Petting Zoo Critters plus a Note from Charlie

At an Event in Edinburg

Charlie’s Adventure 

Going to the dog park is the best thing ever! So when Mom drove to Fairview Park yesterday, I got really excited. I jumped out of the car as soon as she opened the door, before she even unbuckled my seatbelt. I shook my head to take the collar off, and I started running up the path. She called me, but I already knew where to go so I kept running.

The gate to my play area was closed but some of my friends were inside. I ran back-and-forth in front of the gate until my mom caught up and opened it. I ran inside and waited for her to open the other gate, which she did. Oh boy! 

I was so excited the other dogs got excited too, and a little rough but they calmed down and we had fun. There was a golden dog and I chased her and she ran in the tunnel. I don’t go in tunnels so I went over the hill and met her on the other side and she ran through again. I got to show how fast I can climb and jump.

I chased a ball too, and raced some other dogs. Some of them barked, but I didn’t because I don’t bark much, plus I have to save energy so that I can run faster than my friends. Finally I got tired and stood in front of the gate to tell Mom I was ready to rest. Mom looked like she was ready to rest too. 

Food Truck, Puerto Rican

In the first photo, a worker is pouring water (melted ice) out of a cooler while a customer waits for her order.

I don't see a lot of food trucks here. I know of one for seafood and one for donuts. This one advertises Puerto Rican food. That's not too surprising because Shenandoah County’s largest minority group is Latino.

I don't know much about Puerto Rican cuisine but I read an article and it sounds awfully good.

Hoover Road Sunset

Woodstock, VA

Skywatch

Probably the Last Time

Today I drove to the allergist's office in Burke for the last time. They are moving to McLean. That's farther away and the Northern Virginia traffic can be pretty awful.

It takes almost 90 minutes to drive to Burke and I allowed two hours because traffic has made me late before. I was on I-66 when they called me to say they were running late so they moved my appointment from 1:30 to 2 PM. Okay then, I'll stop for lunch.

I remembered seeing a Popeye's restaurant under construction the last time I went through Haymarket, so I stopped there. I had red beans and rice and browsed on my iPhone.

After my appointment, I did some grocery shopping, which was frustrating because both stores I went to were out of things that I wanted. I also had to deal with construction zones and traffic. My navigation app failed to avoid these.

Anyway, I stopped to take a picture of this marker on Burke Road. The history it tells is more recent then I usually see on historical markers.

Signs 2

Copperthite Raceway was constructed in 1907 for harness racing. “Horse, motorcycle and car races were also featured. Special trains from the Washington, D.C. area brought visitors to Burke, where they could stay at the new hotel. Families enjoyed fairs, Fort Myer cavalry drills, balloon ascensions, baseball games, athletic contests and dances at the pavilion. For nearly a decade, thousands were entertained at the Copperthite racetrack and fairground."

Not Many Birds but the Views are Great!

Natural areas call to me. I’m addicted to scenic views and looking for wildlife. So I used an errand in Harrisonburg is an excuse to go by way of Skyline Drive. It takes quite a bit longer, several hours if you stop as often as I do.

I reasoned that I could take some pictures of birds. The only wild bird I saw was a vulture soaring on the wind currents. I could hear other birds, but they did not come out of the trees.

It was a cloudy day and Stony Man’s profile and was hidden in the fog. 

I stopped at the visitor center at Big Meadows. Look at this model owl! What a face!

There were chairs where visitors can sit and watch the meadow. Often you can see deer.

Silhouettes of birds are on the glass to alert birds that there is a barrier there.

Art at the Mill is Happening

Through Oct. 8, 2023

Millwood, VA

Art Show Website / Wordless linkup / Treasures 

Swimmer Mural

Waynesboro, VA

 This painting depicts a woman swimming. It’s on the opposite side of the building I showed you last week. Once again, I was not able to get the entire mural in one frame because there was a tree, plus another property made it impossible to step far enough back. The garage end of the building is also painted, but more in a graffiti style than a pictorial style.

Monday Murals

Cosmos and More

On Friday I drove back to Lost Bottoms Farm in Edinburg. Most of the sunflowers are gone now, but there are cosmos and zinnias.

Garden Affair / Mosaics

Mostly Cows

One of the nice things about living in the Shenandoah Valley is seeing farms and animals.

 

The first three photos are from Woodstock. The next one is from Fishers Hill a year ago. That land is now inaccessible to ordinary citizens because the broken gas line is still being repaired. I believe the cattle were not there when the line exploded.

Filtered in Picsart

I’ll close with a bonus picture for Charlie’s fans.

Yard Maintenance

A shrub next to my house had grown to be huge and unruly and I was concerned that the homeowners association would send me a letter saying I was not in compliance with the rules. I was at their meeting on Tuesday and it got contentious. We were voting on whether the annual HOA fee should be raised. To me it was a no-brainer because the fee was ridiculously low and hadn’t been changed in 20 years. But someone spoke up who felt she had been disrespected by the HOA, which sent her a letter about her renting out her basement as an Airbnb. This is against the rules. She wound up yelling and some board members muttered that she was lying, etc. It was not pleasant. 

Anyway, I told Frank about this when I gave him a ride to a medical appointment on Wednesday. He volunteered to prune the shrub for me. We worked on it today and it took two of us to get it into decent shape. A weigela does not usually exceed 6 feet in height, but this one had a few branches sticking out of the top that reached about 9 feet.

Charlie watched out the front door, and could only see me now and then, but seemed contented with that. The reflections of the porch banister almost make it look like he’s in jail!

I wonder if Charlie noticed that my new garden flag has a dog on it?

Skywatching from Lupton Road

It was late this afternoon when I took Charlie to the state park because I had a meeting that ended after 3:30, and I came home and had a snack before heading back out.  The clouds were a mixture of fluffy clouds and contrails that had started to spread apart.

We took a short walk, met another dog, sat on a bench. By the time I crossed the bridge to come home, the sky was starting to darken.

Photo Frustration

It doesn’t look like I’m going to get a good hummingbird picture this season. I thought I got some the other day but the light was fading and I just didn’t get the focus right. Before I show you the better of the disappointing shots that I got, I’ll show you my hummingbird window hanging, taken with my kaleidoscopic attachment that I demonstrated on July 20th.

So here's the bird, overexposed and not quite sharp.

Today I made a couple of computer generated hummingbird pictures using Picsart.

 

Edsel Taxi

This driver was providing rides at the Edinburg Old Time Festival on Saturday. 

I only went to check out the craft vendors. I got really tired holding onto Charlie’s leash,  and he got tired from sniffing everything. 

Sharing with Tuesday Treasures

It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day

Celebrating Silliness with AI

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday 

Murals almost Hidden

Waynesboro, Virginia

Last week we looked at a couple of pink murals. There are others on the same wall, but you cannot view them all at once. I had to walk around to get pictures that were not obscured by the trees.

I really like the bird by Daniel Rossi. It looks like an angry woodpecker trying to make a hole in the masonry.

I found another mural on the end, behind the tree. I think the octopus is holding spray paint cans. I guess he is a graffiti artist.

Monday Murals