This Week’s Critters

Valentine’s Day has come and gone. Charlie was not interested in dressing up for the occasion. As soon as I put the “Free Kisses” bandanna on him, he started trying to get it off. As for the headgear, I didn’t even succeed in getting that on his head before he shook it off.

On Thursday, I shared some scenic views from Shenandoah National Park. I saw some deer there too. This little guy was posing nicely until another deer came bounding through behind him.

One day I ran a couple of very minor errands in Middletown. They were so minor that I wondered if I should’ve even used gas to drive there, but then I spotted this friendly horse. It’s always nice finding a surprise photo opportunity.

“Toon” Effect / Art.

Swing in the Sunshine

In Bridgewater, Virginia 

“Street photography … records everyday life in a public place.”

Bare Trees, Misty Afternoon

One thing about having a dog is that I go for walks even on days when the weather is not great.

Black and White

Blogging note: Something has changed on the Blogspot interface again. I hope it’s temporary. I’m not able to edit code tonight in HTML. This probably wouldn’t matter to most people, but I used to code so many webpages that I can probably do it in my sleep.

The interface is pretty good and lets me do basic things quite well. But sometimes I want to make a change that’s easier in HTML. Also, I often blog on my iPad, and it has limitations. It helps to hit the save button regularly.

Winter Skywatching, Skyline Drive

It wasn't really my plan to go to Skyline Drive today, but my errands took me to Front Royal. Skyline Drive starts there and winds its way south through Shenandoah National Park. Sometimes I find it irresistible.

I knew that they had snow up there, even though we had only gotten a dusting of it in the valley. I told myself that maybe I would just go up and view a few overlooks, and then turn around and go home.

In the winter, it is hard to predict what it will be like in the mountains. The climate there is colder and sometimes foggy. By the time I reached Range View Overlook, I knew that the skies held enough drama to make photography interesting. I decided to drive south to Thornton Gap and come home through Luray.

I have driven the north section of the drive so many times that I know which overlooks offer the best views. I usually stop at Pass Mountain Overlook before reaching the exit at Thornton Gap. The sun was low in the sky when I got there.

Ha, the sun coming through the clouds looks like the face of a jack-o’-lantern!

A Day for Red Things

Happy Valentines Day to those who celebrate. I did not, except for posting a few pictures. 

In honor of the day, I'll show some red birds. The northern cardinal is our most obvious one.

The male house finch displays sports red feathers too. 

The American Robin is known for its red breast. 

I do have a decoration outside for Valentines Day. And I took Charlie to the dog park in Strasburg, which was great fun for him because a small dog named Timothy showed up and ran with him. 

 

Working on a Logo

At one time I had a little image at the top of my blog, but at some point it disappeared. I just used Flaming Text to create a text logo. Let's see if I can get it to show up as a header.

Nope, i’m not able to edit the code right now. I’ll try later. Or maybe I’ll use this version that I edited in Picsart.

Evening in Riverton

Front Royal

Wordless on Tuesday

Regional Library Mural

Harrisonburg, Virginia

Massanutten Regional Library invites you to enter a castle! Oh, wait! It’s the children’s section. 

Monday Murals

Looks like Jack is climbing the beanstalk!

I must say this is fancier than any of the libraries I went to when I was a child. I still loved them though.

North River Baptist Church

 Bridgewater, VA

This historically Black church was built around 1898 and is still in use today. It has been expanded over the years.

Mosaic Monday

Along the North River

When I went to Bridgewater on Thursday, I took so many pictures that I'm dividing them into three posts. It was a beautiful afternoon.

 Some mallard ducks were enjoying the nice weather.

I was a little surprised to see the fountain in operation in February, but it was an unseasonably warm day.

Painted rocks form a “rock snake“ made by children of all ages. It is next to a Civil War Trails sign, which tells about the town and river during that war. The bridge had been destroyed, and at one point Confederate soldiers pushed large wagons into the river to use as a makeshift footbridge.

The large dam was built as a mill dam in 1877. It is an impressive spot to visit.

Although Charlie was not with me because he does better in daycare than he does on car rides, it doesn’t seem right to post Saturday Critters without a picture of him. 

Filtered in Picsart for Caturday.

The Roscoe Burgess Riverwalk

Bridgewater, VA

The town of Bridgewater is situated along the North River in Rockingham County. Settled in 1746, it was known as Magill’s Ford. 

Since February is Black History Month. I wanted to do a blog post for the occasion. I did an internet search for Black History sites in Rockingham County and was delighted to find there are some in Bridgewater. It is a charming town with beautiful river views. So I headed there yesterday afternoon.

I located the marker honoring Roscoe Burgess in Seven Bridges Park.

“As you travel this path, which connects two halves of Bridgewater, be mindful of the path’s namesake. 

Roscoe E. Burgess, Sr. was a legend in this Town. He was handily elected to Council six times; he was tireless in service to community organizations, and he was one of the greatest baseball players ever to come from Bridgewater. 

But his legend was built on something simpler, and yet more grand. Roscoe was a kind, gentle, human being. An African-American who was raised in the segregated South, his life was dedicated to bridging those contrived barriers which divide humanity. He built bridges by connecting with people, individually, person-to-person and heart-to-heart, reaching nearly everyone in Town. 

Let Riverwalk bear witness that we are a better and closer people because of Roscoe E. Burgess, Sr.”

 “1929      2013”

Cold Dawn, Warm Afternoon

I am tired. Charlie woke me up over an hour before dawn, and then I had a busy day. I had an appointment at the chiropractor plus shopping to do so I left Charlie at day boarding.

We took our morning walk as soon as there was a trace of light in the sky. The temperature was below freezing. However, it warmed up and the afternoon was very nice. In addition to shopping at two grocery stores plus a pet food store, I gave myself a picture-taking assignment and took a lot of photos. I am too tired to post them tonight, except for one of a tall tree with a interesting cloud. I like the way the cloud outline was similar to the tree shape except upside down.

By the time we took our final walk tonight, the temperature had dropped again, although not down to freezing.

Cardinalis cardinalis

Northern Cardinals

Although the female cardinal is sometimes called drab or tan, she is light olive and red. I think she is very pretty.

The male cardinal is bright red and often strikingly beautiful. This one looks like he had a bad day. Actually it is not unusual for them to lower their crests, and sometimes there are color variations. 

 

Saturday Afternoon, Bryce Resort

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday