Where McCormick Invented the Reaper

Raphine, VA

I visited Lynn two weeks ago and we drove to Raphine to eat lunch at the truck stop, which has greatly modernized and expanded since the last time I was there. It has a food court and a small department store, among other things. I stopped briefly at nearby McCormicks Farm. I’ve been there before, and posted photos back in 2011.

It was here that Cyrus McCormick first built his successful version of the reaper. Actually, his father had been working on it for 28 years before Cyrus took over and built a marketable version, with the assistance of Jo Anderson, an enslaved man. 

Sunday Best

In 1847, Cyrus and his brother moved to Chicago to establish a factory. He had realized that farmers in midwestern and western states were highly interested in his reaper because they had vast spreads of flat land, which is better suited for growing wheat than the rocky hills of Virginia.

Charlie’s Report on Good Things and Scary Things

I guess Mom told you that Peggy came to visit us. I had not met her before, but we made friends. She has a dog who did not come with her. She stayed for three nights and sat next to me on the way to the dog park. I always feel better when someone is next to me in the car. The car makes scary noises and moves. Also, she kept me company when my mom was out of the room. Sometimes I get worried when no one is with me.

Today Mom took me to the park in Edinburg. 

We saw a cat. It looked like a nice cat, but it would not come close enough for me to sniff it.

Caturday Art / Saturday Critters

Oh, there is something I should warn you about. One of the stores has added some scary things. We were just walking through and these big things started making loud noises. It made me jump.

I have been getting braver, but it seems like there are a lot of scary things around. So be careful and have a safe week.

I took Peggy to our State Park

Seven Bends State Park

My sister had not seen our local state park since it was developed. I had driven her down to the entrance some years ago, before the park was officially opened. She likes natural areas as much as I do, so we went there on Wednesday.

The first photo shows the ramp/stairway for taking a canoe down to the river. This is the North Fork of the Shenandoah.

We visited both the Hollingsworth Road side of the park and the Lupton side, where we had a picnic and posed at the LOVE sign.

Skyline Views with Peggy

Shenandoah National Park

When my sister arrived on Monday afternoon, she said she wanted to go to the mountains. So we went the next day. We’ve been going there all our lives, but she’s been living in Pittsburgh and before that in Kentucky, so she hasn’t been to the Blue Ridge mountains for a while.

We entered at Swift Run Gap and drove north to Thornton Gap. It was a beautiful day, with clear blue skies.

 

Asters for Floral Friday

We stopped at a number of overlooks and toured the visitors center at Big Meadows.

Stony Man Overlook

Mounted Hawk

Edinburg, VA

This is displayed in the National Forest Service office. I believe it is a red tailed hawk. I have previously posted photos of live ones, but this example looks faded, or perhaps that’s from the fluorescent lighting.

When I searched my image folder for Hawks, the only one that came up that I have not previously shown was one pictured on a sign in Shenandoah National Park. (Bottom row.)

 

Peggy Came to Visit

And we met Lynn for Lunch.

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

Mural Over a Cafe

Charlottesville 

Monday Murals

The other Wegmans stores that I shopped in have a mural on the back wall behind the model railroad. This one has a mural in the front of the store. 

Does this picture depict one of their original stores? I don’t know. It isn’t one of their big modern supermarkets.

September Sunday Collages

Let's start with a couple of photos of the Shenandoah River on a mosaic background.

Summer is ending soon, so I’ll share some flowers while they’re still blooming.

 

Mosaics / Floral Linkup

Dogs, Cows, Cat

A Report from Charlie

Hi! I had fun at the dog park because another dog was there. He liked to run, so we raced around! 

Then he had to leave, but before I even had a chance to miss him, Sadie showed up. Miss Deborah threw a ball and we chased it. Then we rested on the bench.

On another day, Mom drove past a farm. Do you like farms? This one had cows.

At the top of the hill, there was a view.

I saw some other friends this week. Today I saw Chuck, a friendly white dog. I get so excited when I see him, so Mom doesn’t have a chance to take a picture. She said I’m going to make her fall down if I keep running in circles.

I saw Tripod a couple times this week. I was beginning to wonder about him because he didn’t come out much during the really hot weather. I was glad to see him again.

Sharing with Caturday and Saturday Critters

My Vision is Odd

I went back to the retina specialist, and my vision has only improved slightly since getting a steroid injection in my left eye. It is now 20/60 instead of 20/70, indicating I can read one more line on the eye chart. 

It has been four months since cataract surgery in my left eye, and I still have not recovered. Straight lines appear to have wavy bumps in the center. If I close the other eye, I see a spot in the center of my vision. I’m scheduled for another injection in a month. It is not painful to get one, although it sounds traumatic.

I wrote about this situation previously. At that time, I was having difficulty driving and reading, but that has improved, although my eyes still get tired rather quickly, so I don’t drive very far. Also, light appears extra bright, so I wear dark sunglasses when I go outdoors, and even then, sunlight is often painful.

While I was waiting for the dilating drops to take effect, I took a couple of pictures. There wasn’t much to look at so I aimed for abstract designs. 

Do you recognize what the first picture shows? Those are chair legs on the carpet, and I shot it on a diagonal to give it a little interest.

The second image was right in front of me, metal supports for the optical equipment. The bright blue is a reflection of my blue shirt.

I did not bother traveling this summer. It would’ve been hard on my eyes and very tiring. In a way, I feel like I have lost an entire summer. Fortunately, I was still able to take pictures and use my iPad, which allows me to enlarge pages. It also let me dictate, but the results can be ridiculous or embarrassing, so I have to proofread carefully.

Dark Clouds, Construction Crane

Woodstock, VA

I believe these belong to a construction company and they are stored on this lot because they have been there for a long time.

Happy Anniversary to Charlie

It has been two years since I adopted Charlie. On this day in 2022, Lynn and I went to Charlottesville to meet him. He was living with a foster family who had a dog. Charlie seemed to regard us with suspicion and would not come to us.. I was worried that he did not like me, so Lynn and I went to lunch to talk about it.

I phoned the person at the animal shelter who had told me about Charlie. He was one of 4000 beagles who was rescued from a large breeding facility that did not treat the dogs well. The rescued dogs had gone to various facilities around the country that were handling the adoptions. 

The woman felt that he would be fine and urged me to give him a chance. We went back to the foster family and got him. I took a picture of him saying goodbye to his foster mom.  

Once he was in the car, he wanted to come up front with me. No, not safe! We secured him in the backseat using a doggy seatbelt that Lynn had brought. He chewed through it by the time we reached Waynesboro. I had also brought a seatbelt for him so I put that on his harness. I quickly learned that he likes to chew on things when he is riding in the car. The moving car makes him very anxious, and we are still working on that, but he has come a long way

Once home, he appeared to enjoy his new life. Now he seems to be happy, although he does not like being alone. As I write this, he is sleeping on the couch beside me.

Happy Gotcha Day, Charlie!

Hummingbirds are Starting to Migrate

Hummingbirds are beginning their journey to southern climes, and I saw one on Monday. I still haven't gotten any clear pictures of them this year. I did not have my camera ready this time because I was eating lunch on the deck. It spotted Charlie and flew away.

Well, I made an AI pictures of hummingbirds. It looks like they’re having quite a gathering! At least it didn’t give them four wings this time, which it sometimes does when I tell it to draw a bird. AI is notorious for being unable to count, and gives people extra fingers so often that it  has become a joke.

Wild Bird Wednesday

I feel like I owe you a real photo, so here’s a picture of the shirt that I bought this spring at Garden fest. I finally wore it today because the weather was cool enough for long sleeves this morning. This afternoon was warm, though.

Coexist

Walking in the Rain with Sadie

Lion’s Tale Trail
George Washington National Forest

Wordless / Travel Tuesday / 2007 Post about this Trail

Second Mural at the Edinburg Pool

Edinburg Town Park

In mid-June, I posted a picture of a mural in progress at the public swimming pool in Edinburg. I later saw the artist at ArtFest and learned that she was painting another mural on a different side of the same building. Charlie and I went by there the other day, and I got pictures of the fun duck paintings on the changing room doors.

Monday Murals

I also took a picture of the first mural, which unfortunately was in deep shade.

The artist calls her business “Studio Sasquatch,” but her real name is Ennedi Shtanko. She says that she spent many childhood hours at this swimming pool. She relates to Sasquatch as an independent spirit living deep in nature.