Takes 30-45 minutes to make the 19-mile trek from home to the studio — a pleasant drive on the winding Virginia Rte. 758 (Buffalo Mountain Road) and then U.S. 221 for the final 15 miles into Floyd.

XM radio provides musical backdrops on most days, usually Bluegrass or folk. For a mere $9.95 a month, XM provides commercial-free music channels to please just about any taste. No interrruptions for news, ads or traffic reports. What are they going to say? There’s a backup of three cars behind a farm tractor and combine two miles north of Willis on 221?

No news means I don’t have to listen to whatever garbage either of the two political parties are spewing out about each other. I don’t much give a rat’s ass what John F. Kerry did or did not do in Vietnam. He was there, which is a hell of a lot more than George W. Bush did while hiding out in the Texas Air Guard and missing meetings.

By not worrying about who is dissing who in the campaign, I arrive at the studio relaxed and looking forward to the day.

Try doing that in any urban setting.