January 22, 2021

Winding Down on Willy Nilly Friday

We're only three weeks into 2021 and we've certainly seen some highs and lows! Our country made it through the attack on the Capitol and the Inauguration, but we are still in the throes of the pandemic. We have lost over 400,000 lives already to Covid-19. Two vaccines are available but there are not enough qualified personnel in our part of Virginia to keep up with the demand. So we wait. 

I haven't been to a restaurant in ages. I go into stores less often and very cautiously. Meetings are done online. Thank goodness we have the internet! 

Well, I can still go for rides and take walks in uncrowded places. It is easy to find them except on weekends when every family seems to be outdoors. 

Yesterday I found Seven Bends State Park to be very quiet. Here's one more picture from there,  more abstract than the others and in Black and White

The floral image is from my archives. There are three floral themes I'm linking to: Friday Bliss, Garden Affair, and Floral Friday

Looks like I inadvertently returned to the red, white and blue theme I used on Inauguration Day. Well, they are great colors! 

My skywatch shot has a similar color scheme, but with orange tones in the sunset.

The rest of today's pictures are from 1998 on Maryland Heights. This was a hike in the fog from Harpers Ferry to the Civil War fort on the mountain. I don't think I could do that steep hike now so I'm glad I went when I could.

I wanted to share these because Harpers Ferry is one of my favorite places. 

I posed at the overlook that is photographed by everyone who goes up there. You can see the bridges across the Potomac, and the town of Harpers Ferry. The river on the upper left is the Shenandoah and it meets the Potomac at a point that's out of the frame to the left. 

Originally I was going with a group from the NVCC Civil War class. It rained that morning and only two of us showed up. The rain had let up but we the found the heights shrouded in fog. 


I think my lens got fogged up too. The few pictures I took of the old stone walls are blurred by mist. This was 22 years ago and I did not own a digital camera, which would have been extremely expensive then.

The fort was built by Federal troops in 1862.  I think the sign in the final shot shows the 30-Pound Battery

My companion on this hike was a classmate and I think his name was John Campbell. In that class we typically knew each other by first name. It was pretty much a series of interpretive trips to Civil War sites and there was no roll call. Anyway, he hiked up the mountain with ease and I struggled to keep up.



15 comments:

  1. The world is in such a bad situation due to covid. I wish the politics over there calms down now that Joe Biden is the president. In Russia also an alarming situation due to Navalny. I stay isolated too and sometimes it feels very boring & annoying. But health and safety are the most important things.

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  2. I really like this detail in bnw. The photos of undergrowth are also very beautiful

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  3. Excellent black and white photo, Linda!

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  4. It is also very bad here in the Netherlands and also too few vaccines have been delivered so it will now take even longer for our turn. There is also the dangerous British variant, which spreads quickly. Only in our province, South Holland, there are also many deaths and unfortunately the end is not in sight. Since I do nothing on the internet except blogging and making movies, we go very early to the grocery store to get what we need and also I or my husband go in alone. Everything else is closed here and we now have a curfew and that had not occurred since the 2nd war. From 9 o'clock until 4:30 in the morning you are not allowed to be outside. But there are always those stupid ones who do not keep to it. I also really liked your photography.

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  5. Great photo of Harper's Ferry...loved seeing you, as well as the river/bridge and town! I salute you for climbing up to that position! There were times I used to hike everywhere I wanted also. I need to cut down my visiting outside my home...to stores around here. I sometimes forget about the pandemic, just 'cause I wear a mask whenever I'm out. No longer go anywhere in a car with others at this point, at least. But still going for a walk almost daily!

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  6. One of the interesting aspects of COVID-19 it seems to me is that many of us have been looking back and reliving agreeable activities from the past. We have the time to do it! I had to cancel a trip to Australia last year, and I am still unable to go this year. I long for the day when travel will be possible again.

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  7. I love your legacy photographs. I guess they have been film?

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  8. The photo from your hike is nice. I would have loved to see the civil war fort. Hope your day is richly blessed with comfort and gladness.

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  9. Ditto... no restaurants, little to no shopping, no get-togethers, but walks and hikes. I've gotten more proficient at on-line shopping. I like your b&w photo, and beautiful sky shot!

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  10. Gostei das fotos, preto e branco, e coloridas. Muito chato essa situação, mas pude rever os conceitos de sair muito de casa....agora enjoei um pouco. A situação do país está nos enlouquecendo, políticos, pobreza, ladroes, muita confusão para as vacinas, uma ganância sem fim. Difícil de entender. Arrisquei com todos os cuidados uma visita rápida até a serra, cidade de Gramado. Foi bom, reativei os ânimos.

    abraços!

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    1. I'm glad you were able to get away to the mountains. I have not taken an overnight trip since 1999.

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  11. Agreed. My outings are go to the grocery store, go to doctor appointments and pick-up drugs. I have been looking back at photos taken and that were not published. I am trying to learn Windows 10. I also watch a lot of TV. Like your abstract. Enjoy your walks.

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  12. Beautiful Carnations.. Thanks for joining in garden Affair.

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