Man on Wall, Deer in Road

Shenandoah National Park

Don’t worry; the drop off is not as steep as it looks. You can step down and walk around in the grass. 

The speed limit in the park is 35 miles an hour or less. Not only are there many curves, but often there is wildlife that walks out into the road. 

Sometimes Charlie is my riding buddy. I’m afraid we may have to take a break from that for a while because he has gotten very adept at getting out of his harness, which is fastened to a doggy seatbelt to keep him safe.

South Fork Waterfront

Near Front Royal

The last time I drove through this new community along with the river, it was being developed as Junewood Estates and only a few homes had been built. There are more now, but not as many as the original plans called for.

Personally, I would not want to live in the bottomland along the South Fork of the Shenandoah because I have seen the aftermath of flooding in that area. Debris had lodged in the tree branches, 20 feet off the ground.. The water views are lovely though.

Fruit Trees are Confused

They think it's time to bloom.

It is not unusual here to see daffodils blooming in early March, but it is unusual to see trees flowering this early. We had a mild winter and more warm days than usual. People are expressing concern that insects will be extra thick this year because few were killed off by cold weather.

The first scene was in Winchester, VA. The daffodils could be anywhere, but these are in my yard. I took the last two pictures today along Claven Lane in Middletown.

Bird Post #1085

Almost every week, I post bird photos. Wild Bird Wednesday encourages me to do so. Here’s a collage of some photos I have posted of northern cardinals. The greenish ones are females. Some people describe them as brown or drab, but I think they are beautiful.

I decided to see what artificial intelligence (AI) would create for this well-known bird. I asked for northern cardinal in the snow. I got all male cardinals

I switched to a different AI image creator and asked for a female northern cardinal in winter. It produced another male!

Fortunately, I had a page open describing six free AI “text to art” generators. I picked another one and typed the same prompt.  It gave me the final image that you see here, which looks like another male cardinal with a little extra olive green.

AI is artificial but I am not convinced that it is intelligent!

Update on Cemetery Marker at Belle Grove

Belle Grove in Middletown is one of those places that I keep returning to, partly because it is historical and partly because it is beautiful. History has its dark side though, and one example is that this place was built by people held in bondage.

In 2015, I posted some pictures of the site of a burial ground of enslaved people. The marker there has been revised since then, based on continuing research. It now lists the names of enslaved people known to have died on this plantation. It also describes the use of ground-penetrating radar to locate old graves, plus a diagram of where those graves are.

Text has been transcribed at HMDB.org.

Looking Good!

Harrisonburg, VA

Although I really like viewing murals, it has become a challenge to find a new one for Monday.Murals every week. After an appointment in Harrisonburg, I used my phone to search for a new mural in that town, and what do you know? This one came up.

I probably would not have seen it if I had not read the description. It is behind a shop in what we call “Auto Row” due to the concentration of car dealers there. The store is New Creation, and it helps support an organization that assists victims of human trafficking. 

Also sharing with Mosaics and Blue Monday.

A Peek Inside a Garden Cafe

Woodstock Gardens

This retail business is a combined plant nursery, garden supply shop, and restaurant. There’s also a small used book store for children. They accept donations of children’s books for resale, with half the price going to Shenandoah County Public Schools. 

This local shop was originally Fort Valley Nursery, although it is Woodstock and not Fort Valley.

 

Charlie and Two Rough Days

Hi, it's Charlie. The last two days were not too great, although today was much better because I got to go to the dog park and run around. I need a lot of exercise because I am young and strong and very fast.

So this happened. My mom noticed that my eyes were pink and a little sticky. She took me to the vet's office on Thursday. It's the same building where I go to day care, but the vet makes me get up on a tall table. I don't like some of the things he does.

He put some stuff in my eyes. Now Mom has been putting the stuff in my eyes too. I guess it helps because they feel better.

I would rather go to daycare than to see the vet. I don’t like leaving my mom but the people there are nice, and there are dogs to see.

There are some cats who live in that building. I’ll show you one of them. Her name is Khaleesi and she is pretty but stand-offish.

Here is Khaleesi with a filter from Picsart.

I don’t know what’s wrong with cats. They won’t play with me. There are some who even come in my yard but they run away. I got close to the orange cat again and it even meowed nicely, but then it ran off.

I also see birds in our yard, and in other yards when I take a walk. They won’t stay and play either, and it isn’t really fair because they can go up in the air.

Yesterday we did not get to go anywhere because it was rainy and windy all day. I got restless, and my mom got annoyed when I kept jumping on her. But I did one thing that was brave. I stayed all by myself when my mom went somewhere in the car. She was gone for 17 minutes and I waited without scratching the door. She said she was proud of me.

Near Little Washington

Last weekend I drove to the village of Washington in Rappahannock County. Oh, first I took Charlie for a run in a dog park so that he would be calm during the ride. After he burns off extra energy, he relaxes and often naps. 

The Rappahannock County Library has a large classical-style building plus a book barn for used book sales. It also has a nice view of farms and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Don't be fooled by the rural appearance of Rappahannock County. A lot of wealthy people live there.

I happened to see the new post office. Although it lacks the charm of the old one that was in the town of Washington, it is larger and more modern. 

A Small Fracture, Small Dog, Big Sky, Winding River

Last weekend, I stubbed a middle toe and it got bruised and sore. Well, actually, three toes were badly bruised. The swelling went down, but it was still painful so I saw a doctor on Tuesday and got it x-rayed. It turns out there was a fracture that extended into the joint, so now I have an appointment for early next week to have an orthopedist look at it. In the meantime, I am supposed to wear hard-soled shoes and stabilize the toe by strapping it to the one next to it. I’m trying to rest my feet a little more, but I find I am walking almost as much as before because there are things that must get done, including caring for the dog. He does go to doggy daycare twice a week so that I can go to physical therapy and other appointments.

Yesterday was not a daycare day, so while normally I would have taken Charlie to the dog park, I didn’t want to be on my feet too much. Instead, we went to the state park and took a short walk. I tried to take a selfie of us using the timer on my phone, but as you can see, Charlie was busy sniffing the ground. 

I have heard that beagles actually use up energy when they explore by sniffing. I sat down at a picnic table and let him sniff around some more. He also enjoyed jumping up on the bench and onto the table.

I stopped the car on Lupton Road to take a picture of forsythia blooming, but the sun was shining on my lens. It made interesting effects.

I am still playing with AI image generators. Some of the results are awful, but I’ve gotten some nice images representing our Shenandoah River. 

Comfort Food

The City Daily Photo theme for March 1st is Comfort Food. One of my comfort foods is meatloaf from Cracker Barrel Restaurant. There aren't many restaurant meals that I can have due to food allergies, so I'm happy to be able to get this. 

One of Charlie's favorite foods is a plain cheeseburger from Wendy's. I usually break one into pieces and feed them by hand as bribes, either for taking medicine or for riding in the car. 

Many birds enjoy the seeds and suet that I put in feeders during winter months. Here we see a female cardinal and a downy woodpecker (also female). 

Squirrels like bird seed too, especially sunflower seed.