Landscape of Virginia

It's beneficial for the earth to cool, such is my belief, and it's certainly doing so today right in my neighborhood. I think nature needs to cool off so it can rest itself as a stage in the growing process, just as we sleep. I think most people know this to be the situation. I enjoy the cooler temps and being inside nearby a fireplace or a wood stove. Such was the case for me last weekend, I had the chance to be with a group of people I know from work who gathered before a wood stove in the basement of one of our teachers. It was a real highlight moment with all the credits rolling by because this fella who's house it was is moving on to another job in another location. I've known him for a good while and I do admire his stamina with keeping his temper when working in a difficult and sometimes stubborn situation. My Mom would have said "he's a saint" , well I would go that far because I do know him a little better than those students do...

I took a walk on a cold day upon the Ridge of Skyline Drive here in Virginia. I walked with a friend down the eastern side of those mountains towards the bottom. We saw a few waterfalls and we hiked both up and down that mountain ridge on New Year's Eve. It was snowing lightly plus it was very windy on the top of the mountains on that afternoon. It took us four hours to make the circuit, and I certainly felt it the very next morning. You see I was use to walking upward but not downward so I used different muscles than I was use to working out. The hike was very enjoyable for us, we laughed, and carried on some, but we climbed in silent hard effort when we were heading into the second half of the hike. Before long, we had accomplished the climb and the reward was walking along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains all the while being able to see both eastward and westward for many miles simply by turning one's eyes in either direction. Simply delightfu...

I just finished watching the film "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead" with Phillip S. Hoffman as the protagonist, wow what a performance, he's always putting on such a powerful performance when he plays a part. No matter what it is you can almost always count on him being complex and not ambiguous at all in his role. This character he plays is no different, besides that the movie unravels in a rather nouveau manner. Beginning with the center of the problem being presented at the start of the action then working the story both back in time and forward in time from that event and moving back and forth to "fill in the blanks" more or less. I really liked that manner of storytelling, it lent to me keeping up on just where the film was in the story, moreso than if it just had a set start and ending and it was told chronologically. I would suggest seeing it for yourself.

We rode up the Shenandoah valley hugging the eastern side northward from Afton and Waynesboro, when we came upon an old railroad stopover town that was pretty much deserted. The town is just south of Luray and it's called "Shenandoah". The town was a layover town on the railroad line that went up and down the valley and the engineers and many workers of the trains would stop in here for there nighttime rest spot. Since the trains no longer spend time on an overnight layover here the small town has died out. It's deserted and lay barren but some trains do hang out on the tracks which still run between it's "First St." and the river nearby. It's got a nice feel to it, it's got a wide not so long lay of the land, and it's gott'n a grant that improved the streets and facades of it's remaining buildings. It just doesn't have any people save a few holdouts. We ran into one man who had simply bought ...

It's been great working as a job coach in the University of Virginia dining hall at Observatory Hill this past year and a half we all do a helluvajob. I work with two young men now and they are really doing quite well thanks to the guidance of a couple of good instructors. One works in the dish room busing dishes, cups, glasses, silverware and then feeding it to the Hobart dish washing machine. He works hard and he loves it. He often says to me on a Friday " I can't wait until Monday", my response is usually "why?" and he always says "So I can come back to work of course" how about that, he's a rare breed , he loves the dish room work. Others work there alongside of him and I often pitch in and lend my hand to the effort of cleaning the students plates, glasses, and on and on. It's a job with one of the rewards of being able to enjoy a meal yourself that usually is made for the students alone. It's good food bel...

Tonight the event on at the University of Va. was the lighting up of the lawn. It was interesting how much fun it was to just wonder around inside various places up there with no other intent then to just see it. There were many lights on rooms of the students and the dean's all had there homes open up to we towns folk, but it was an event for the students afterall. I was there because of a close friend's invitation to it. So I had an excuse. It was a good energy event and I was enamored by all the electrical lights all over the rooms and doorways. Plus how could one not be enthused by the large white orb which no one really could tell me the reason for it, but there it was as large as the moon. It was tethered by some strings but it was unusual looking at night but why not have a glowing orb hovering over tables with cookies and cider. Afterall, it is the Holidays!

One thing is that it's always been interesting to see just some of the items hanging in the dormrooms of the lawn. Tonight I had the chance to go up and see some for myself. I went to "the Lighting Ceremony" and in doing so I had the chance to see some of the new residents of the Lawn and since they had opened there doors to the public I got a chance to look inside for items on there walls. It was very unique stuff that I had a chance to lay my eyes on. You could see in a minute where the interest of the occupant lay. Some had a lot of home made art. My favorite kind of art. Others had many books on shelves in the room, while another had many albums by wonderful musicans laying on there desk and on bookshelves. Of course the one that caught my eye was the "Woman in Red" or this painting I photographed as the artist spoke to her friends inside. I enjoyed see it. And I also noticed that she wasn't a one hit wonder but had other good ...