Cosmos and Sky

I’ve been taking these pretty flowers for granted, but when I looked closely, I saw that it has wonderful blossoms. 

I held it up to the sky to get a back-lit picture. (This was shot using my phone and no tripod, so I set a three-second delay in order to press the button and then move the flower into position. One disadvantage of phone photography is that it takes two hands!)

The sky deserved its own picture.

Birds of the State Park

This afternoon I picked up a flyer at Seven Bends State Park titled "Common Birds of Seven Bends."

There are many different kind of birds at the park, partly because it offers a diverse habitat, including wetlands, meadows, and forests.

The brochure states that there are over 165 species of birds that have been found at the park, and it has pictures of these common ones: Canada goose, belted kingfisher, common merganser, red-tailed hawk, turkey vulture, bald eagle, pileated woodpecker, white-breasted nuthatch, red-bellied woodpecker, Carolina wren, mourning dove, song sparrow, and tree sparrow.

I didn’t get any bird pictures today, partly because I had my dog on a leash. I took a picture of one of the bird houses. The tube deters animals from raiding the nest. 

The rest of today’s pictures are from my files, starting with a bluebird. 

I took the picture of Canada geese in winter. We see them here year-round.

I saw a kingfisher by the river, where they like to watch for fish. This is a cropped cell phone picture from last year. I don’t capture photos of  kingfishers often, although I regularly glimpse them before they fly away.

Autumn Comes to Great North Mountain

Great North Mountain divides Virginia from West Virginia for 50 miles. The colors of autumn change first at the higher elevations.

View from Lutheran Church on Fairview Road

Woodbine Farm Market

Fall Foliage on the Mountain 

Pumpkins and Mums

On Saturday we mentioned a visit to a pumpkin patch. Today I want to show you a mural that is painted on the side of the truck there. The sale is a fundraiser for Strasburg Presbyterian Church.

Mosaic Monday / Murals

No Kings in Woodstock

There were thousands of local demonstrations yesterday for “No Kings” Day. The emphasis this year was on encouraging people to vote.

Americans, of course, are well aware that we do not have a king. Here they are using the term to mean dictator or tyrant.

Let’s look back to our Constitutional Convention and the discussions that went on and on as a constitution was hammered out.

“Americans are like other men in similar situations… posterity will find that great power connected with ambition, luxury, and flattery, will as readily produce a Caesar, Caligula, Nero, and Domitian in America, as the same causes did in the Roman empire.” – Cato, 1787. Cato was a pen name of a writer arguing against a Federalist approach to the constitution. He is often assumed to be New York Governor George Clinton.

“History will teach us…those men who have overturned the liberties of republics the greatest number have begun their career, by paying an obsequious court to the people, commencing Demagogues and ending Tyrants.” – Alexander Hamilton, 1787.

October Days with Charlie

Hi, it’s Charlie! One day it rained and I was bored.

 Mom took me to a big store where dogs are allowed. Uh-oh! The scary things are back.

We got away and went to the back of the store.

On another day the weather was nice. We went to Shenandoah National Park because Mom wanted to see if the trees had changed color. Some of them have. 

We saw some deer, but they left in a hurry.

Yesterday we went to a pumpkin patch so I could help find a good pumpkin. 

We got a big orange one and some little ones and some flowers. 

Today the weather got cold so I’m glad I have a warm place to stay.

Ghostly Storefront

Winchester, VA

Halloween seems to get bigger each year. People start decorating early and elaborately. 

These ghosts look pretty friendly.

Skywatch, Cedar Creek Battlefield

Middletown, VA

This is one of the first sections of Cedar Creek Battlefield that was preserved, and the core area where the annual reenactment will take place this weekend. The Heater House is on the far right. 

Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation

It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s…

Prelude to Autumn’s Symphony

We're seeing traces of autumn colors here in Virginia, but we haven’t had a frost yet and flowers are still blooming.

Yesterday I stopped at a farm stand and noticed how pretty the scenery looked.

Today I ran errands and couldn’t resist checking out the color in Shenandoah National Park. Leaves are starting to change, but it’s not enough to get excited about. I’ve heard that it’s a different story in West Virginia, where autumn foliage is at its peak in the high mountains.