Trout Mural

Waynesboro, VA

This mural is called “The Lure.” The artist goes by the name Humble. 

Monday Murals

Credit it for the photo goes to my daughter Lynn. You can read about the artist on the Visit Waynesboro site.

250 Years …

Of No Kings

The Freedom Truck is a mobile museum about the American Revolution. On Friday I saw it parked in Middletown, and even though I didn’t have much time, I made a brief stop to see the exhibits.

Coincidentally, “No Kings” protests took place yesterday throughout the country and even overseas. Huge crowds showed up in large cities, and even my small town’s event drew over 300 participants. 

I drove past, and only got a few pictures through the windshield. Walking over to get better shots would probably have required more effort than I could handle, unless I parked illegally which I did not want to do. 

The focus of the demonstrations has expanded due to the attacks on Iran. Most people don’t want a war. I realize that current readers are aware of this, but future readers may come across this blog and not understand the time frame.

Speaking of war, today is Vietnam War Veterans Day. I happened to glimpse an event at the Veterans Memorial in Middletown, and realized what it was. I stopped and took a few pictures. 

Most of these people are members of the SAR, Sons of the American Revolution. The town’s mayor is in the group shot and I don’t know if he’s a member or simply there in his official role. 

I’m glad that SAR put on this event. Many Vietnam veterans are around my age, and that war was hard on my generation. Not only did people die, but soldiers who came back had a high rate of illnesses and post-traumatic stress. They had to struggle to get recognition that their health problems were due to the war, including to “Agent Orange “ defoliant exposure. 

Thank you for your service. Let’s hope for peace!

Note: I try to keep my posts fairly short, so I often leave out things that I might say in conversation. Also, I took a lot of pictures over the past three days, so I combined quite a few into collages (mosaics). 

It’s Late March and Early Spring

A Beagle Report

Hi from Charlie, here to tell you about my week. It was a good one because I got to visit Sadie several times. That’s more fun than going to daycare at the vet’s because Sadie and I play and eat snacks. I get to sit on Miss Deborah’s lap and go for a walk. Then Sadie and I take naps.

Mom got a new garden flag. She wanted me to pose with it, but I was tired of having my picture taken.

We went to several parks this week. Here’s two pictures at the county park

Isn’t that a beautiful dog? We didn’t get to play though.

One day we went for a ride and saw farm animals. Cows look interesting, but if you get close, you see they are big and scary.

I saw some pigs. They looked like they were having a good time.

Today we took Miss Deborah and Mr. Frank for a ride. She gave me a peanut butter cookie, and later Mr. Frank gave me half of a hamburger. He took the other half home to Sadie.

Our weather’s been cold and hot and cold again. Mom says the cold is almost done because it’s spring. I hope things are good where you are!

Missed the Selfie, Caught the Curves.

This first picture is the result of a mistake. I wanted to get a photo for the Weekend Reflection challenge, so when I spotted a reflection of myself, I snapped a picture. Oops, my head was cut off in this shot! I liked the curves sp I cropped it drastically.

I took a second picture from a few steps back and got the selfie. The funny thing is, I like the first image better. It looks quite graceful for a truck wheel!

Prescribed Fire at Wolf Gap

Smoke on the mountain! I knew what it was because I had seen an announcement that the forest service was going to do a prescribed burn at Wolf Gap.

Yesterday I was driving home from recycling coupled with Charlie’s afternoon outing, and I could see the smoke from Woodstock.  I decided to take a closer look, so I drove out to St. Luke.

Let’s go west just a little ways and take another look.

I discovered some back roads that I had not driven before, and saw some nice farms. I’ll study the map and go back again to explore.

Earlier Post: Bringing Fire Back to the Mountains

Linking to: Skywatch

Who Lives Here?

Today I was driving down a back road when I saw this nest, high in a tree. It’s too big to be a squirrel’s nest. I reasoned that if it was an eagle’s nest, there would be a body of water nearby.

And there was!

What do you think? I suppose it could be a heron’s nest, but there was only one and they like to nest in rookeries. 

This is in western Shenandoah County.  

Meanwhile, my bird camera at home recorded some vibrant cardinals.

Another colorful bird is the goldfinch. This one looks a little odd; I think it’s molting.

Farewell, Old Farm!

 Woodstock, VA

There is a huge development project underway on the east side of Woodstock. Judging from the map, I’d say it’s about equal to twelve town blocks. I first saw a sign go up on Water Street, and then saw another sign plus heavy equipment on Hollingsworth Road. Then a few days ago, I noticed that the land was being cleared on French Woods Road, and when I turned onto Cemetery Road, I saw this construction site past the cemetery. 

As you can see, this used to be a farm. The farmhouse has stood empty for years and had become dilapidated. I stopped to take pictures because I don’t think the house or barns will be here much longer.

The final picture shows Charlie looking at the heavy equipment from the Hollingsworth Road side of the project.

Ruby’s Fortune Teller

Harrisonburg

This dramatic mural dominates the covered walkway at Ruby‘s Arcade. Here we are directly across from Massanutten Regional Library. 

Large metal gates are decorated with fiber art.

On the front of the building is an interesting cartoon portrait which I suppose is Ruby, peering out of a hole in a brick door, oddly enough.

Monday Murals / Mosaic

New Exhibit, New Season at Belle Grove

 Middletown, VA

Saturday was opening day for Belle Grove Plantation after a winter break. I’ve been there many times, but I wanted to see the new quilts on display. These were stitched at community events and venues as part of a project to honor the memories of the enslaved workers who kept Belle Grove flourishing from 1783 to 1851.

Names of 270 people are on the quilts, organized by family groups. Their names were discovered through years of research using local records, news articles, and other sources. 

In the next room is an archaeology exhibit called “Unearthing Enslaved Lives.”  I’ve been following the research here for quite a few years. Historians, archaeologists, and students have done an impressive of reconstructing stories that were almost lost to time.

The property is on the Cedar Creek Civil War battlefield.

First Critter Report of Spring

 Hi, it’s Charlie! The week went by quickly. Our weather has gotten pretty nice, although it rained yesterday.

Did you know that Queen Elizabeth I had a small beagle?

AI Picture for Women’s History Month

Spring is here and we see lots of birds. I haven’t been able to get close enough to one to sniff it. They are strange creature.

We saw some more sheep.

This is a short report because it is already bedtime. Happy spring!