Bonus: Video segment with Zoe Krylova

There are very few bloggers I know in the Charlottesville community that have been blogging as long, or longer than I have. Zoe Krylova’s personal blog, Vale of Evening Fog is one I’ve followed since I moved here four years ago. I’ve watched her daughter Tashi grow up on her blog. I’ve followed Zoe’s pregnancy with Tristan and the birth of that precious boy. I’ve gotten to know Zoe through her blog and feel as if I have another friend in this community because of that.

Zoe’s blog is just that: a personal blog of her journey through life, which sometimes includes travel stories, crafts she’s working on and lots and lots of chai (Zoe’s favorite drink). A recent post facinated me and I thought that new moms wondering how to work with a small baby in tow would benefit from it; Zoe knows how to do this and seeing that would help another mom figure it out, too.

I admire Zoe for continuing to write regularly, for her beautiful language and use of photography. I called her a “blogging celebrity” on TV because she is; I remember clearly the day I saw her with Tashi downtown (I was too shy to say hi) thinking, “Oh my gosh! Thas’t Zoe!”

I’m grateful to Zoe for sharing her life in this way, and for being the Charlottesville Blog of the Week.

Excerpts from my exchange with Zoe Krylova:

What inspired you to start a blog?

I had been keeping journals for years and thought I would start making use of this new form — the blog — as a way to maintain a writing habit. It was very slow going in the beginning, but when we decided to move from Ann Arbor to Charlottesville, I started writing more regularly as a way to share my observations of our new town. Once I had a digital camera the landscape of blogging really opened up for me. It is both a travelogue and a domestic record: A way to share my family, our adventures at home and on the road, our creativity, cooking and crafting, and the stunning pastoral surround of Albemarle county. Keeping a blog opens my eyes to the details, to the magic in both the exceptional and the mundane. I enjoy sharing those details with friends, family and community.

What has been the most significant experience related to the blog?

I have had a wonderful time meeting other bloggers — both online and in person, near and far — forming friendships with those people, but also learning from them and finding inspiration through what they too have to share.

Who reads your blog?

I’m not much of tracker, so I’m not entirely sure! Aside from friends and family, it seems like I might have a small audience of mothers and crafters who read my blog.

Are there any travels in your future?

My husband and I are pretty nomadic at heart, so I sure hope so! My brother-in-law is leaving for India soon to teach radio broadcasting to Tibetan youth in Dharamsala, where we once spent a year. Perhaps that will give us an excuse to visit, though we have a twelve year old daughter and a baby boy to consider! I was born in Cyprus and have family overseas, so surely we will pay them a visit at some point. In the meantime, we love to take weekend drives in beautiful Virginia!