Sky with Broken Panes

These windows are on a commercial building that’s been empty for many months. It isn’t abandoned, but it is up for rent. 

Black and White / Weekend Reflections

Seven Hundred Posts with Creeks and Rivers

My site statistics show that I have posted 700 times with the Creeks and Rivers label. I may owe non-bloggers an explanation about labels. Basically they are tags or topics, and we decide for ourselves what labels we want to have on our blog. They can be useful in finding subjects later, and they can help search engines find our posts.

I hope that my regular readers are not tired of seeing river pictures. I feel that pictures of the Shenandoah River are almost a requirement of having a blog centered on the Shenandoah Valley.

Sharing with Water H2O and Skywatch

Here we see the North Fork of the Shenandoah as I saw it today from the Hollingsworth Road bridge. Most of our snow has melted. 

When the snow was still plentiful, I took pictures of the river a little further down at Lupton Road. And then yesterday, I filtered a couple of them using an app called ArtCard. It gives them a painterly look.

Curious Cardinal

This female cardinal appeared to be peering at me. I was looking at her through the window so she probably knew that someone was there.

Wild Bird Wednesday

The Pier at Egypt Bend

On the South Fork of the Shenandoah

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday 

Shenandoah County in a Mural

A mural was recently created at the Shenandoah County Chamber of Commerce. The artist is Rachel Fitzsimmons and the mural is 35 feet long.

I wasn’t able to get the entire painting in a photo because the room is narrow and there’s a long conference table in it. Let’s walk along and take a look.

The artist wanted to show some of the things that Shenandoah County has to offer, including recreation in the mountains and along the river. She also painted the old courthouse and the café that is nearby.

The Chamber of Commerce is on Main Street in Woodstock. You can pick up maps and tourist information.

Mosaic Monday / Murals

Two Low Bridges, Winter

Low water bridges are intriguing because they work well much of the time but they become impassable when the river is high. They seem out of place in our high-tech world. A few have been replaced in recent years, and others have been raised higher. Replacing a bridge is expensive though, and in some places, it has been blocked by property owners who don’t want to give up a piece of their land for access. There can also be environmental concerns, the possibility of destroying something historical, and neighbors' worries about increased traffic.

Today we look at two bridges in Shenandoah County that are still low enough to flood fairly often. The first is at Chapman Landing in Edinburg. It serves farms and homes on the east side of North Fork. While some maps show another road that might provide access, it appeared to me that it was a private lane.

Looking Downstream

Yesterday I crossed the Lupton Road bridge to Seven Bends State Park. It does not serve a residential area, so when it floods the main effect is that access to the park is closed to vehicles. There is a pedestrian bridge nearby, which is a swinging bridge that is built to be above the high water mark.

North Fork of the Shenandoah - for Sunday Best

Dogs and Woodpeckers

It’s time for Saturday Critters, and I'm starting with a picture of Charlie that I filtered for the pet art blog hop. Yes, he needs a nail trim, and one is scheduled for this coming week.

I like dogs and I often take pictures of dogs that I see.

A fine sheepdog was at Seven Bends State Park today, patiently listening to a talk on woodpeckers.

This was my first visit to the park since the snowfall and cold spell. There was a food drive for charity, and I brought a couple of items to drop off.

The North Fork. Sharing with Water H2O

Returning to the topic of woodpeckers, a downey woodpecker has been enjoying a seed bell.  

I’ll leave you with one more picture of Charlie

Snowman and Eyesight

 I’ve only seen a couple of snowmen this winter. I think that’s because it’s been so terribly cold outside. This afternoon was above freezing for a brief time, and the weekend should be decent, with afternoon temperature is reaching 38°F.

I’m making this a brief post because my eyes are bothering me even more than usual. I went to the retina specialist today and they dilated my pupils, so my eyes are still extra-sensitive to light. Next month I have an appointment with a different specialist  and I hope they can help me. Reading has become difficult and exhausting. 

I made a couple of brief stops this afternoon and took a few pictures in Woodstock. I also picked up groceries.

Charlie spent the afternoon in day boarding. He’s always excited when I pick him up.

Snow, Climate, and Insurance

In Virginia, snow is not unusual. But this week brought snow to the deep south, including cities on the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists tell us that warming oceans have caused more evaporation of water into the air, increasing precipitation that includes snow as well as rain. 

Like most people, I am concerned about climate change. We all need to be prepared for extreme weather events. It’s obvious that we are already in a period of changing climate. I’m not too worried about the people who want to push environmental science back fifty years. Corporations have already discovered that alternative energy sources are cost-effective. They exist to make money, not to throw it away on a lost cause. We have passed the tipping point on clean energy, but unfortunately we have also passed the tipping point on climate disasters. Update your home insurance! 

Speaking of home insurance, I had a strange thing happen with mine. It got canceled and I didn’t have any for two years! The payments come out of my bank account so I wasn’t concerned when I didn’t get bills for it, and payments were still being made on my investment property insurance. Time seems to pass so quickly now that I didn’t notice when more than a year went by without hearing anything about my policy. But something reminded me; perhaps it was stories about the California fires. I went back to look for evidence that my insurance is still current. I didn’t find it. All I found was paperwork from 2022, which included a printout showing that my insurance had been canceled then and reinstated. I had written a note on there stating that I talked to Jackie at Geico about it. I recall that there had been a problem when they got my former husband‘s home insurance policy confused with mine, but I had straightened it out. There it was on the printout that it was reinstated.

Well, for some reason they canceled it again. I was horrified to find out that my home was not insured, but I was able to sign up for a new policy. That was 90 minutes I won’t get back, but at least my house is fully insured.

I hope my readers and other friends are comfortable and safe. A lot of people have frozen pipes from the very cold weather. Our temperature finally went up to 1° above freezing today, and tomorrow is supposed to be warmer.

Song Sparrow and Starlings

Sunday brought us more snow, followed by very cold temperatures. A water main broke and faucets were dry for five hours. It could’ve been worse

The cold has spread to states south of us, and even parts of Florida are covered in snow. Birds have been flocking to my feeders, and I’ve been able to trudge out there and replenish the seed supply.

The song sparrow is a delightful bird. I don’t see them as often as house sparrows.

We only got an inch or two of snow this time. I was able to adequately clear the driveway with a broom.

Starlings look pretty in the sunlight, but they can be a nuisance. They arrive in a flock and try to monopolize the feeders. Sometimes they tap on my windows, annoying the dog.

On days when it’s too snowy to go to the park, I’m glad that I have birds to watch.

A Monument in the Snow

New Market Battlefield

Links:
54th Pennsylvania Monument 

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday 

Vivid Murals by Students

Rappahannock County

The artwork from Hearthstone School had handwritten quotations about peace that are worth reading.

Monday Murals

The People’s March in Woodstock

Blog Post #8970

There was a local version of the People’s March yesterday. It was a fairly small gathering compared to the large march that took place in Washington DC, but it provided an opportunity for people who were not able to travel there. 

I stopped by and took a few pictures at the starting point. I felt a little embarrassed at letting my sprained knee prevent me from walking when I saw a woman who was using a walker.

Sharing with Mosaic Monday

This event was a more inclusive version of the Women’s March in 2017.  Here’s a picture that I made at the Shenandoah County courthouse then.