The Last Week of May

It was a busy week. Marie left on Monday, which was Memorial Day. I had a dermatology appointment on Tuesday, and had to have a spot on my cheek removed for a biopsy. They also treated other sun-damaged spots, leaving me with a slightly beat-up looking face. And it rained. 

I always rest in the car for a while after that sort of appointment because I want to be sure that I have recovered enough to drive safely. The spray that they use on my face leaves me lightheaded. I took a picture of dogwoods through the wet car window.

I canceled the dental appointment that I had for Wednesday because I wanted a day to recover before the funeral that I was going to on Thursday. It rained again, and stopped long enough to take Charlie to Riley Park for a quick walk.

On Thursday, the weather was good. I’ll write about Dr. Poland‘s funeral later.

Yesterday we had more rain. There was a tornado warning, but it didn’t touch down here, although I heard it was seen in Page County. I did pick up my grocery order during a break in the weather.

Today was quite chilly for the end of May. I took Charlie to Camp Roosevelt for a walk, not venturing far from the car because there was a chance of rain again. I’ll share pictures from that trip on another day. 

In the meantime, here’s an image for Caturday.

Walking in Sync

This was in a college town so they may be students. They appeared to be enjoying a conversation.

Field and Bright Clouds

There’s a barn in the distance, but it 's lost in shadow so all you can see is the faint glow of the metal roof.

Song Sparrow in the Grass

Melospiza melodia

Wild Bird Wednesday / Wordless 

A Respected Teacher, a Caring Friend

 Charles Preston Poland, Jr.
1934 - 2025

Dr. Poland was an enthusiastic and caring teacher. I first took one of his history courses 35 years ago and enjoyed it so much that I kept taking his classes until he retired. Mostly, they were summer or spring field trip tours. I was fortunate that the first one I signed up for covered the beginning of the American Civil War. We followed the war chronologically for the most part. It took eight seasons to cover the entire war, and we only concentrated on action in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Much of the time was spent traveling by car, following the routes of the major campaigns. 

Some of my classmates had completed the series before and were doing it a second time. Well, I wound up doing the same thing. The trips were never exactly the same though, for Dr. Poland was always learning new things and leading us to new places. 

He and his wife were some of my favorite people. We continued to exchange Christmas cards after he retired. It hurts to lose him. 

Memorial Day 2025

Since Marie did not need to leave until noon, we took Charlie to the dog park in Strasburg this morning. I had another reason for going there, and that was to photograph the display of flags downtown.

The pedestrian bridge over the creek has been decorated with a very nice LOVE sign. The banks of the creek are newly landscaped.

There’s a pretty painted butterfly on the fence. The town has several other butterflies decorating fences and walls. Hanging baskets of flowers brighten the sidewalks.

Mosaic Monday / Murals 

There are two mosaics in front of a garden. There are also three painted concrete sculptures which remind me of waves.

Charlie did not run as much as usual in the dog park. I think he had a tummy ache from getting some human food last night. He was glad to have Marie there.

This is blog post #9100.

Marie and Lynn and Charlie

Marie arrived this morning. She can't stay long because she has to go back to California tomorrow so she can work on Tuesday. Lynn came and spent the afternoon with us. She fixed my birdfeeder camera.

We took Charlie to the state park. 

 

The slide is a very slow one. Lynn remembers speeding up sliding boards with wax paper when they were kids.

As Lynn was leaving to go home, I tried to get a group picture with Charlie, but it’s difficult to get him to look up and have both my daughters smiling properly at the same time. 

Charlie’s Report for Late May

Hi! Mom says it’s my turn to tell you what’s going on. Not a whole lot, but I do have a complaint.

Some time ago, Mom brought a tin beagle into our house. She seemed surprised that I didn’t like it, but since it scares me, she finally put it in her bedroom. Well, sometimes she puts it where I can see it if I try to come in the door. That isn’t very nice because it’s a scary thing. It isn’t cute or furry like me. 

Let’s change the subject to something that isn’t scary. I showed you my cat friend before, but we don’t have any recent portraits of Tripod. So we made some on the computer. Here are two that are cute. Which do you like?

Here you see me looking out from the deck. Mom was taking pictures of birds when I saw something more interesting.

The rabbit stopped hopping as soon as it saw me. I stared at it but it did not move. I did not move either. Finally Mom said let’s go back in the house so we did. But I really would like to chase a rabbit.

I heard that Marie is coming tomorrow so I guess we should get some rest. Good night!

Relief from Drought

We've had some pretty good rain this month, which is fortunate because we were in drought conditions for a long time. We are now officially in "abnormally dry conditions." That is still a concern, of course, but at least the spring rains are helping the crops to get a good start.

The first picture of a puddle on pavement was naturally without color, but  I desaturated it to make sure it qualifies for Black and White Weekend. 

I took the second picture looking out a window from a medical office.

The rain has been good for trees too. This one is a redbud.

A View Along Oak Ridge Road

Mount Crawford, VA

One hundred and fifty years ago, this was a farm owned by Samuel Slusser.  The farmhouse was beautifully renovated 20 years ago.

Striving Starling, Hunting Robin

The starling was on the railing, trying to get suet from a feeder. This feeder has a wire grid on the bottom where woodpeckers can hang to feed. Birds that do not have toes designed for clinging are almost out of luck, but they can still try. This bird would jump upwards and occasionally grab a morsel of suet.

Today was rainy, but there was a break in the weather this afternoon, and I sat on the deck with my camera. I could hear various birds in the trees, but the leaves are thick and it was hard to get a picture. Charlie was outside with me so not many birds approached. Robins, however, are pretty fearless as long as you are 20 feet away.  This one hopped along on the grass, looking for food.

Looks like it found something! American robins eat insects, worms, and berries.