Mid-January Critters

Winter in Virginia has always been unpredictable. This winter has been colder than the last few years, but the temperature got pretty mild today. I saw my neighbor getting her mail and she was wearing sandals.

The picture of the cow is from yesterday. Much of our snow melted today, but we’re supposed to get another snowstorm tomorrow. A bitter cold spell is coming to most of the USA. 

Yesterday afternoon I finally got my car back from Malloy Toyota where it has been for repair. This was a frustrating experience because it took them several months to get the parts, and then four weeks to complete the repairs mostly because some of the parts that were sent were wrong. The repairs were interior work made necessary by my nervous dog who chewed on a couple of seatbelts and other items while I was driving. This happened in spite of having a doggy seat cover and plenty of chew toys. 

Fortunately, much of the expense was covered by insurance. I’ll give Charlie the chance to write a few words at the end of this post. But first, I’ll show you some animals that I saw on Tuesday.

I went to the dentist and the news was not good. The pain that I had been feeling in tooth number 31 was due to a nerve that was dying under the crown. So I need a root canal or an extraction. I’m going to see an endodontist this week. 

There was a squirrel outside the window of the dental office.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I went up to Skyline Drive after seeing the dentist. The road had been reopened after getting cleared out of snow and falling trees. Since then, it has closed down again due to the impending snowstorm. 

The speed limit on Skyline Drive is only 35 mph and it’s even slower in developed areas like Dickey Ridge. I always watch for deer there because they frequent the roadside. When you see one in the road, stop and then wait a minute because there might be more.

I paused at the parking lot to see the view and glimpsed a bird flying over.

A little farther south, another animal crossed the road. I don’t see raccoons very often, and this poor fellow was limping. He made it across the road and disappeared into the woods.

Even though I didn’t drive far, I saw some more deer. I guess they were out looking for food on this sunny afternoon.

As promised, here’s Charlie to say a few words.

<<I’m glad we got our car back. I haven’t been to the park in a month because I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere in the loaner car.  Mom said we are starting car training all over. Today we just went around the corner and she gave me some dog treats. I watch her drive but she doesn’t tell me much about how to do it. Maybe that part of the training starts later.

I’ve been bored this week because we didn’t go to the park. Walking around the neighborhood is not much fun because there’s cold stuff all over the ground, and until the grass showed up today, there wasn’t much to sniff. I haven’t seen any dogs except at the vet’s office. 

I didn’t mean to hurt her car. I wanted to stop being scared. The car shakes and makes noise. I think if I were driving, I would not be scared.>>

Crossing the North Fork at Chapman Landing

Between Edinburg and Woodstock is a country road called Chapman Landing Road. It crosses the North Fork of the Shenandoah and then heads east to the foothills of the Massanutten Range. I decided to make a short detour there after I dropped off my recycling this morning. 

The road crosses the river on a low bridge and nearby is a footbridge that is suspended higher up in case of flooding. if you look upriver from the low water bridge, you can see the pedestrian bridge in the distance.

The final picture today shows the view in the opposite direction.

Ice Flows over Basalt Flows

Shenandoah National Park

Skywatch / Water H2O Thursday

Indian Run Overlook along Skyline Drive is a great place to view ice flowing over the rocks like waterfalls. I’ve been going there every winter for several years. This feature is only 11 miles from Front Royal.

I don’t see waterfalls at this spot in the summer. The rocks are simply wet with water from springs, and a drainage ditch carries the water away.

A geology page  describes the rock formation here: “The basal basalt flow of the Catoctin Formation is exposed in the roadcut by the overlook.”

American Goldfinch, January

Although our goldfinches are small, they don’t seem to mind winter weather, and will stay out to feed during a snowstorm.

 

Now we still have snow on the ground, but it has melted off the trees and large shrubs. Our temperatures remain cold though, seldom rising above freezing even on sunny afternoons. It is unusual for snow to remain on the ground for this long in Virginia. I’ve been replenishing the seed in my birdfeeders.

Snow in the Valley is Slowing Melting

Seen Today from Skyline Drive

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

We’re Getting Cabin Fever

Charlie and I are getting “cabin fever.” That’s the restlessness you get when you spend too much time indoors.  Between the snow and my sore knee, we’ve been deprived of outdoor adventures. 

The snow has been very pretty though.
 

My other complaint is that my car is still not fixed. It’s been at the dealership since before Christmas, and I can’t take Charlie for rides in the loaner car because they specifically said “No pets.” I understand their policy, but it means we couldn’t go to the dog park even before the snow.

Texts, Last Week and Today.

By the way, I did go to the doctor for the knee pain that I’ve had for several weeks. She said that it’s from a "Sprain of lateral collateral ligament of knee." It should be better in a few more weeks.

Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to spring. Here are some supermarket flowers.

Mosaic Monday / Garden Affair

Snowy Search for Linkup Photos

Do you give yourself photography assignments? I've been blogging for over 19 years, and I find myself looking for particular subjects when I'm out running errands, or sometimes even just for a reason to go somewhere. Of course, it doesn't always work out, especially if the weather interferes.

After being pretty much snowed-in last Monday, I drove to Harrisonburg on Tuesday with the idea of doing some grocery shopping and taking some pictures. I headed for the library downtown because I had read there was a new mural there. Unfortunately, the library was closed due to the weather. One thing to understand about living in a mountain/valley region is that the roads might be clear in town, but workers who live in the nearby hills can’t get there because the roads are icy or still covered in snow. (Oh, the confusion this causes to parents of school-age children! “Why are the schools still closed? My street is fine.”)

I took a picture of Asbury Church across the street, and also a street scene. There were no pedestrians to be seen.

Not far away, I spotted a new mural on Liberty Street. I parked the car and walked to the side of the building to take pictures. 

It wasn’t until I enlarged this picture today that I saw that there was a reflection on the window. That must be a plastic storm window because the reflected dumpster is distorted.

The mural continues along the front of the building. 

As I composed this post, I searched for the name of the artist and found it is Tyler Kauffman, who completed this last month. He also painted other murals that I’ve shared: a bicycle scene and Space Cowboy. 

Linking to Refections / Shadow Shot / Murals

Snowy Farms Plus Charlie’s Report

Today I took recycling items to the transfer point on Moose Road. (We don't have curbside recycling here.) The afternoon light was pretty so I drove down the road a little farther to get some pictures of farms in the snow. After I show you those, I’ll let Charlie tell you a little about his week.

Cows were gathered together. These were the only animals I saw other than a few birds.

By the way, my cell phone tends to make snow look too dark. I lightened all the snow pictures at least 10% in the Photos app because the automatic exposure is programmed to make the overall lightness a medium gray, which is not natural for snow. Often 50% lighter is needed, but beyond that is tricky in this app. If I were using Photoshop, I could make layers and selections and lighten only the snow. But this is quicker, which is important because my eyes are still getting strained easily.

Okay, let’s hear from Charlie the beagle.

Saturday Critters / Caturday

“Mom says snow is pretty, but it is too cold and it covers up interesting smells. I haven’t been walking far and usually I just want to get back in the house.”

After we walk past a few houses, there’s a place where the sidewalk has not been cleared and there’s too much snow. 

Last night, a little more snow came down and covered our clean sidewalk. There were some interesting tracks, which might have been from a bunny. I made tracks too.

The week has been kind of boring. We can’t go to the park because it’s cold, and also Mom still has a loaner car, which I am not supposed to ride in. She says her car will be fixed soon. I don’t like the car and that’s why I chewed the seatbelts, but I do like going to the park.

Sometimes we look at birds, but I only like to watch them when they’re moving. 

I’ve been taking extra naps and it’s time for another one.

Dripping Ice

A shrub sits outside my garage, bare of leaves because it's winter. Its plain stems and branches have been coated with ice from frigid waterdrops that escaped the frozen gutter and then refroze on the way down. 

Black and White Weekend / Water H2O

I felt that the final shot looked best in color. 

Fire and Ice

“Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.”

- Robert Frost (1923)