By a Pond Beside a Road

Rockingham County

I didn’t take very many pictures on yesterday‘s Garden Week tour because interior photography is not allowed, and we were asked to not take pictures of the exterior of private residences. The building that you see here is an inn, originally built as a residence in 1789 and enlarged in 1840.

Lanterns to Liberty Part Two

Yesterday I shared some portraits of participants in the Lanterns to Liberty celebration in Front Royal. Here are some event pictures starting with a mural by Eliza Dorsey.

Mosaic Monday / Murals

A band was playing and there was more going on than I expected. I got tired walking around on a hot afternoon, but it was an enjoyable event.

Portrait Mode at Lanterns to Liberty

Front Royal, VA

As part of the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, a living history event was held yesterday. I did not stay for the evening events which included a ride by “Paul Revere,” but I took plenty of photos during the afternoon. These are pictures that I took using my iPhone’s “Portrait” mode. You need to be fairly close to the subject to use that mode, but people wearing costumes are usually willing to pose. 

I dialed in the solid background because the real background was distracting and clearly not 18th century.

I plan to share regular snapshots of the event later.

250 Years …

Of No Kings

The Freedom Truck is a mobile museum about the American Revolution. On Friday I saw it parked in Middletown, and even though I didn’t have much time, I made a brief stop to see the exhibits.

Coincidentally, “No Kings” protests took place yesterday throughout the country and even overseas. Huge crowds showed up in large cities, and even my small town’s event drew over 300 participants. 

I drove past, and only got a few pictures through the windshield. Walking over to get better shots would probably have required more effort than I could handle, unless I parked illegally which I did not want to do. 

The focus of the demonstrations has expanded due to the attacks on Iran. Most people don’t want a war. I realize that current readers are aware of this, but future readers may come across this blog and not understand the time frame.

Speaking of war, today is Vietnam War Veterans Day. I happened to glimpse an event at the Veterans Memorial in Middletown, and realized what it was. I stopped and took a few pictures. 

Most of these people are members of the SAR, Sons of the American Revolution. The town’s mayor is in the group shot and I don’t know if he’s a member or simply there in his official role. 

I’m glad that SAR put on this event. Many Vietnam veterans are around my age, and that war was hard on my generation. Not only did people die, but soldiers who came back had a high rate of illnesses and post-traumatic stress. They had to struggle to get recognition that their health problems were due to the war, including to “Agent Orange “ defoliant exposure. 

Thank you for your service. Let’s hope for peace!

Note: I try to keep my posts fairly short, so I often leave out things that I might say in conversation. Also, I took a lot of pictures over the past three days, so I combined quite a few into collages (mosaics). 

New Exhibit, New Season at Belle Grove

 Middletown, VA

Saturday was opening day for Belle Grove Plantation after a winter break. I’ve been there many times, but I wanted to see the new quilts on display. These were stitched at community events and venues as part of a project to honor the memories of the enslaved workers who kept Belle Grove flourishing from 1783 to 1851.

Names of 270 people are on the quilts, organized by family groups. Their names were discovered through years of research using local records, news articles, and other sources. 

In the next room is an archaeology exhibit called “Unearthing Enslaved Lives.”  I’ve been following the research here for quite a few years. Historians, archaeologists, and students have done an impressive of reconstructing stories that were almost lost to time.

The property is on the Cedar Creek Civil War battlefield.

Page Co-op Farm Bureau

Luray, VA

This farmers’ cooperative was formed in 1921. I decided to show it in black-and-white to give it a vintage feel, although the vehicles tell us that this is a contemporary view.

Across the parking lot is a store called the  Hawksbill Trading Company, named for Hawksbill Creek. We can see the reflection of the farm co-op in the window. 

The front of the store has a loading area where farmers can pick up bags of seed or feed or whatever they need. (Ha, that sounds like a slogan, doesn’t it?)

The Old Massanutten School

Luray, VA

This building served as a school from 1875 to 1937. It was moved to downtown Luray in 1974 so that it could be preserved as a historical attraction.

From Horrible to Hopeful

Luray, VA

American slavery was, of course, a horrible institution. Here we have what is said to be a slave auction block, where enslaved people were displayed for potential buyers. 

The Narrative of Bethany Veney is a short and fascinating [online] autobiography of an enslaved woman who lived in the area and faced auction but managed to avoid being sold into a new (and potentially worse) situation.

Read the text on Historical Marker Database.

We can find a more hopeful piece of Luray history on West Main Street. The Andrew Jackson school was built for Black students a century ago. It now serves as a recreation center for the community and also has a museum that’s open on Saturday afternoons.

The school was not named for President Andrew Jackson; it was named after a local Black businessman. This was a Rosenwald school, one of over 5000 schools built in the south with support from communities and Julius Rosenwald in partnership with Booker T. Washington. It functioned as a school until 1959.

Orrick Cemetery in Winter

Winchester, VA

Orrick Cemetery is a historically black cemetery that’s over 100 years old. It was named for Robert Orrick, who donated much of the land. 

Across the street is the Calvary Pentecostal Church of God. I was not able to find a history of the church.

In downtown Winchester, there is a historical marker in front of the home of Robert Orrick who was born enslaved but established a successful business in Winchester.

Photo of the Year 2025

The City Daily Photo Theme for January 1st is Photo of the Year. Each year I have trouble picking out one image for this challenge. I’ve shown some of my possible choices over the past few days, and I’ll show the rest of my runner-up photos below. 

First, here’s my photo of the year and I want to explain it. It may look like two pictures, but it is a bookstore window with a reflection of the old county courthouse. A flag in the window says “Abide No Hatred,” and if you look closely, you can see demonstrators in front of the courthouse. This was on. “No Kings Day” in October. 

Britannica states that almost seven million people participated in demonstrations nationwide. It’s the historic importance of this event that inspired me to spotlight this picture. 

Almost a year ago, similar protests took place across America. People came out in our small town to express their beliefs. Significantly, groups have been demonstrating here every week, often twice a week. 

My first runner-up for photo of the year is a winter scene from January. There are many farms here in the Shenandoah Valley.

Other winter photos that I like.

Black and White.

A floral picture that’s different than most.

A few that I find sweet.

I hope your new year is off to a promising start. I did not make any new year resolutions, but instead, I followed a suggestion to pick out a single word that is meaningful to me right now. My word is Resilience.

🎵 “Here in my heart, I do believe,

  We shall overcome someday.”