Among the pictures I took at the reenactment in New Market were two that showed a soldier who appears to be of Asian descent. When I looked at the photos I mused about this: Certainly there were some Asian-Americans who fought in the Civil War. 
Mt. Zion has stood near Aldie and Gilbert's Corner since 1851. You might easily miss it because a traffic circle has been built at it's entrance on Route 50.
"Mt. Zion Old School Baptist Church was founded in 1851. Just west of the church is a graveyard containing many 19th century grave markers. On July 6, 1864 nearby, Mosby's Rangers attacked and routed 150 Union cavalrymen. Over 100 Union soldiers were killed, wounded or captured. Mosby had eight men wounded, one mortally. The church is site of the annual Thomas family reunion founded 1934."
This fellow discovered that little bits of suet fell on the deck from the feeder that we put up for woodpeckers. Those pieces also made the deck slippery, so this afternoon I moved the suet feeder. I hammered in a nail on the outside of the rail and hung it there. (Sorry, Charlie.)
Since we live in a pretty area, I like to vary the route home in order to explore the countryside. This green pasture lies near the east side of Supinlick Ridge in Shenandoah County.
The troops with the white (and colored emblem) flag represent the VMI cadets.
 | There are plenty of photo ops at a Civil War Reenactment, and plenty of people bring their cameras. Above we see a man dressed as a Civil War photographer taking a group portrait. On the left, a man has just taken a picture of his young son posing with Union soldiers. And below, a woman dressed for "living history" takes a photo of her children as they rest. |
 | Even the "soldiers" were taking pictures, including the one on the right in the above photograph and the fellow in the left-hand picture. There were professional photographers there too with huge telephoto lenses much heavier than I would want to carry around! I'll bet thousands of pictures were taken that day. |
First, the Valley supplied numerous resources to the Confederacy, particularly forces operating in Virginia — the heart of the Confederacy. The materials that Valley farmers supplied the Confederate troops earned the Valley the nickname the "Breadbasket of the Confederacy." Additionally, the Shenandoah Valley served as an avenue of invasion for Confederate armies into the North and also served as a point from which Confederate forces could threaten Washington, D.C. Due to its strategic location, Confederate war planners also utilized the valley as a place from which to create a diversion and alleviate pressure against Richmond. Union forces likewise looked to the Valley as a point from which they could protect Washington, D.C., disrupt invasion and diminish the Valley's capacity to supply food and material to the Confederate war effort.
I used several filters in Photoshop to make this picture look painterly. To see a larger version, click on the image.
| I enjoyed seeing the Civil War Era costumes at reenactments and living history events such as the one in New Market on Saturday. Above and right: All dressed up for 1864 Below: Women dressed for everyday work on the farm. |  |
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Although I've followed a fairly low-carb diet for many years, I tightened it up by cutting out white rice and baked potatoes, and I added in a little more protein.
So I did the homework but failed the exam. In the first two weeks, I gained two pounds. My energy levels dropped and I started having episodes that felt like low blood sugar, and my already-low blood pressure dropped a couple of points. Just walking up the driveway left me dizzy. The nutritionist recommended some supplements that didn't seem to help much. [Foods I actually test "allergic" to include wheat, baker's yeast, brewer's yeast, black pepper, black tea, white beans, and white fish. I won't bore you here with the list of additional foods that I cannot digest without severe symptoms.]
These are blooming right now. We've planted a nice selection of iris over the past few years because the deer don't eat them like they do many flowers. 
I've finally posted a series of pages on my Civil War Field Trips site covering last year's tour following Lee's Retreat to Appomattox. They replace a page of photos from our 1998 version of the same tour.
 | On Sunday we took a ride in the country and found ourself near Packsaddle Ridge Golf Course so we stopped there and looked around. It's on the western slope of Massanutten Mountain near Keezletown. |
Above: Here I've inserted a memory card from a camera and navigated to it in Adobe Bridge. I've highlighted the pictures that are of the same place because I can give them the same name followed by a number. | Adobe Bridge, which comes bundled with Photoshop, has a tool called Batch Rename. This is my key to the system because it allows me to quickly rename multiple photos as I copy them to the computer. On the memory card the images were named with a code and series of consecutive numbers. For any pictures worth saving on my computer, I want names that help identify them so I can easily find them later. |
 | The eight photos that I selected above were all taken at Packsaddle Ridge Golf Course. Therefore I gave them all the name "packsaddle" on the next pop-up screen. Clicking the plus sign provided me with another line which I use to assign a starting number for the series of images. Personally I like to use the last three numbers that were assigned by the camera. |
