Blog Post #7373: A Quiet Snowy Day.

For the third day in a row, I stayed home. That's unusual for me because I get restless and like to get out, but the roads were treacherous for two days and still slick today. Frank went out this morning to see the doctor and reported that shady sections of the roads are still icy. (He's okay; Dr. Spriggs thinks his symptoms are due to allergy.)

Willy Nilly Friday / Skywatch / Black and White Weekend.

I put on my boots this afternoon, replenished the birdfeeders, and walked out by that bench. Here we see the view looking west toward the dam. The lake is partially iced over.

 This picture with a reflection of lights on the window is from yesterday. 

I want to share with the flowers I got for my birthday, which was Tuesday. 

Floral Friday / Friday Bliss / Garden Affair

Stay safe and have a pleasant weekend!

More Snow and Some Holiday Lights

We had about six inches of snow yesterday and a couple more inches during the night.  

 

This morning I heard an engine running in our driveway. I looked out and saw our neighbor clearing our driveway with his snow blower. I guess one of the perks of getting old is that younger people do acts of kindness for you! (Thank you, Tony!)

The day before the snow we took a ride to Winchester to view holiday lights. We stopped at Martin's Supermarket on the way home to pick up a few items that we did not find at our local Food Lion the day before. (I try to minimize shopping in person but it is difficult because no store carries everything we want, and there are still shortages. I have not found any goat milk in a week or so and Frank did not find a certain cheese that he wanted.) 

Anyway, we went to Jim Barnett Park where they have a drive-through lights display. In non-pandemic years they have a walk-through lights show.

The light display was enjoyable although fairly modest. Afterward I drove up White Oak Road in Stephens City where a family has an amazing Christmas display in their yard, but there is no place to pull over to safely take a picture.

Today's closing photo is also pre-snow. A neighbor puts seasonal signs on his fence and this one represents a decorated Christmas tree. 

Sharing with Signs 2 and Thankful Thursday.

First Snowfall of the Winter

Today was our first real snow. We had advance warning so yesterday we put up the bird feeders. I'm counting on the local bears to stay in their dens for the most of the winter instead of raiding our feeders.

Wild Bird Wednesday

The geese and ducks do not seem to mind the snow. Visitors to our feeders included juncos, Carolina wrens, and woodpeckers. 

We got about six inches of snow. It was over my hiking boots when I trudged through it to get the mail. 

The Old Summit Point School

Now a residence and rental. 

Wordless / Tuesday Treasures

Yesterday in Front Royal

I heard that a new mural was being painted in Front Royal so yesterday I drove there, put on a mask and walked down Main Street. I found not one but three new murals in progress!

It seems odd to try to paint outdoors in December but this weekend was very mild. I hope they completed their work because snow is in the forecast on Wednesday. 

I'll have to go back and try to capture the completed murals. It's difficult to do them justice because they are along narrow streets so I cannot stand in the middle and get the entire work in one shot. 

Monday Murals, Mosaic Monday, Random-osity

The town square is decorated for the holidays. 

I also drove down Luray Avenue to the boat landing to take a look at the river.

A Glimpse of Summit Point

Jefferson County, WV

These photos are from a year ago. Summit Point is a small town near Charles Town, West Virginia. Here we see Summit Point Baptist Church and the community post office. 

George Washington once owned 2,000 acres in this area. 

Not far from here is Cool Spring Preserve. When we were here five years ago, the playground had not yet been built, or at least I did not see it. It is built of natural materials rather than plastic and steel.

 

Ready for winter.

Here Mrs. Duck is cruising along. She doesn't look concerned that winter is coming; she is an expert at handling it. 

The deer appears to be a young one, not a fawn but not fully grown yet. He'll continue to hang out with his extended family during the winter, protected from hunters by the rules of the National Park (Shenandoah).

Back in my yard, the gray squirrel puts on weight and "squirrels away" food for the winter. He does not hibernate but will venture out on all but the worst of snowy days, raiding my bird feeders.

The geese, like the ducks, don't seem to mind cold weather. I saw this one coming in for a landing at the end of the day. They are often busy at night, though. Sometimes I can hear them honking in the dark. 

I'd Rather Be Birdin' / Saturday's Critters.

 

Friday Variety.

It's Willy Nilly Friday, an excuse to post images that are not from one place or time, and also to join some weekend linkups.

Skywatch: Clouds and the Massanutten Range.

Reflections: These windows in Harrisonburg reflect the sky and the cornice of the old post office building. 

Friday Bliss: Since I don't have any flowers blooming in this cold season, I'm sharing a flower I saw at Weber's Nursery. 

Black and White: I decided to cut my hair after watching a couple of instructional videos. As they suggested, I made two pigtails, banded them twice and cut above the lower band. Here I realize that maybe I cut it too short. 

It's short and somewhat choppy. I've had that result in salons at times, so I don't feel too bad! At least I didn't risk getting exposed to Covid! 

One more image: This is an old photo of my parents from before my time. I took a picture of it using Google's Photoscan app, which minimizes glare by taking four shots in slightly different positions. Another blogger told me about this some time ago and I forgot about it until recently.

Hello Sunshine.

Signs: Here we see the shed at the recycling and trash transfer site in Strasburg. The red sign warns that a video camera is filming you, so don't steal from the trash or put something in the dumpster that is against the rules. The blue sign says "Start each day with a smile." The yellow sign says, "Hello, Sunshine." 

Sometimes people who bring stuff to the dumpster offer it to the attendant. I suspect that's where how the yellow sign got there. It doesn't look like something the county would supply.

The LOVE sign is in Front Royal. The shadow of the gazebo is hiding the E. 

I wanted to show you something topical so here's a pandemic-related sign from a burger place. "The King's Shield" is a sheet of acrylic separating the customer from the clerk. "This keeps us apart, but a Whopper brings us together."

Speaking of food, here's a meme about corn allergy. I have a "mild" corn allergy and even a little corn syrup gives me gastric distress. Here in the USA, corn is a common ingredient in foods and even in medications. Trying to find an over-the-counter remedy that doesn't contain corn is difficult.  

Change of subject: Today I came across an old photo of my younger daughter Marie. I took this when I had a weekend job taking portraits at Sears. At that time, she was working for Marvel so she is wearing a Spider Man jacket. 

The picture of my other daughter, Lynn, is from last Christmas. Her sister had made her laugh, as she always does. 

Lynn is still recovering from Covid-19. Now she has a sore throat that merits an antibiotic. The local pharmacy seems to be overwhelmed (or understaffed) so her neighbor was not able to get it for her yet, even though the doctor called it in yesterday. Hopefully tomorrow. 

Three Birds in Profile.

Duck, Finch, Sparrow, Cardinal.

 

I dipped into my "4Dec2017" folder for these. As a way of organizing my pictures, I make a folder for each month, preceded by "4" meaning "For." That's where I download the images. Ones that I've cropped (if needed) and resized go into a Print folder for the month. I size them even smaller for use on this blog, put my name on them, and save them in a current folder. Right now it's called 2020December. 

I don't always crop or sign cell phone pictures, and I rarely print them because they are a small file size. Today's photos were taken with a camera that has a zoom lens.

I realize some readers don't care about those details, but the majority of my readers are fellow bloggers. Do you organize your pictures by month?

As for today's subjects, the first two are females. Mrs. Duck is a mallard. I thought the second bird was a purple finch; the female does not have the bright scarlet colors of the male. However, some readers who are experienced birders tell me this is a sparrow.

Today's red bird is a male northern cardinal. 

St. Michael’s Academy in Haymarket

Tuesday Treasures / Wordless

A Sierra Mural in Harrisonburg

Last week I was in Harrisonburg for a dermatology appointment and I remembered this mural on Cantrell Avenue. I quickly learned that Cantrell is now Martin Luther King Jr. Way. It's been a long time since I drove through that slice of Harrisonburg, which is next to James Madison University. 

 

Monday Murals

 

I found a plaque which identifies the artist, Trudy Cole-Zielanski. 

The mural wraps around a corner. Part of it is covered with ivy.

I also stopped to take a picture of a tree and later, a golden-hour scene on the way home. The late-day light had turned the Massanutten Mountains an orange color. 

Combined in PhotoShop for Mosaic Monday.