St. Paul’s Heritage Center

 Edinburg, VA

Tuesday Treasures / Wordless

Built in 1911.

Murals and a Ghost Sign

Harrisonburg, VA

This colorful lettering was painted on a brick wall. Although I appreciate the artistry of the graffiti styling, I would’ve liked to be able to view the ghost sign in its entirety. Of course, it is possible that the painter was covering up some other graffiti.

Fortunately, I could see that the sign advertised a  dry cleaning establishment and was able to find an old ad for it from the 1940's. 

Just around the corner from this parking lot is a small park and a mural that I have published here a few years ago. It's worth another look.

Monday Murals / Mosaic Monday

Those places are in the area between US 11 north and US 11 south. I almost turned the wrong way on one of them but another motorist honked and waved so I didn't find myself in trouble. 

Then I went to Kroger's and they had these stuffed critters, which Lynn informs me are a hugely popular fad right. now. 

They are snuggly looking, which is why I sent these pictures to her when she texted me while I was in the store. 

Harrisonburg Seventh Day Adventist Church

This church is on West Market Street (US 33), Harrisonburg. The parking lot is behind the church with an entrance on Dogwood Drive. 

Inspired Sunday

 

The Bird that Came In from the Cold

On Thursday afternoon, I stopped by the townhouse that I'm selling because I needed to shovel snow off the sidewalk so realtors can show the house on the weekend. It's a short sidewalk and I cleared it in under 15 minutes. Then I sat in the car eating lunch. Wait, is that a bird inside the house? Yes, a starling was looking out the window! I grabbed my keys and went inside.

It took a couple of tries but I did shoo the bird out the door. In the first picture it is sitting on the kitchen window, where it flew after I went in the front door. I opened the back door but instead of flying outside, it flew back to the living room and landed on the storm door. I opened that door and out it went!

It sat on the stoop, probably recovering from the shock of a giant chasing it around. I locked the back door and walked through the house cleaning up white spots that it had deposited here and there. Then I went out the front door. 

The starling was still on the stoop. It hopped up on the door when I passed it and was still there when I left. Perhaps it was wondering how the temperature dropped so drastically.

I'd Rather Be Birdin' / Saturday Critters

I had a Zoom meeting to attend and as soon as it was over, I went back to check on the townhouse. The bird was gone. I went in to try to look for ways it might have gotten in but didn't find any obvious openings. I checked upstairs and everything was okay. Did someone let it in when looking at the house? That seemed unlikely because there were no footprints in the snow when I shoveled it. 

Another mystery is how a critter got in the attic of my residence one cold night. It kept me awake with scratching noises until the crack of dawn, when it found a way to escape. A few days later, I had the tree removed that was touching the house, and the worker looked for holes but did not find any. 

That critter did not sound like a bird; I assumed it was a squirrel. It has not been in the attic since then. 

Here are two squirrel photos from today. Charlie appreciates the sunflower seed during this cold spell He may as well fatten up because the next bag of seed is black thistle seed, which squirrels usually won't eat. 

Black and White and Red and More

Five Friday Photos

1. The gate is at Seven Bends State Park, Lupton Road entrance. The ridge in the distance is part of the Massanutten Range.

2. The fancy red poinsettias were in the waiting room of Woodstock Chiropractic.

2. Today, January 21st, is International Squirrel Appreciation Day. I put out some sunflower seed and Charlie came to the celebration. 

4. Today's sunset was colorful and I caught its reflection in the windows at Stony Pointe in Strasburg. 

5. It's only fair to turn around and let you see the real thing.

 

Snow, Signs, Skies

We still have snow on the ground! Usually it melts pretty quickly in Virginia, and it did melt a little  today. 

These pictures are from Woodstock, Strasburg and Waterlick.

Signs 2 / Skywatch

Birds I Saw on this Winter Day

Woodstock and Waterlick, VA

Wordless / Wild Bird Wednesday

Headquarters of Sigma Sigma Sigma

Woodstock, Virginia

Formerly a Residence and a Hospital

Tuesday Treasures / Wordless

Fanciful Critters in the Snow

This winter mural is in the children's section of the Shenandoah County Library. Note that Mr. Deer has a scarf to keep warm.

Monday Murals

Yesterday snow began to fall around mid-day and at night it turned to sleet and ice. We got about five inches of snow with a hard crust of slippery ice.  I was glad I did not have to go anywhere, although by afternoon a mail truck showed up with a package. He also picked up a box that had been delivered here by mistake on Saturday. I was surprised that he knew about it already because I had left a message after the post office had closed on Saturday and today was a holiday. 

 I was curious about why the Postal Service goes the extra mile on packages until I read that they actually make money on package delivery while they lose money on first class letters. Also, they have a contract with Amazon for every-day delivery of “Prime” packages based on the extra steps that the huge retailer takes to label, sort, and deliver packages to local post offices. 

 

Liberty Baptist Church

And Family Life Center.

This large building is on US 11 near Strasburg. I call this style "contemporary warehouse" because it is built like one. There are actually a number of churches around here built in that no-nonsense type of design. 

Inspired Sunday.