Mural of the Bends of the Shenandoah

This mural is in the Social Services office in Woodstock, Virginia. It  shows hot air balloons sailing over the Shenandoah River. The river winds back-and-forth due underlying geology. 

This office shares an entrance with the health department. It’s in a shopping center on the north end of town.

 

Monday Murals / Mosaic

A Nice Weekend Ends

Our weekend ended with some much-needed rain. Once again, we did not get as much as many areas in the Shenandoah Valley. I saw pictures of flooding in Berryville, but the storm here only lasted about 10 minutes.

It was enough to cut short or afternoon walk. I had taken Charlie to a park in town when I heard thunder, so we headed back to the car. This photo shows the dark sky from the LDS church.

My daughter Marie left this morning after a brief visit. Yesterday‘s post was about her visit from Charlie’s point of view. 

He watched her leave and I know he’ll miss her. She took him on extra walks. It is always a delight to have her visit.

Marie and Charlie

Hi, it's Charlie again. Marie came to see me!

She came last night and today she wanted to go to a store in Front Royal. Mom and I walked in a park  near a caboose while Marie went shopping.

Usually I won’t wear a harness, but Marie put it on me so I was polite about it. Also, Mom kept watching me.

Filtered in Picsart

We drove up to Skyline Drive. We ate some burgers. Then I took a nap in the car while we drove some more. I was very good.

My Great 12-Year Old Camera

My old Nikon P510 is a terrific camera. I keep it by the back door to take pictures of birds when they visit my feeders. The manufacturer no longer supports this model, but the last time I had a problem, I took it to a camera shop in Warrenton and they were able to advise me. It turned out that the camera was too old for the newer, fast memory cards. That was an easy fix.

This camera came out in 2012, and I wish they still offered it. I love the zoom lens and having a viewfinder. It offered a lot of features for a consumer-priced digital camera at that time. I’ll be sad when it stops working.

Now I take many pictures with my iPhone. It is convenient because I almost always have it with me, and it does well in low light. I can remember when taking pictures indoors was difficult, and getting clear results often required using a flash or setting up lights. I took an entire course on lighting. That was back in the days of film. A generation has grown up without having to wind film and get negatives developed.

Post #8807

Oops, I missed announcing Post #8800 because I wasn’t paying attention to my stats. In honor of that large number, I’ll write a little bit about blogging, but first I’ll show a sunrise from Tuesday.

I’m sharing this picture with Alan‘s Skywatch linkup, one of the most popular blog hops. It still has a large number of participants, even though blogging in general has dropped off. Quite a few linkups have ceased to exist in the last couple of years.

I think many bloggers have found that other social media sites are taking up their online time and energy, Other people have virtually retired from the Internet. I like sharing photos and short updates, and while I also do so on Facebook, I don’t spend much time on the various other social media sites. I already spend more time on my iPad and phone than feels healthy. At some point, a person needs to get up and move around and do other things. 

I’ve been blogging since 2005 and you may wonder why I don’t get bored with it. Well, I love photography and I have a variety of interests. I try to guard against repeating myself too much. Sometimes I notice that I took a picture that is an awful lot like one I posted before. That’s not always a bad thing. I don’t think anybody is going to remember what I posted a few years ago.

Sharing to linkups on various topics helps keep me interested by challenging me to come up with something that I might not have photographed otherwise. I try to find a new mural to post every Monday, and that takes effort. Tuesday is easier because I can just post a picture with a title for the Wordless linkup. The next day is Wild Bird Wednesday, and that can be challenging too. I am not a real bird watcher who hikes with a zoom lens in an area known for birds. I just happen to like birds, and I enjoy pursuing a topic. On Thursday, I often participate in Skywatch, although I can also post to that one on Friday. Friday is a good time to post a black-and-white picture and a reflection or street scene, and getting all of those on one day is tricky. At one time, my posts sometimes covered multiple topics, but now I like to keep them more focused. Saturday is critters day, and a couple times a month. I turn the task over to Charlie because he has fans.  (Okay, a beagle does not literally type out posts, but he inspires them.)

Sunday used to have a linkup for churches, but it went away after there were only three people participating. I was running out of churches to photograph anyway.  I still try to post something positive or inspiring on Sunday, at least most of the time. 

There are other linkups that I like, plus the monthly topic for City Daily Photo. 

Note that I use the words linkup and blog hop interchangeably, but there are other terms that mean the same thing, including linky and link party. Whatever you call them, they are online networking opportunities that connect bloggers with common interests. I have found dozens of great blogs through these pages. 

Did I tell you that I prefer posts that are fairly short? Yet I’ve rambled on the limit of my eyesight’s ability. Come back tomorrow and I’ll try to be succinct.

A Stroll Around a Pond

Carrier Arboretum at JMU

When I was in Harrisonburg on Monday, I was planning to buy groceries and take some pictures at Glen’s Fair Price Store, which I had read would be closing soon. I shared those pictures yesterday. My stop at the Arboretum was a spur of the moment thing. I’ve been there many times, so I thought I’d just eat my lunch and leave, but then I felt drawn to the pond.

I was delighted to see a green heron.

There are usually some ducks to be seen and sure enough, I spotted some on a tiny island. It must be a man-made island because it floats around.

You can see mud on the surrounding vegetation, indicating where water had reached when tropical storm Debby came through. I don’t think flooding is a big surprise around the pond because it was designed to be a storm detention area.

Cameras and Costumes

At Glen's, Harrisonburg

Wordless

Mural at Water and Main

Harrisonburg, VA

This is a new mural and it’s near the kestrel mural that I showed a week ago. It’s a 92 South Main Street in Harrisonburg. 

 I took that picture from an angle, making it’s hard to decipher the painting. Here I have straightened it out digitally so that you can see the horse and rider better. Why is he carrying a chicken? I don’t know.

I snapped some pictures nearby to give you an idea of the area. It is between the courthouse and James Madison University.

Mosaic Monday / Murals

Formerly the Narrow Passage Church

I’ve driven past this church many times over the years, and I even stopped to take pictures of it in 2018. Eventually the congregation went elsewhere, and the church was offered for sale. I don't know who bought it, but it has not been fixed up. This weekend I saw that it was open during the Yard Crawl as someone was using it as a place to sell used items.

I was not able to find a history of the church, other than it was once the Assembly of God at Narrow Passage. (Narrow Passage is the name of a nearby creek.) The church interior has suffered from a roof leak.

The quality of items for sale was as uninspiring as the condition of the church. I noticed that heavy shelving units line the walls, so perhaps someone is going to use this space as an antique store. 

Doggy Likes and Dislikes

Hi, it's Charlie. I have some likes and dislikes to tell you, but first I'll show you a couple of kittens. There was a pet adoption event at a store that we went to. There was only one dog and he was really big, and there were a bunch of kittens and they were very small .

A lady was holding one. I was not allowed to play with it which seems kind of unfair, but they are just little baby cats.

I like cats, but I’ll tell you what I don’t like. I don’t like riding in the car. Mom says it’s necessary in order to go places.

I don’t like hard rain either. We had too much of it this week. I got wet.

Yesterday Mom drove to Chapman Landing to look at the river. It was flooding at the low bridge. The road is closed, but they let you park near the boat ramp, which was also under the water.

Today we went to the dog park, but none of my friends were there. We hung out there for a while and then as we got ready to leave, another dog came but he was not friendly, and he barked at me in a mean way. I don’t care.

The Yard Sale Must Go On

Last night's storm brought winds and a deluge of rain, but it headed on north this morning. The popular Route 11 Yard Crawl is still on. It’s a major event in Shenandoah County, with hundreds of people setting up tables and booths all up and down U.S. 11.

This is what the North Fork of the Shenandoah looked like this afternoon: muddy and roiling out of its banks.

Some people set up for the yard sales today, although the big day is tomorrow. Some will continue to sell on Sunday.

I stopped at one site between Woodstock and Edinburg. An artist named AJ Price was selling metal art, and various tools. Take a look!

The Drought Ends with Debby

Unfortunately, Debby is a hurricane.

Well, I just saw that Debby has been downgraded to a tropical storm. It did considerable damage as it came up the coast. Eventually, it veered westward so there are predictions that it could be dangerous here tonight. I’ve gotten multiple warnings from my weather app about possible tornadoes and floods. 

I picked up some extra groceries today and planned to stay indoors tonight, but Charlie insisted on going out after dark. The first time he did this, we only walked about 50 yards before he realized he was getting wet and decided to come home. At 9:45 he became desperate to go out, so we walked in the rain and stayed outside just long enough for him to do his part for wetter grass. The winds had not picked up and there wasn’t any lightning. 

By the way, two people close to me have been diagnosed with Covid so please avoid crowds if you can.