Freedom Baptist Church

The melting snow left the pavement wet so I caught some reflections of this church in Front Royal. 

Sharing with Black and White Weekend and InSpired Sunday.

Later that day I noticed a long shadow cast by a leaf on the snow, so I saved it to show you and Shadow Shot Sunday.

Snow Day Critters and Game Camera Catches.

Saturday's Critters.

On my way to physical therapy yesterday, I paused by our community entrance to take a picture of ducks and geese on the snow. 

After my appointment I drove to the state park mentioned in yesterday's post.

Around here we see deer in the road fairly often. That's one reason I don't drive too fast.

These deer left the road when they saw I had stopped my car. One of them looked back at me from behind the safety of the guard rail.

The rest of today's pictures are from a trail camera that's pointed at our front walk. I cropped all these to show the small animals, starting with a squirrel.

The next two pictures were taken at night. What is this creature? It's too big to be a rat, at least I hope! It has a tail like a possum (opossum). The images are a little blurry and the flash made the eye look like a dash. I rarely see a live possum, although we see dead ones on the roads.

The black and white cat shows up in a number of trail cam photos. I've never fed it but it seems to come around just about every day.

The gray striped kitty only shows up a couple of times. He looks guilty, doesn't he?

The thing on the left of the next night shot may be a skunk's back and tail. We have seen a skunk around here.

Last but not least is Lynn's dog Roxie!

Seasons Change at Shenandoah River State Park

Willy Nilly Friday

I stopped by Shenandoah River State Park today to eat the lunch I bought in Front Royal and take a few pictures. Much of the ice and snow we got yesterday had already melted. 

North Fork of the Shenandoah, Near Bentonville.

The view from Cullers Overlook looked much different from the way I saw it on October 29th. I'm glad I went there that day because autumn colors from that viewpoint look really special. (Are you ready for a great view?)

Sharing with Skywatch and Orange You Glad It's Friday.

Although autumn went by quickly this year, I did get to the state park and a few other places were the colors were wonderful. There were other favorites that I missed, partly because I went before the trees had donned their bright outfits.

You can see the Bentonville area from Skyline Drive.

Sharing with Weekend Reflections.

The last picture shows a white board in the state park's visitor center. 

Sharing with Signs, Signs.

Wintry Mix... I Miss Fall!

Winter is here. It came in rather rudely, with slippery sleet as well as four inches of snow. We stayed home. There were reports of impassable roads and vehicles sliding into ditches. Frank cancelled a medical appointment. The power flickered but did not go out here, although many people in surrounding areas were not so fortunate. 

I did not want autumn to end. It had a late start. But I cannot complain too much because we are so much better off than all the people in California who suffered from the wildfires this week. Marie could smell the smoke from where she lives, but fortunately she had vacation scheduled and left California last night.

Time got away from me today so I am blogging late. I wanted to share a fence for Gosia's Linkup. The photo is from Skyline Drive a few weeks ago, as is the second one showing two tourists at an overlook.

Ducks and Visitors

I spotted this duck pond not far from Middletown.

Speaking of ducks, some new ones were on the pond near our house. I grabbed a picture because they don't look like our resident mallards. Could they be visiting bufflehead ducks?  I'm not really familiar with buffleheads but I saw some on another blog recently. (I wish my photo was clearer by I took it through a window, hurriedly zooming before they swam out of sight, plus there was mist on the water.)

Canada geese have been visiting too. We have a few that stay all year, and large flocks that stop by as they migrate.

Our weather has turned cold and a "wintry mix" is forecast for tomorrow. I filled a bird feeder in the front yard and it didn't take long for some of the usual visitors to find it. I won't fill the feeders in the back yard yet because Mr. Bear wanders through there from time to time and he will destroy feeders to get the seed! In a few more weeks he should snuggle up somewhere for winter, so I can start putting out more feeders.

Sharing with Not-So-Wordless and Wild Bird Wednesday. 

Some Martinsburg Treasures

In Berkeley County, WV.

Sharing with Tuesday Treasures
and Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday.

Random Photos from October

Random-osity

The Good: Although today was wet and cold, I have recent memories of warm days before the leaves began to fall. 

Sharing with The Barn Collective and Mosaic Monday.

The Random: Restaurants seem to come and go in Strasburg. There's now one serving Guatemalan cuisine and they have a tropical mural.

Monday Murals.

The Fun: I enjoy educational tours. Here are a few more pictures of the October 27th seminar in Martinsburg with the McCormick Civil War Institute. (See yesterday's post.)

Thank you, PhotoCollage and the Noyalas Family.

Green Hill Cemetery, Martinsburg.

A few weeks ago I went to a Civil War Seminar in Martinsburg, WV.  Jonathan Noyalas of Shenandoah University gave a morning lecture and led an afternoon tour. Our final stop was Green Hill Cemetery, designed by David Hunter Strother in 1854.

The grave of Strother is seen in the second photo. He is best known as a Civil War journalist and illustrator. He served in the Union Army under his distant cousin, General David Hunter.

You can read about Strother's interesting career and view some of his sketches at images.lib.wvu.edu/.

We also stopped at a monument to Captain W. F. Baker. He was a native of Pennsylvania who fought with the U.S. Army during the Civil War and settled in Martinsburg after the war. A number of Union soldiers settled in the Shenandoah Valley and took part in rebuilding the region's economy.

The final photo shows a monument to Confederate soldiers.

InSpired Sunday.

Backseat Driver and Other Critters

Blog Post #6525

The dog was in the car ahead of me at a red light.

The cats were at RappCats, a cat rescue in Rappahannock County.  I've never been a "cat person" but I think they are pretty.

RappCats is in the same building as Mullany Art Studio in Flint Hill.

I've seen several blue jays lately. I really zoomed in on this one. In the last image you can see that I was not very close.

Sharing with Saturday's Critters 

and I'd Rather B' Birdin'.

Five Topics, Six Linkups, Seven Pictures

Willy Nilly Friday

1. This little dog was looking out a car window in a parking lot. Since I couldn't eliminate the reflection on the glass, I decided to get in it. 

Weekend Reflection.

2. This fine old bridge is north of Wardensville, WV. It is no longer open to traffic but has been preserved.

Capon Lake Whipple Truss Bridge

"First erected in 1874 as a two span bridge on US Route 50 near Romney, one span was moved here in 1938 and re-erected on a new foundation. the 17' wide by 176' long bridge is a Whipple-Murphy Truss. The state’s oldest extant metal truss, the bridge is one of only a few of its type in WV. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2011."

Sharing with Signs, Signs 

and Black and White Weekend.

3. This painting was created by students at Rappahannock County High School.

Orange You Glad It's Friday?

4. Speaking of Rappahannock County, here's a scene there that I caught with my cell phone. The name Rappahannock, by the way, has a Native American origin, like many place names in Virginia.

5.  I drove down Hollingsworth Road yesterday afternoon to see how the new state park is coming along. A parking area has been cleared but is now closed due to construction. Contractors are putting in a canoe launch and a building.

The Massanutten Mountains looked red in the "golden hour" sun shining on fall foliage. Seven Bends State Park is scheduled to open in Summer 2019. It is on the North Fork of the Shenandoah near Woodstock. 

Skywatch Friday.