Farmers’ Luncheon

New Market, VA

These folks were at a restaurant table near mine. I guessed they were probably farmers. Then one of them gave a short speech and said he regards the others as friends, not just poultry producers. I assume he was their sales rep for a supplier, and that they have occasional lunch meetings to talk about the business.

The Shenandoah Valley produces substantial amount of poultry. I was not paying much attention to what they ordered, although I heard one man say he wanted a cheeseburger, which is kind of amusing since this restaurant is known for its fried chicken. I suppose you might lose your appetite for chicken if you deal with it every day.

Hollingsworth Road Reopens

The low-water bridge on Hollingsworth Road reopened today after the river level went down and debris was cleared out of the road. Some other roads in the Shenandoah Valley are still closed. This particular bridge is a little higher than some of the older ones.

Looking downstream. 

The bridge this afternoon.

Looking upstream toward the swinging bridge.

Virginia’s Department of Transportation maintains footbridges near low-water bridges that tend to flood. This allows residents to walk out so that they are not isolated from essential services. There are a number of swinging bridges over the Shenandoah River. 

Debris that washed up against the bridge.

Our part of Virginia did not suffer the degree of hurricane damage that many places did. We had plenty of rain, but not the horrific quantity that fell in the mountains of North Carolina. There are a number of crews from this area who are helping with the relief efforts for our southern neighbors.

“Look for the helpers.” — Mister Rogers

Wet Week Wednesday

I'm running low on photos for the Wild Bird Wednesday linkup. We’ve had rain almost every day for over a week. I really can’t complain because many other places got devastated by a hurricane, and the damage here was minor by comparison. Some of our roads are still closed by flooding though.

You could easily miss seeing the little bird on top of the streetlight. I spotted it in the parking lot of a home improvement store where I was walking Charlie because it was too rainy to go to the park. The store allows dogs to come in, but we were mostly walking outside under the overhang. Charlie found some things to sniff, particularly places where other dogs had been. A beagle finds this very interesting. 

They had a large display of pumpkins outside.

A Hazy View of Lake Arrowhead

 From Skyline Drive

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