From Gobblers to Gold Stars

Yesterday I drove to the town of Broadway to a temporary exhibit honoring soldiers lost in recent wars. it was at the high school there, which turned out to be a huge complex.

Murals

The school's athletic teams are called The Gobblers. It's not the most heroic name, but it refers to Rockingham County's status as a major turkey producing county. The mural is not realistic, and I've never seen a turkey in those colors.

I found the exhibit, which was only there through today. It’s the Gold Star Tribute Wall, which is made to be deconstructed and shown around the country. It honors fallen soldiers and their families from the wars in the Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Each gold star has the name of a soldier. It was sad to see. Standing there with the sun in my eyes, I did not notice the background of gravestones. It's just as well. All these people died too young, and in some cases, for no lasting benefit.

A Fairly Short Critter Post

Charlie has already gone to sleep so he won’t be writing a post tonight. I’m ready to fall asleep myself so I’ll make this short.

The first picture shows Charlie as we cross the North Fork. If you look closely, you can see the reflection of his harness in the window.

Next, we see a cat with a special effect from PicsArt.

The hummingbird was moving fast, as they often do. This was an automatic picture taken with a Birdfy camera. 

The final picture shows an ice cream treat that Deborah got Charlie in Edinburg today. She and Frank went with me to finish putting final touches on the condo and then we took a ride. Charlie really enjoyed the ice cream and little dog biscuits.

Enjoy your treats!

September Fishing

North Fork of the Shenandoah

Our mornings have been cool, but the afternoons have been warm, even hot. It’s great weather for being down at the river.

A Field in Shanksville

Flight 93 National Memorial

It’s been three years since I visited this site in Pennsylvania. It’s been 24 years since the 911 attacks. An entire generation has grown up since then. 

I have written about this memorial and about the 911 anniversary before. I keep thinking that this will fade from memory with the passage of time, but traumatic events leave their mark.

When I visited the memorial, I viewed the exhibits but did not listen to the audio recordings. It would’ve been just too much to handle emotionally. I also did not visit the tower in the picture, preferring to see it from a distance.

September Blossoms

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De-stressing on Dickey Ridge

Shenandoah National Park

Yesterday I had a long session at the dentist. I had two teeth filled, but that involved five surfaces. It wasn’t terribly painful, but it took a long time and I left with sore gums and a big dent in my bank account.

Since I was in Front Royal on a beautiful day, I went to Skyline Drive, which is so close to town that people walk there. Four miles later, I was at Dickey Ridge Visitor Center.

A ranger was finishing up a talk about bears. I didn’t mind that I had missed it because I’ve heard it before. They do it almost every day. I chatted with the ranger and took a picture of a bear skull.

Inside the visitors center, another park ranger was helping visitors plan a hike.

I browsed through the gift shop. I liked this toy bird, which was identified as a peregrine falcon.

I haven’t seen one up close in the wild. Another visitor center has a model of one on display.

Usually I drive farther south through the park, but I decided to just relax there for a while. I strolled around outside, sat on a bench for a while and took pictures, even though I have hundreds of images of the views there from previous visits.

I overheard a woman tell her husband she saw an eagle, but it looked like a vulture to me. It’s hard to say for sure because it was soaring through the sky, too far away to see any details. I’m not an expert, but I have watched an awful lot of vultures, particularly when we lived next to a lake. They soar in a relaxed way on air currents, and appear to be enjoying a great time.

I’ll show you some pictures of vultures from previous posts.

Mosaic / Wild Birds

Fern Mural

Fairfax, VA

Sharing with Monday Murals.

I don’t go to Northern Virginia very often, mainly because the traffic between here and there is usually frustrating. It might take me 90 minutes to get there, but two hours to get home.

Last week I decided to make the trip because there are things that I just can’t find in my area, and most refrigerated foods are not available for shipping. I wanted to go to Mom’s Organic Market, which carries specialty items for those of us with food allergies. Some of these things I used to be able to get in Front Royal or Winchester, but not anymore. Even Wegman’s and Whole Foods stopped carrying these products; they are becoming so big and corporate that I guess they only stock items that fly off the shelves. (They are not located in my area either, but they are 20 minutes closer than Mom’s.) 

Well, five months ago, I saw pictures of this mural on Denise’s blog. I made a mental note that I should stop in Fairfax and get photos of it. It was easy to remember that she said it was on Fern Street because it’s a painting of ferns.

I struggled with getting the entire mural in one photo. I could not stand on the sidewalk across the street because there were paving trucks parked there, blocking the view. I wound up using the panorama feature on my phone. That left the roof line looking distorted, but I was able to straighten it out using the SKRWT app. 

Part of the mural is blocked by trees and a fence. Here are pictures of the end sections so you can get a closer look.

Yesterday at the Germanic Heritage Museum

This museum is an old farm that has been preserved as an example of farm life in the Shenandoah Valley. Many of the early settlers came from Germany, usually passing through Pennsylvania before coming here. This farm is only open to the public by appointment or on the annual open house day, which was yesterday.

I have been inside the house before, but I thought Deborah would like to see it because she enjoys visiting historic homes. I did not go inside this time, but walked around the property with Charlie while Deborah and Frank toured the house.

Here are some scenes that I viewed on our walk.

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My 2019 Post on this Museum

Charlie’s September Sixth Update

Hi, it's Charlie! Here I am smiling because one of my friends is petting me.

And here’s a reminder to “stay pawsitive.” It’s not from my animal hospital though.

My animal hospital is near my house. I think this cat may be the manager. Sometimes it stands on the front desk.

Dogs come to the animal hospital. The black and white one was friendly, but the other one was shy. 

What else did I do this week? I took walks with Miss Deborah. I took naps. I went for rides with Mom and went to parks to sniff and have fun. I even went to Sadie‘s house to play with her.

I saw some cows.

Yesterday Mom took me to Woodstock and we walked down the street. I met some people who liked me. Mom left her phone in the car. Here I am in the car ready to go home.

I hope you had a good week. If you did not get a chance to have fun, do something tomorrow.

Lights, Doctors, and a Freedge.

This week I had two doctor appointments plus a visit to the chiropractor. One of the things about going to a doctor is there’s usually waiting involved. First you wait in the reception area, and then you go back to be weighed or questioned by the nurse, and then you sit in the exam room and wait again. This can get boring so often I look around for something to photograph with my phone. 

Here I noticed the overhead light fixture. It was so bright that ceiling photographed as black due to contrast.

A summary of my primary care visit is that my sodium level had dropped even lower than before, even though I started taking sodium tablets. So now I’m taking a tablet twice a day instead of once. That seems like a lot to me, but if it keeps me from getting dizzy, it’ll be worth it. Oh, and once again, my blood pressure dropped when I stood up. That’s almost enough to tempt me to spend my days in a rocking chair!

The other doctor was in Winchester. I had waited five weeks for the appointment day and it turned out that I need to go back for a test, but they could not schedule that for another six weeks. Frustrating!

On my way home, I got off the interstate and drove through Middletown to stop and buy a few things at Dollar General. Then I drove down Valley Pike to Strasburg, thus avoiding a long section of road construction. I stopped in front of the Wayside Inn to take a picture of the new “freedge.” That is a refrigerator that functions as a blessing box, where people can leave perishable food for anyone who needs it. My photo picked up reflections of plants growing along the street.

I also took a picture of the front door of the historic Wayside Inn. The Inn has served as a hotel since 1797. The oldest section of it was a stagecoach stop in the 1740’s. 

Three Years of Having a Beagle Boss

Happy Gotcha Day, Charlie!

On September 4, 2022, Lynn and I went to Charlottesville to meet Charlie. He was up for adoption after being rescued from a huge breeding facility. 

He was shy. He did not want to meet us, and I was concerned that he would not like me. However, once he got in the car, he seemed happy to go with us.

These pictures are from late this afternoon.

 

Small Birds, Colorful Pictures

The male hummingbird finally stood still long enough for a picture. His ruby throat is vibrant, isn't it?

 The second picture has an unidentified bird on a rooftop. I spotted it while walking the dog at sunset. 

A Few Flowers and A Cornfield

 Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

“Love is Like a Butterfly.”

"It goes where it pleases, and pleases where it goes.”

That's the message at the bottom of this mural. It consists of a tree and a bunch of paper butterflies. Children who come to this laboratory for tests are invited to add their name to a butterfly.

At Sunrise Medical for Monday Murals 

I wound up here for blood tests on the recommendation of a medical office. We are following up on my hospital visit that determined I was dehydrated with postural hypotension. I also have some nutritional deficiencies, so my provider wants to find out if I am anemic, among other things. I am still dealing with fatigue and dizziness, even though I have increased my salt intake, and I continue to try to consume enough water.

I had not been to this location before, although I had been to the office park where it is located. I had trouble finding it because my GPS seemed to be confused and the street numbers did not run consecutively. Once I found it though, I did not have to wait to be seen. 

I’ll get my test results this week. 

Post #9200 Plus Two

Once again I missed a mile marker in blogging. I published post #9200 on Saturday. I have been blogging for over 20 years.

Today is Labor Day, the last holiday of summer here. I didn't want to drive on the crowded interstate highway so I just took Charlie to our nearby state park. Even that was more crowded than usual. We found a parking space and took a short walk.

It was a beautiful day and there’s a touch of autumn in the air.

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