City Daily Photo Theme: Zest

Linking to: CDP Theme Day

Bunny on the Deck

  

Linking to:

 

Skywatch: Woodstock Water Tower

You can see this water tower from I-81 just north of Woodstock, Virginia. See more photos with skies in them at Skywatch Friday.

A Bear Butler

We were greeted by this fellow on Sunday in Coolfont. We were on a studio tour near Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.

Linking to: Orange You Glad It's Friday

Blog Post #4400

I've been blogging for nearly 9 years! I didn't post very often during 2005, my first year. We didn't have a fast internet connection at first, and the idea of blogging every day did not even occur to me.

At some point I'll probably stop blogging so often. But for now it gives me a reason to process my digital photos, and I enjoy the interaction with other bloggers.

I've been participating in various blog linkups (or Linky's, or blog parties, or blog hops, or whatever you want to call them). They provide an extra challenge: Can I come up with an interesting picture of a fence today? A bird? A flower? A sign?

As another blogger pointed out, a restriction (in this case by subject matter) can encourage creativity. It can also add variety to my blog.

I've been tagging these posts as Linky's and Memes, and I've labeled 260 of them that way so far.  However, after this post I'm going to stop tagging them that way because around 90% of my posts are fitting that category and I indicate what they are linking to within the post, usually at the bottom as "Linking to" another site.

I appreciate the folks who host the linkups and also the visitors who come here by way of those pages. I also appreciate all the people who take the time to write comments. Thank you!

And now, here's a picture I posted in 2005. It's a Photoshopped combination of two other photos that I took.

A Bridge in Edinburg, VA

The Valley Pike crosses Stony Creek here next to the historic Edinburg Mill. I was attracted to the old stone walls and the wrought iron fence.

Not far from here, the creek joins the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.

Linking to: Good Fences

and Look Up, Look Down

Robin Red Breast

Linking to: Wild Bird Wednesday

and Wordless Wednesday

Sign of the Times: 3 Businesses in One

Creative thinking: To save on rent, move in with someone else!

Linking to: Wednesday Around the World

and Signs, Signs

Goslings Yellow and Gray

Two weeks ago I shared pictures of the Canada Geese and their goslings. Well, a gray goose couple also has babies, and they are really cute! Some of them are yellow but others are gray or partly gray.

Linking to: Nature Notes

and Our World Tuesday

and Camera Critters

From Great-Grandmother's Scrapbook: A Hero of Andersonville

Great-grandmother Hammer kept detailed scrapbooks and recently my sister gave me one. I glanced through it and found a newspaper clipping that relates to Memorial Day because the holiday has origins in events that honored soldiers who died in the American Civil War.

I don't know why my great-grandmother put this clipping from 1910 in her scrapbook. I do know that she remembered the Civil War because she had mentioned it in her diaries, and her first husband had served in the Union Army.

Hero of Andersonville Pen Dies: Made Secret Records

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Dorance Atwater, Who Gave U.S. Government True List of Prisoners Who Died, Succumbs in the West

[Here Dorance is spelled differently than it is in Wikipedia, which spells it Dorence.]

Excerpt:
"Mr. Atwater was taken prisoner in February, 1864, and sent to Andersonville prison, where he was detailed as clerk to make a record for the prison of the deaths among the federal prisoners. Mr. Atwater made a duplicate of the list given the prison authorities, keeping it from their knowledge. His list contained 13,000 names."

I looked up Atwater's story on Wikipedia and it is fascinating. He not only smuggled his list out of Andersonville, he later spirited it out of Washington in order to work with Clara Barton to mark graves at Andersonville.

New Sign at Fisher's Hill

Finally a sign has been erected at the parking area for Fisher's Hill Battlefield! For almost two years there was no signage at this main entrance to the Civil War site. A trail here takes you up the hill to the position of Ramseur's Division.

You can read about the battle on the Civil War Trust website.  I've posted photos of Fisher's Hill before — see our April 2013 visit, for instance.

Linking to: Black and White Weekend

Little Pink Roses

Linking to: Today's Flowers

Geese Reflected

Canada Geese

Graylag Goose

Linking to: Weekend Reflections

and I'd Rather Be Birding

and Saturday Critters

A Selfie with Lynn

Earlier this week I met Lynn (left) for lunch in Harrisonburg. She's my older daughter. No, she's not as tall as she looks in the picture!

It was a coincidence that we both wore orangey colors but at least this qualifies for the linkup, Orange You Glad It's Friday.

Great Gates at Glen Burnie

In Winchester, VA

Linking to: Skywatch Friday

Beware of Geese!

In Winchester, VA

I saw this hand-made sign at Glen Burnie. Let's focus in so we can read it.

Looks like a goose is sitting on her nest! How sweet! But the sign is serious — geese can be quite aggressive, and daddy goose is no doubt lurking nearby, ready to attack anyone who threatens the nest.

Linking to: Signs, Signs

and Little Things Thursday

Cupid's Bow

Linking to: Black and White Wednesday

and Wordless Wednesday

Water Features at Glen Burnie

One thing that makes the gardens of Glen Burnie so delightful is the series of water gardens. A natural spring on the property was diverted to form ponds and even a waterfall.

Designed by Julian Wood Glass, Jr., and R. Lee Taylor, the gardens were created in the second half of the 20th Century. Mr. Glass bequeathed this spectacular property to a foundation in order that it could be enjoyed by the public. Tickets are available at the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley.

See also: Visit to Glen Burnie (2007 post).

Linking to: Wednesday Around the World

and Outdoor Wednesday

Iris Season in the Shenandoah Valley

Mid-May is a great time to see irises blooming in Virginia. I photographed all of these at Glen Burnie Gardens in Winchester.

Did you know that the name iris comes from the Greek word for rainbow? Irises come in many colors. Here we see a few of them.

Linking to: Today's Flowers
and Nature's Footstep Inspiring Photography

Selfie and Myself

FW and LW at Glen Burnie

In order to take a selfie, I asked Frank to hold the camera because his arms are longer than mine.

He also had me pose under the branches of a flowering tree.  The location is the garden at Glen Burnie in Winchester, Virginia.

Walkway Shadows

At Glen Burnie, Winchester, VA

I took these pictures yesterday at Glen Burnie Gardens, adjacent to the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley. It's a special place!

The Pleached Allée

Linking to: Shadow Shot Sunday

and Sundays in my City

and Scenic Weekends

Sepia Statue

Glen Burnie Garden Girl

Linking to: Sepia Saturday

Another Rascally Squirrel

Linking to: Saturday's Critters

and Weekend (No Rules) Blog Hop

Frank's Full Moon

I'm giving my husband credit for this picture. He spotted it two nights ago while walking the dog, came in and got the camera and took a picture.

Linking to: Skywatch Friday

and Orange You Glad It's Friday

and Look Up, Look Down

A House in Mt. Sidney

Architecture in Black and White

Along the Valley Pike, Shenandoah Valley, VA

Linking to: Black and White Weekend

Headless Dinosaur

No wonder he's extinct!

Linking to: Good Fences

Snapshots from the 1980's

I scanned in a couple of photos that I took around 1988. First, we see my mom playing Frisbee with her grandchildren. I was taking a photography class at the time and was probably trying to get an action shot.

The second picture is a selfie, long before anyone called them that. My camera is on the windowsill behind me — it had a timer.

Linking to: Black and White Wednesday