Recently Read History Books\CDs

Okay, I'm a history geek. Here's three books I read recently:

1. Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. I listened to this one on CDs. It combines anthropology, biology, geography, history, and the author's personal opinions on why some societies became wealthy and powerful while others just subsisted. The answers have nothing to do with talent or intelligence, but much to do with resources and the limitations of geography. Very interesting.

2. Holding Rugged Ground: The Civil War Along the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike is an audiobook that combines narrative, diaries, letters, and mountain music to tell about the Civil War in West Virginia. We visited that area in May - see my Civil War Field Trip Photo Pages.

This is good CD to listen to while you drive through West Virginia. Those mountains were rugged places for an armies to march through. They even camped in the mountains over an entire winter. Heh, talk about a "cold mountain!"

3. Everything was wonderful: A pictorial history of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Shenandoah National Park by Reed Engle. This is a slim paperbook back that I found in the library. I've heard about the CCC all my life; my parents explained to us kids how the CCC boys built the facilities that we enjoyed at Shenandoah National Park and other recreation areas. This book has recollections and photos of those young men building the park. For those of us who did not experience the great depression or the New Deal, this provides a glimpse of those times and a successful social program that still benefits us today.

Trees - Growing and Gone

Note the size of the stump on the right. It will take a while for the young tree to reach that width!

Around the Pond with Benny

Little Ben is always happy to go for a walk. He likes getting in the car too. I took him to Orkney Springs today and we walked around the pond.

Additions to Civil War Tour Website

I added a couple of pages to my recent Romney to Delaplane Civil War tour:

• Shenandoah River South Fork and
• Farms at Paris (Virginia).

These pages add four photos that I took recently showing the route that Confederate troops took on the way from the Shenandoah Valley to Manassas. I also added a couple of photos to the pages that were already posted.

Flowers at Orkney Springs

At the end or VA Route 263, inside the loop where the road goes around and meets itself, is a stream and a lovely garden. We've seen folks tending it; they do a great job.

If you peer closely at the butterfly bush below, you can see that there are two butterflies on it (upper right and lower middle).

Someone Else's Window

View from a Chalet at Bryce

Last week we looked at some houses for sale here in the resort, not for ourselves, but for a client of Frank's. The view above overlooks the golf course.

A year ago we were buying the house we have now. Yes, it's already been a year!

To the right is the view from one of our windows. I show you our view pretty regularly - it's pretty, and it changes with the weather and the seasons. Sometimes I just stop whatever I'm doing and enjoy the view.

After the rain, Morning

I noticed that wispy vertical cloud often rises up in the same place in our view. Nancy M. says that there's a waterfall there. Or maybe it's fog rising off Lake Birdhaven.

Walking through Paris

I went back to the village of Paris, Virginia to take some pictures. When I was there on a field trip in May, a steady rain made photography difficult.

Paris is mostly hidden from the highways (17 and 50) that intersect nearby. Travelers may glimpse the historical marker for Jackson's Bivouac as they speed past. A few may come into town to visit the Ashby Inn or the nearby antique shop. They find a quaint little settlement that seems to have been ignored by time for a hundred years.

Above: The Ashby Inn.
Right: A sign on a farm fence says Jackson's Bivouac, duplicating the text of the marker on Route 50, which states:

"After a day’s march from Winchester on 19-20 July 1861, Brig. Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson halted his lead brigade of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's Valley army near here. At 2:00 A.M. his 2,500 men sank down to rest.

When told that no sentries had been posted, Jackson stated “Let the poor boys sleep. I will guard the camp myself.” Relieved of his duty an hour before daybreak, Jackson slept briefly, rising at dawn to march to Piedmont Station (now Delaplane), where railcars waited to transport the 11,000-man army to Manassas Junction. There, nearly 30,000 Confederates faced 35,000 Federals at the First Battle of Manassas."

Two pictures of three young women

In the right-hand picture, Kate and Allison have switched sides from the 1994 version.

Old Picture of Orkney Springs

This is how Orkney Springs once looked. At least, it's an artist's depiction of how it looked.

I was a little confused when I saw this as to which direction was which but Frank figured it out. It's as though you were coming from Basye - on a balloon. The loop road and Great North Mountain would be at the top but out of the frame.

A Book on the Underground Railroad

This map of the Ohio River Valley is from the book Bound for Canaan: The Underground Railroad and the War for the Soul of America. You won't find the town of Chesapeake on it but it is located below Gallipolis - look for the letter "u" in Portsmouth and let your eyes drop below it to the river. That's the area where my ancestor Jacob Suiter lived. Some say he sheltered escaped slaves. There's also a family story that my mother's ancestors sheltered slaves - see Peggy's comment at the bottom of the post linked here.
Seeking information on the underground railroad, I listened to the audio version of Bound for Canaan by Fergus Bordewich. It's a fascinating book, full of exciting stories of courage, religious conviction, sacrifice, and civil disobedience.

In the thirty years leading up to the Civil War, around 100,000 slaves made their way to freedom. Most who were successful were from the border states, and many were assisted by white citizens who could see that slavery was cruel and unjust. But there were penalties for helping escapees, sometimes severe ones, so most of the participants kept their activities secret.

This is an enjoyable and inspiring book that raises questions about civil disobedience that we must ponder in order to understand the complexity of our history. I certainly enjoyed the audio version, although I found myself wanting to see maps and pictures so I checked out a hardcopy book from the library.

Virginia's State Butterfly

The Tiger Swallowtail

This common but pretty butterfly is browsing a butterfly bush.
According to Animal Diversity Web, the tiger swallowtail was the first American insect to be drawn for English viewers; a drawing was sent to England from Sir Walter Raleigh's third expedition to Virginia.

South Fork near Millwood, VA

This is the South Fork of the Shenandoah River at the place where US 50 crosses it. There is a boat ramp there.

Yesterday's sky, late afternoon

Already the days are getting shorter. And the sun is going down a bit to the left of where it set a month ago.

More Lake Laura Photographs

Labor Day at Lake Laura

We went up to Lake Laura last weekend to take a look at the beach. I've never actually been to the beach there while it was open even though we've lived in the resort for three years.

The swimming area is a steep walk up a hill from the parking lot, which is next to the dam. We learned that there is not much shallow water; it drops off quickly. The sandy area for little kids to make castles in is separated from the lake by a fence for safety.

An attendant told us that the water is tested regularly and is clean (although there is algae growing in it nearby). Water temperature was in the 80's.

Morning Glories

Frank is very fond of morning glories, iris, and roses. So of course, we planted them. The morning glories in the garden hardly grew at all, but the ones I planted in an iron pot grew and grew. For the longest time, they grew leaves but no flowers. Finally, we saw flowers this week.

Very nice!

Zydeco!

I went to the Zydeco concert at the Shenandoah Music Festival on Sunday. Terrance Simien and his band played loud and spirited music to an appreciative audience. At first about 20 couples were dancing; by the end of the concert, hundreds of people were dancing.

Oh, I caught two strings of Mardi Gras beads. Simien threw these necklaces into the audience, sometimes picking the necklaces up and tossing them into the rows using his bare feet! Later the washboard player recruited a couple of women from the audience to come onto the stage and toss the beads to people's outstretched hands.

If you haven't heard Zydeco music, how about Cajun music? It's from Louisiana; it was the inspiration for the song Jambalaya. I first enjoyed it at a Smithsonian Folklife festival years ago when the band Beausoliel played. Later heard more at the "Swamp Romps" at Wolf Trap.

Simien announced that a Zydeco/Cajun category has been added to the Grammy awards. It's fun music, especially when experienced live.

Small Plane Coming In

Ready to land, Bryce Mountain Resort

Pictures of the Core Area of Bryce

Above: Coleman's Restaurant, Braxton's, and the Pro Shop are in this building.
Below: Condos, the Old Pro Shop, Townhomes, and the gazebo at the first tee.

Downhill fun

Here's a youth starting up the hill on the moving walkway.

Below we see tubing in progress. The tubing chutes are carpeted with huge bristles that are kept wet so that a tube glides over them.

Bryce Resort website

The guy with the hose doesn't squirt the tubers; he just keeps the super-turf wet.

Mountain Tubing

Click the arrow to see kids mountain tubing at Bryce Resort - Summer Version.
(In the winter, there is snow tubing.)

My Guys

I came home from a brief trip into the "core" of the resort, and my friends were waiting in the driveway. Frank says that Ben whimpers for me when he hears my car coming.

FCW at a Window

This picture was taken at Buffalo Springs Herb Farm.

FCW has been ill for over a week now - violent cough and nausea, hardly eating anything. He's been to the doctor twice. I've had a little cough too but otherwise I'm okay.

I think we both started coughing from mold allergy. We had a plumbing leak behind a wall in the bathroom for a long time. The plumber came out the first time two months ago. He fixed the shower handles that time; second time found nothing wrong but said we would have to make a hole in the wall to be certain. Dampness on the outside wall remained and one of the floor tiles was always damp, so finally Frank opened up a big hole behind the shower. Al fixed the leak but the smell of mold came into the house. Within a day we both started coughing.

We bought a dehumidifier, sprayed bleach in the wall and let it dry for a few days. Bought a light plastic access door and Frank installed it. Finally the air seems to be cleaner. Of course, the rainy spell we had did not help the situation.

Golf Course Photo

Bryce Resort Golf