What the World Needs Now…

is Love, Sweet Love.

No, not just for some
but for everyone.

—Lyrics by Hal David, 1965.

This is a new LOVE sign in Mt. Jackson. It was created by students at Triplett Tech.

In Toms Brook, a LOVE sign stands in front of a house. The sign has been there for years, but it gets periodically redecorated.

A closer look.

The tradition of creating these signs began in 1969 to go with the Virginia tourism slogan, “Virginia is for Lovers.” There are over 300 LOVE signs in the state. Many are unique, with stories behind the individual letters. Notice the apple tree symbol in the first sign, and the metal wheel in the second one.

Give Purrs a Chance

Berkeley Springs, WV

Monday Murals

This is a large cat adoption center where visitors can spend time with cats and purchase cat-themed gifts. See their kitten cam. 

Lynn Comes for Mother’s Day

 Plus Spring Flowers

Lynn brought two rose bushes and planted them in the yard for me. She gave me a ridiculously large card. Even Charlie was impressed.

I hope you had an enjoyable day. Here are some bright flowers from past posts.

Sharing with Mosaic Monday

Watchful Beagle

A Report from Charlie

Hello! Here I am in black and white. My friend Sadie is black and white all the time.

Mom used an ArtCard filter on this picture of me looking serious. Want to know what I was doing? I was out on the deck and a squirrel showed up on the railing. 

It didn’t see me at first. It was coming over to get a drink out of the birdbath.

When I stood up to see it, it ran away. I went to the railing and watched for it, but it was gone.

I also saw some deer this week. They did not pay attention to me because I was in the car.

Yesterday I went to the dog park in Mount Jackson. There were no other dogs there, but I found some things to do. Here I am watching some small birds.

I also got to lie down on the grass and climb on the bench.

Today I went to Sadie‘s house and played. When Mom came back, she took a picture of me looking out the door. Sadie is there too, but she is short and you can barely see her.

I hope you got to see some interesting things this week too.

Very Pink

 A New Ice Cream Stand

There are multiple ice cream flavors that are pink. I think my favorite would be black cherry.

Charlie and Rhododendrons

Yesterday afternoon I took Charlie to the park in Edinburg. After a short walk, I wanted to take pictures of the rhododendrons near the pool.  Charlie became focused on something under the branches and as soon as I got a picture composed, he pulled on the leash.

After a few failed attempts, I was able to get decent pictures of the pink blossoms. 

Then a butterfly showed up! Again I struggled to get a clear photo, but between the dog pulling on his leash and the screen on the iPhone being overly sensitive, I failed and the butterfly flew off.  (It seems like the phone switches modes if I so much as breathe!)

Then the tiger swallowtail returned. I pointed the phone at it and accidentally switched on “portrait” mode. That’s why the picture has a black background. I could’ve modified it in editing, but I decided to keep it.

By the time I corrected the setting on my phone, but butterfly disappeared again.

As you can see, some of the leaves look stressed. This could be from the prolonged drought or from the sudden frost, or both. 

When I reviewed the pictures, I saw a blue abstract that I did not recognize. It must have been taken as I pulled the phone out out of my pocket. My pants have a knit pattern in these colors. They’re some of my favorite colors so I didn’t delete the picture.

Killdeer and Robins

 Shenandoah County, VA

My dog was with me when I took this picture of a bird by the North Fork. I used my cell phone at zoom setting, holding a leash in my other hand. The picture came out slightly blurred so I tried to fix it using the Picsart app.The filter is called Indie2.

My iPhone identified this as a killdeer, and that appears to be correct. I think this is the first time I’ve captured a recognizable picture of a killdeer. They don’t come to my yard, but they do hang out by the river.

American Robins are a common bird in Virginia. This week I photographed one with Great North Mountain in the background,  and another one in my neighbor’s driveway

Stickers and Feathers

Luray, VA

I saw these items in the shop that was going out of business. The funny thing is that I passed this store for years and never went in until I heard it was going to close. I decided I should take a look before it was gone.

A Big Tree and a Tree Mural

Last week I went to the dentist in Front Royal. My appointment went quickly, and afterward I stopped at a farm store called The Giving Tree. I wondered if the name was inspired by the huge tree at the edge of the parking lot.

Inside the store, there’s a colorful collage-style mural of a tree.

When I looked at the big tree outside, I noticed it had the seed pods of a maple, but the leaves looked different. I took a picture of a leafy branch and asked my phone to identify it. It’s a box elder, which is a type of maple. There are also other names for it, and the latin name is acer negundo.

Box elder saplings sometimes grow in thickets near rivers. I remember feeling very concerned when passing through them because they looked like poison ivy, and I am quite allergic to it. Later I felt foolish when I found out what they were, but I was just now relieved to read in Wikipedia that saplings are often mistaken for poison ivy. I am so glad it was not just me being paranoid!

Also, the leaves are so different from other maples that some botanists think they are a totally different species. The seed pods, however, are distinctly maple-like, and will eventually turn brown and float down, spinning like helicopters. 

Mosaic Monday / Murals

Mother and Child

Naptime in a thrift store