at the top of your Virginia State Park bucket list.

Ways to enjoy:

• Visitors to the park can choose from a variety of lodging options, including campsites, yurts, and the bunkhouse. There are 89 campsites at the park. All sites are dirt and gravel, with picnic tables and grills, and most of them are wooded.

• Hiking in the park is plentiful, with 13 trails that vary in length, ranging from 0.5 miles to a little more than 2 miles. The trails are somewhat of a pick-your-own adventure, with some leading to scenic overlooks, captivating waterfalls, and even a 200-year-old cabin.

• Introduced to the park in the mid-1970s to aid in the reforestation efforts on the balds, the wild ponies are now managed by the Wilburn Ridge Pony Association. Every fall, some of the ponies are rounded up and auctioned at the annual fall festival.

Ready to explore? Don’t wait—discover the park’s must-see highlights now at the link below.

Amie here. I remember talking to US Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) on the phone right before the first anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. He was inside the building when the insurrection took place.

Leading up to the event, he recalled feeling uneasy—so much so that he spoke with the FBI the night before. When insurrectionists entered the Capitol, Warner said the Senate didn’t experience “full chaos,” but recalled people shouting to shut the doors to the upstairs gallery. At first, the senators were told to stay put, but that plan quickly changed when they were rushed off the floor to a different location.

“You could tell there was no protocol,” Warner said at the time of the interview.

After reconvening, Warner noted that some of the senators set on overthrowing the election wouldn’t look others in the room in the eye. Others had a different approach.

“There was such anger, frustration, resentment, that these insurrectionists who were—let’s face it, at the behest of Donald Trump—trying to overturn American democracy,” Warner said. “I think it was a sobering enough event that a number of the people who were going to vote to overturn the election changed their mind. But I think there were still six or seven senators who went along with the effort, even after the insurrectionists defiled the Capitol.”

In 2017, retired teacher Jennifer Williams collected nearly 1,000 gently used or new books and gave them away to children in the Danville area over a single weekend.

Rather than celebrate a one-time win, the weekend giveaway sparked an even grander idea: Williams set out to gift more books—one million of them. 

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