One of the first things we do in the morning is walk the dogs. Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays the canines from their appointed rounds.
We love to watch the Canada Geese as they take off and land on the lake. It's not easy getting a good picture of that action though. My digital camera mechanism does not move as fast as geese do. Even a split-second delay between the time I press the shutter and the time it actually clicks is too long - the goose has flown away. |
| Geese, Lake, Snow |
It was nice having Marie visit for a few days. Since she lives 300 miles away, I don't see her as often as I'd like.
that I gave her for Christmas. She had an earlier model and liked it so she put this one on her wish list. |
| Lynn and Marie Javins |
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| Me and Frank | Jerry and Lynn |
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| Dave, Allison, Frank |
Marie arrived on Friday and we planned a family dinner for Saturday. My other daughter Lynn and my sister Peggy were coming. Christmas wasn't until two days later but Saturday was the only day we could all get together.
We had snow on Christmas Eve, just enough to cover the ground. It was nice to look out the window on Christmas morning and see a frosting of snow!
Since red and green are Christmas colors I thought some pictures of cardinals would be appropriate for Christmas eve. These are males; the females are greenish-brown with touches of red.
Recently we visited the Artisan's Courtyard in Dayton, VA. It's not a large collection of galleries but we found some nice art to admire, and it's not far from other attractions like the Farmer's Market, the Heritage Museum, and the old mill. 
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We picked out a brown one although it turned out that Frank had already bought a birdhouse for my birthday, a metal one made to look like an owl.
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| Looking Toward Harpers Ferry |
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| Shenandoah River |
| Back in 2010 when Marie and I were here, we hiked up the Appalachian Trail from the parking lot near the Shenandoah River bridge, paused at Jefferson Rock, and then walked down a long flight of steps into the town of Harpers Ferry. It's not a difficult hike, but I took Bill via a less strenuous route starting at Harper's Cemetery. We just walked down the hill and through the woods to the overlook. |  |
In 1877-1888, on the former site of the Shenandoah Canal's lower locks, Thomas Savery erected this large mill to provide wood pulp for the paper industry.
Ten turbines, arranged in pairs in the mill's five massive sluiceways, powered wood grinders, rolling machines, and other pulp-making machinery. By the 1920's, Savery's mill had the capacity to produce 15 tons of ground wood pulp daily.
After several unprofitable years, the mill closed in 1935. Within a year the building was destroyed by the record flood of 1936.
Its ruins reveal the last remnant of water-powered industry in Harpers Ferry.
