The Maples Have Changed.

A cold front blew in last night. It blew so hard, in fact, it woke me up and I had trouble getting back to sleep due to roaring of the wind plus pain that I've had in my hips for a few weeks. I felt anxious as well as uncomfortable.

Today the maple trees were brightly colored.

I drove to Winchester this morning for a physical therapy appointment, my first this year. The doctor that I saw last week for hip pain prescribed physical therapy so I can get advice for the right exercises. I have piriformis syndrome with shooting pain, and it comes and goes, and when it acted up a couple weeks ago, I did too much of the wrong exercises which brought on really acute pain in one hip, which they say is bursitis.

A year ago I graduated from a long program of physical therapy for my right foot and ankle. I had surgery on that foot three years ago and it took a long time to heal, partly because my ankle ligaments are too mobile. I could have gone back to that physical therapy group but decided instead to go to a provider in Winchester that I saw for core strengthening about five years ago. So far I think this was a good choice.

The problems are connected. My wobbly ankles cause strain on my hips, and if I walk a lot or climb too many stairs, the pain spreads up my back and even causes a sore neck.

Okay, enough of that. After my appointment I had lunch and sought out a Civil War site that I read about recently. It is on a parcel of the Third Winchester Battlefield that was recently opened to the public.

A monument was unveiled there in September, marking the location of the Alabama Brigade’s farthest advance during the Third Battle of Winchester. It was funded by a man who was descended from one of the Alabama soldiers. I could see the monument from the gate but did not walk out to it. A cold wind was still blowing plus I want to let me hip stop hurting before I take walks. I saw a man jogging on the path, reminding me of one of the advantages of preserving the battlefield: it serves as a park for people who want to run or just walk in a nice quiet area.

I remember when this battlefield was mostly farmland and not accessible to the public. The first part of the park was acquired in 1995. Now Third Winchester Battlefield Park is around 600 acres.

The new monument and this portion of the trail system can be reached from Averell Avenue in Regency Lakes subdivision.

Sharing with the Fences Blog Hop.

I'm including a picture of one of the lakes in the subdivision. 

Since I was near Route 7, I decided to follow it to Berryville on the way home. I stopped at the historical marker for Harry F. Byrd near Rosemont. This marker was down for a long time and has now been replaced with a new marker.

While the marker is very similar to the old one, this sentence has been added: “He led Virginia's Massive Resistance to public school desegregation.” and “political machine” has become “political organization.”

Massive resistance was an effort to avoid integration by closing the public schools (1958-59). Eventually it failed and the schools were open to all children.

For more information:
This marker on HMDB. 
Massive Resistance in Wikipedia.