Viewing a Reenactment

Middletown, VA

Food Vendors at a Reenactment

Middletown, VA
June 10, 2012

Recycle those CFL Bulbs

Keep Mercury Out of Landfills.
Recycle CFLs.

I was pleased to see that Warren County accepts compact fluorescent bulbs for recycling. Not every locality does, and broken fluorescent bulbs can release harmful mercury into the environment.

The sign on the barrel says "Place in a sealed plastic bag." But not everyone does. I'm glad I'm not the guy who has the job of collecting the bulbs from the barrel. Hope he gets hazardous duty pay!

Link: EPA on Recycling CFL Bulbs

Rent a Home in Basye

Our house in Bryce Resort is now listed for rent as well as for sale. We showed it to a couple of potential renters today. We hope to find someone who will stay a couple of years.

See the rental listing.

Geese Seen from Our Window

Magnolia Blossom

Daylilies and Pillars

Waterlick, VA

The antebellum house in the background is on the market and it's under a million dollars (for those who can afford that sort of thing). Said to be built around 1842, it has considerable acreage. There are some lovely photos of it on the listing.

At 8:30 in the Morning

Frank with the dogs

Ten Years Ago Today

It's been ten years since we got married! Check out the family photo.

My mom (center, front) was still alive then. (Sigh! I miss her!)


Frank and I had both been married before so we had a modest wedding at our home in Prince William County with family members present. After the formalities we gathered around the swimming pool. (Pictures of that party are still online. This was in prehistoric times as far as web graphics programs, so the thumbnails are tiny and I didn't have the means to create a slide show.)

I like this picture of my daughters Marie and Lynn.

Dirty Pool

Our house came with an above-ground pool. Frank spent many hours trying to get it clean, and finally succeeded. Unfortunately, all that effort loosened some old patches and the pool sprang a small leak. Although he tried to fix it, he was unsuccessful. Much of the back yard got very wet!

He has ordered a new pool liner.

Post Number 3406

I missed a blog anniversary! Post 3400 came and went without notice while I was busy documenting our visit to Hoover's Rapidan Camp.

I've made a tradition of spotlighting every hundredth post, but this will have to do. We've been busy getting settled in our lakeside home, but the move itself was very stressful and the house and yard needed repairs. The repairs have not gone smoothly and each step toward fixing something seemed to uncover another problem. (Right now we have no running water in the kitchen!) Meanwhile we are both getting older and the extra work required has made it impossible to ignore the limitations imposed by aging.

Yes, I ache and feel weak! Perhaps it is not just due to aging, I don't know yet. I've been to a physical therapist and she prescribed some exercises to strengthen my knees. I hope this helps because I'm not ready to give up walking!

Meanwhile my food allergies seem to be increasing, although my digestion has improved overall since taking prescriptions for parasites, using melatonin to fight reflux, and just about giving up coffee and corn. But now I am practically out of options for eating breakfast in restaurants, which makes travel unappealing. Who wants to choose between going hungry and getting sick?

Still, I am fortunate because I don't seem to have any life-threatening allergies. And when I really think about it, I am lucky because I am not starving from poverty. Guess I should go over to The Hunger Site and "click" and feel grateful that I live in relative luxury compared to what many people endure.

Tour President's Hoover's Rapidan Camp

Years ago I took my parents to Skyline Drive and we went on the Rapidan Camp tour. At that time it was offered only one weekend a year in honor of Herbert Hoover's birthday. Now it's open on weekends and certain other days during the warm seasons. You need to make a reservation in advance because the group travels on a small bus.

For two years I've intended to take my husband on that tour but the schedule did not work out. Finally I got reservations while his sister was visiting us. Rapidan Camp is located at the headwaters of the Rapidan River. The tour leaves from Big Meadows and travels part way down the mountain on a narrow road. Half an hour later the bus reaches the camp, which was once the presidential retreat of Herbert and Lou Hoover.

The camp can also be reached by hiking or horseback. Some visitors drive in from below as far as the gated road and then walk the rest of the way.

The tall hemlocks that were there 20 years ago are gone now, victims of a tiny but powerful pest. A couple of things that I did not remember from my previous visit were that William E. Carson was instrumental in persuading Hoover to locate his retreat here and that First Lady Lou Hoover was a very accomplished woman.

• Plan Your Visit: Ranger Programs at Shenandoah Nat'l Park 
• Rapidan Wildlife Management Area in Virginia

Summer White House circa 1930

Rapidan Camp, Shenandoah National Park

The Brown House — Hoover's Cabin

	President Herbert Hoover purchased the land for a presidential retreat in 1929. He and his wife liked nature and camping and he loved to fish, so this location in the Blue Ridge Mountains was appealing. Of the 13 buildings that once stood at Rapidan Camp, only three still exist. They have been restored and two are open for ranger-led tours at select times. The third is used as a staff residence.
The "Creel"

The "Prime Minister's Cabin"

Link: The Hoovers' Camp Rapidan

Rapidan Camp Introduced by Markers

Hoover's Camp, Shenandoah National Park

Rapidan Camp then & now Map shows roads, trails, and structures

	"Shortly after his election in 1928, Herbert C. Hoover and his wife, Lou Henry, expressed the desire for a weekend retreat – a place where they could find respite from the demands of Washington life and be rejuvenated by “the blessings of nature.” Here among the trees and trout streams they established their rustic summer camp."
Here is peace and quietude.	See the rest of the text on HMDB.

Boulder and Wild Flowers

In Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

Flowers are soft, flexible and ephemeral.

The rock is hard, unyielding, and just about eternal.

But eventually plants, even delicate ones, can wear down rock
by taking root in crevices and growing with roots gently pressing the rock,
until over the eons, it gives up and becomes soil.

Attack of the Woolly Adelgid

At Camp Rapidan, Shenandoah National Park

 Ranger Sally explained that the hemlock trees were destroyed by an insect called the woolly adelgid. The large tree stump shown here used to support a huge hemlock; now small maples are growing in it.

Link: Eastern Hemlocks

Mountain Laurel, Shenandoah Nat'l Park

Upper Reaches of the Rapidan River

Headwaters at Camp Rapidan
Shenandoah National Park

Snapshots of Us at SNP

 We took my sister-in-law to Shenandoah National Park on Friday. It's always been one of my favorite places and now it's only a half-hour drive from our home.

In the last picture, I'm posing with a monument to the CCC at Big Meadows. I've seen a similar CCC statue in Edinburg (VA) at the Forest Service Headquarters.

Our House, June 2012

Kustard Stand

Lily in the Kitchen

I put a stem of lilies in some water in the kitchen. The flowers bloomed nicely but I was surprised to find out that the pollen can stain surfaces including skin!

Did you know that lilies are poisonous to cats?

A Squirrel in Our Yard

Our new home has squirrels in the yard, not surprisingly. There don't seem to be as many here as we had in Basye ... yet! I imagine we'll see more after I start feeding the birds.

Interior Photo of Small Room

It's hard to take a interior shots of small rooms. This is the "bedroom" that Frank used as an office in our house in Basye.

I really need to get a camera that shoots wide angle. Oh, wait, we have one! Maybe I should charge its batteries and see what it can do.

Home for Sale in Bryce Resort

In the Yard, Strudel Court

 A woman who saw a listing for our property in Bryce Resort asked for additional photos of the yard. Here are some that I'll send her.

Civil War Books I'm Reading

I'm finishing two books for my History 298 Homework.

John Brown

• Stonewall Jackson's 1862 Valley Campaign by Jonathan Noyalas 
• Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War by Tony Horwitz.

I recommend both these books. The first one is by an excellent teacher at Lord Fairfax Community College, Jon Noyalas. The title tells you what it's about, and anyone interested in Shenandoah Valley history will enjoy it. Midnight Rising is the story of John Brown and his 1859 raid in Harper's Ferry. I'm enjoying the audio version and finding it exciting.

Links: Harpers Ferry Tour 

Drama of Field Trips (NVCC style)

Field Trip Noyalas-Style

Lake, Clouds Rising

You can expect to see more pictures of this lake. It's right outside our back door!