A Blue-winged Teal perches on a shelf in Ted Litwin’s living room. It’s Litwin’s favorite, a brown-speckled duck that prefers shallow ponds. When in flight, the bird’s feathers unveil a streak of brilliant blue.

When Marilyn Marks was in elementary school, playing the violin was just a fun thing to do.  “By eighth grade, I thought, ‘Hey, I think I want to do this for the rest of my life,’” she says, “which is pretty deep for a 14-year-old.”

The Lynchburg College Choral Union and Festival Orchestra’s spring concert offers something of a departure from what the group usually performs.

The work of Victorian-era composers Gilbert and Sullivan just isn’t performed enough these days, says local soprano and voice instructor Marcia Jones Thom.

You mow it, spray it, fertilize it, weed it, water it, plug it, rake it, thatch it and edge it - the lawn, that is, that endless glutton of time and energy and usurper of weekends. You feel guilty if it is in poor shape, and you feel guilty again if you use the water, chemicals and energy necessary to sustain it.

There’s always something to be done at Lynchburg Grows’ base of operations, the old Schenkel farm property off Fort Avenue.

In Colonial times, settlers often couldn’t afford to buy woven rugs and have them shipped from Europe. But they still wanted something to cover their floors. So they took old sailcloth or other scrap canvas, and painted it to make a rug. Those who could afford to do so imported already decorated floor cloths from England. That tradition became the inspiration for a group of artists who have created a floor cloth and floor-cloth hangings for the Lynchburg Community Market.

The story goes that a woman was in court where a CASA representative was being appointed to represent her child’s interests. The judge asked the woman if she knew what CASA was. “Oh, yes,” the woman said. “They’re the people who sell shoes.”

Crafting a good sitcom is tricky business. Sometimes you hit pay dirt with a classic like “Seinfeld” or “Friends.” But more often than not, you wind up with a miss. That’s exactly what happened with Fox’s midseason entry, “Unhitched,” which just aired its season finale Sunday.

It’s all about the art at the Jones Memorial Library, the art of Lynchburg. To begin celebrating its upcoming 100th birthday, the library has planned two lectures in advance of the June 3 anniversary. The first talk, celebrating the art of the city and its environs, is scheduled for 5 p.m. April 9.

In 2006, Lya Hale was an active 67-year-old woman who went blind in her left eye and a little more than eight months later, had a heart attack — both results of cardiovascular disease.

The following is a list of area support group meetings.

It wasn’t as though Carol Uphoff, who grew up in Lynchburg, set out to be on TV.

You’ll notice that I don’t have an “O” or a “Mc” in front of my name. Truth be told, I’m only one-quarter Irish, on my mother’s side.

If you’re going
—WHAT: The News & Advance Regional Spelling Bee
—WHEN: 9 a.m., Saturday
—WHERE: Paul Laurence Dunbar Middle School for Innovation
—COST: Free

With St. Patrick’s Day coming, a look at some beer basics seemed in order.

Thelma Dalmas, a naturalist, writes a weekly column for The News & Advance.

The garments are so cutting edge, they’re in a league of their own.

It was while he was on vacation in England in 2005 that inspiration struck John Buckman.