Anthurium

Floral Friday / Black and White Weekend / Garden Affair

I spotted this anthurium in a medical office. I was there to get help for hip pain, which has gotten worse lately. The provider set me up with an appointment with an orthopedic doctor and also prescribed a short course of prednisone. 

The medication helped with the pain, which had gotten so bad I could barely crawl out of bed in the morning. Unfortunately it has digestive side effects so I will be happy when I finish the package on Monday. 

I am going to physical therapy twice a week. It does not seem to be helping much but I realize building strength takes a long time.

The View from Pass Mountain Overlook

Shenandoah National Park
Milepost 30 on Skyline Drive

This beautiful overlook is less than 2 miles north of  the Thornton Gap (Route 211) entrance to Skyline Drive. A hiker stopped to read the sign, which provides instructions for using the adjacent stand to take a phone picture and send it to Chronolog to become part of the slide show and research tool. 

Yes, I took a picture when I was there on Tuesday. It was January 17 and this section of the park had just reopened so my picture was the first one since January 5.

Two storms had taken down many trees and branches. The southern section of Skyline Drive is still closed while crews finish clearing the roadway.

Squirrel and Sparrows

Squirrel Appreciation Day is January 21 so let's prepare by viewing a squirrel.

For Wild Bird Wednesday: a Song Sparrow and a  White-throated Sparrow.                                                                                         

 

Soldiers’ Cemetery, Mount Jackson

Dedicated as Confederate Hospital’s Cemetery, 1866

Links:

Historical Marker for Cemetery

Tuesday Treasures

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

Mural with Flowers and Rainbow

Winchester, VA

Monday Murals:This mural is on a brick building near a parking lot in the historic district. I took the picture in autumn, although it shows a spring garden.  

Desire for Peace

Today’s Daily Word was World Peace.

Many people are praying for peace, or at least hoping for a more peaceful world. Events in the news are disheartening… Often heartbreaking. Greed and lust for power are doing so much harm.

Yet “There is is a striving and yearning in the human heart for peace.”  Let us keep striving. 

Mosaic Monday / Blue Monday.

 

Charlie or Charles?

Hi, it's me. Charlie the beagle. Sometimes Mom calls me Charlie Brown. Sometimes she calls me Charles but that usually means she isn't happy. I don't understand why she would be mad at me when I try so hard to be a good dog.

I start each day by reminding Mom to get up early so that we can go outside. She gets to see the morning sky and the little creatures in the trees. I would like to catch one and sniff it but they stay away.

Sometimes I let her take my picture and even add special effects. I’m a pretty good model when I stay still.

Dog parks are fun! Yesterday we went to the one in Strasburg. It is not as busy as the one in Woodstock, but there was one other dog there. His person threw something to catch but it was not a ball so I could not catch it. I had fun running really fast.

After I got tired, Mom drove the car while I slept in the back seat. Finally we got out and took a short walk. There were some creatures called geese on the pond. 

See the harness I wear sometimes? Well, today I took it off in the car. We were not going very far but I was able to walk around in the backseat without the seatbelt holding me back for a few minutes. I could finally reach the armrest on the other side which had never been chewed on and I took two little bites. When the car stopped, Mom looked at me with big eyes and then said something that sounded like she was upset. She did not seem proud that I took my harness off. I thought it was a pretty good trick myself.

Four More from Skyline Drive

Tuesday, Shenandoah National Park

Like many mountain roads, building Skyline Drive involved dynamiting sections of rock. Underground springs still seep through the rocks and freeze into long ice formations in the winter. 

There weren't many people up there. These folks were returning to their car from a hike.

I also saw a couple eating a picnic inside a camping van, with a dog looking out the door. The campgrounds are closed in the winter though.

Tuesday Afternoon, Skyline Drive

Shenandoah National Park

Long stretches of Skyline Drive were still closed due to the number of trees and branches that came down during the ice storm. Crews have been working to remove them from the road.

I had physical therapy on Tuesday morning (for hip pain) and then drove to Luray. I entered the park from Route 211 and it was open for 11 miles southbound. At Skyland I had to turn around and drive back. But the scenery is fantastic and always worth seeing.

 

Common Visitors

Most of my bird seed is going to house finches and squirrels.

Although some folks regard house finches as nuisances, I rather like them. 

The Eastern Gray Squirrel tends to be greedy for sunflower see, but I forgive him because he has a cute little face.

Other birds come to my feeders too, like this Northern Cardinal. He is a favorite because his color is bright and cheerful. 

I photograph them through a window, typically using my trusty old Nikon camera. My cell phone does not have the zoom that my camera has. 

 

The View at Hemlock Springs

Shenandoah National Park

Lost Treasures 

The eastern hemlock tree holds a special place in the hearts of Appalachian dwellers. Birds such as the Blackburnian warbler and the winter wren find homes in hemlock forests. Brook trout thrive in cold mountain streams sheltered from the sun by the hemlocks shade. Shenandoah residents and visitors treasured the enchanting old growth stands at Hemlock Springs, Limberlost, and Rapidan Camp (where some of the hemlocks were over 300 years old). We’ll never experience that magic again. Ninety-five percent of Shenandoah’s hemlocks are gone, killed by an invasive pest called the hemlock woolly adelgid. Park scientists use chemical and biological treatment to protect the remaining hemlock trees. The gray, broken tree trunks of Hemlock Springs remind us of the hundreds of thousands already lost and the ecosystems forever changed.

 See Related Post from June 2012.

Mural with Wild Things

Sperryville, VA

This mural was a surprise. I pulled into a small parking lot and there it was! If you have been to Sperryville, you probably know that it is not far from Shenandoah National Park. Residents there see wildlife in their backyards.

The side of the building was painted like a blackboard so that people could draw on it.

A Morning Prayer

By Dr. M. E. Hecht

Let me remember to listen to a fall of rain or watch for the radiance of dawn.
Let me remember the miracle of a garden, where a small, desiccated seedling becomes a head of vetdant lettuce or the green cup of a deep purple eggplant
And savor the odors and taste of the kitchen.

Let me remember to listen for birds as they wing through the sky and bless the familiarity of their song.
Let me wonder at the munificence of the planet earth, my home

And the eternity of the cosmos it inhabits

And ask to save the least deserving of its creatures: mankind.

Ducks and Dogs

Mallards on Water Street

Rylie and Beamer

Charlie

More Views along the North Fork

Here is a view that I've shared before, but the way it appears changes in different seasons and hours of the day. Since this is a fairly calm section of the Shenandoah River, it reflects the sky above it, which of course changes constantly.

We are looking upriver from the low-water bridge on Hollingsworth Road. In the distance is a suspension bridge for pedestrians, provided for them to cross the river when the low bridge is flooded. The state highway department maintains a number of bridges like this.

Next we see a different view of the river. This one is from a boat landing in Seven Bends State Park.

At times I complain about winter, especially when the days are cold and gray. But we do get some sunny days and pretty skies.

I hope my readers are not getting tired of my pictures of the river and the park. By summer I should be able to travel farther, providing that my dog either gets over his separation anxiety or learns to ride in the car fearlessly.