From Horrible to Hopeful

Luray, VA

American slavery was, of course, a horrible institution. Here we have what is said to be a slave auction block, where enslaved people were displayed for potential buyers. 

The Narrative of Bethany Veney is a short and fascinating [online] autobiography of an enslaved woman who lived in the area and faced auction but managed to avoid being sold into a new (and potentially worse) situation.

Read the text on Historical Marker Database.

We can find a more hopeful piece of Luray history on West Main Street. The Andrew Jackson school was built for Black students a century ago. It now serves as a recreation center for the community and also has a museum that’s open on Saturday afternoons.

The school was not named for President Andrew Jackson; it was named after a local Black businessman. This was a Rosenwald school, one of over 5000 schools built in the south with support from communities and Julius Rosenwald in partnership with Booker T. Washington. It functioned as a school until 1959.

Changing Weather with Charlie

A Beagle's Week

Hi! The cold weather finally changed to nice weather. Most of the snow melted this week, and then rain came and washed it away. 

We still had snow on Sunday and Monday when Marie was here. I think Mom already told you that I took her for a walk in the state park.

After that, we went to Front Royal for hamburgers and I even got ice cream! Mom took us to Shenandoah National Park for our picnic. I took Marie for another walk.

Look what we saw in the picnic area! They are like tall dogs, but they are called deer.

Deer  like to lie in the sun like I do.

Marie had to leave that day, and I spent some time with Deborah and Sadie. One day, I went to daycare. On another day, Mom took me to the county park for a walk. Much of the snow had disappeared.

Mom says we could get more snow, but I have seen enough of it already. It’s very cold on my paws, and my friends are not outside so I don’t get to see them.

Meeting in the Middle

Yesterday morning I took Charlie out for a walk and was surprised to see of a variety of work vehicles lined up along the street. They were different colors with different logos, so it seemed unlikely that they were there a single home repair job. I counted 14 vehicles, mostly pickup trucks, and there could’ve been more parked around the corner.

There was a meeting going on in the middle of the street. I assume most of these people are contractors. A man was addressing them, probably someone from the town public works department.

Then they walked down the street looking at the curb inlets for the storm drains. I don’t know whether the town is soliciting bids for repairs or whether they’re going to gather a crowd to try to tackle all these jobs at one time.

It would’ve been more fun if this had been a flash mob, and music had started, and all these people would’ve danced!  For now, I’m calling this a “tour de sewer.” 

Snowy Day at the Play Area

Seven Bends State Park

This was taken last week. Now the snow had mostly melted. 

The childrens’ play area is on the Hollingsworth side of the state park. It has a theme of features of the area around the park. This structure represents a swinging bridge. Normally it’s a little farther off the ground, but we had seven inches or so of snow and ice.

Birds on a Presidents Day Walk

Blog Post #9380, "Birds" Post #1290 

In yesterday's post, I shared pictures of Marie walking Charlie in Seven Bends State Park. Today’s pictures are from that same occasion. Marie’s visit was very short, staying just one night because she needed to go back to work.

As we crossed the river to enter the park, Marie saw a great blue heron. Intent on fishing, it did not turn around to look at us. 

I’ve taken better pictures of herons, but this is just a quick cell phone snapshot that I took from the car.

Since the trails were still covered with snow, we took a walk on Lupton Road past the gate. A small bird was perched on one of the bluebird houses, and I think it was a bluebird, although it flew off before I got close.

The Massanutten Range was shrouded in mist, as vapor rose from the melting snow.

We also saw geese flying overhead. They disappeared behind the trees, but reappeared on the other side.

Blogging Note: I had difficulty inserting photos in this post. I switched to the Opera browser and got a message saying that I needed to accept cookies from Google. I did so and was able to complete the post. Usually my browser is Safari, but it has been very slow lately.

Yesterday with Marie and Charlie

Seven Bends State Park

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

Mural with Deer and Flowers

Independence Street, Berkeley Springs

This mural is long and the only way I could get it all in one picture was to use panorama mode on my phone. That’s why the shape of the building is distorted. Perhaps I could avoid that if I used a the tripod.

The artist is Maggie Sudnick of Dog on Boat Studio. 

Mosaic / Monday Murals 

Lake Frederick in the Snow

 Taken on February 10th

I found myself on US 340 on Tuesday, traveling from Winchester to I-66. I made a brief stop at Lake Frederick to eat my Aloha bar and see the lake. It was covered with ice and snow.

I’m sure by now most of that has melted because we have had a couple of days of warmer weather and today it rained all afternoon.

The state game commission maintains a public access point for fishing. A single lane of the road had been cleared, and part of the parking lot was clear.

The state of Virginia owns the lake and the perimeter, but beyond that are housing developments.

Charlie’s Valentine Report

Hi! Mom made a sweet kitty on her phone.

The red bird is a cardinal and it is eating. 

Yesterday Mom showed a picture of geese and here are more of them. We saw them from a bridge over the Shenandoah.

We haven’t gone to any dog parks in a long time because of the snow. I did get to go to Sadie‘s house a few times. Here I am playing with her toys. I like to get her toys and eat her dog biscuits and hug her mom.

I went to the state park a couple of times this week Yesterday the road was clear, but I found some puddles and got muddy. The car got muddy too, so we went to the car wash. It is noisy, but I am brave.

The weather has finally warmed up and the snow is melting. Today we went to Riley Park and the sidewalks were clear around the playground. I saw some children, but they ran fast and that startled me. I thought running fast was just for dogs.

I guess that’s it for today. I hope that I’ll have some exciting adventures now that the snow is melting.

Hearts and Power

Seen in a Flower Shop Window

Happy Valentine’s Day to those who celebrate. For those of us who don’t, today is also the birthday of the great Frederick Douglass. 

Born into slavery In 1818, Douglass managed to get an education in spite of a system that forbade him to do so. He devoured a textbook on speeches called “The Columbian Orator.” This is one of the reasons that he became a great public speaker and writer. His autobiography is amazing.

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be a physical one; or it may be both moral and physical; but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.”   ― Frederick Douglass

Canada Geese, Monochrome, February

 North Fork of the Shenandoah 

In Canada and northern US, most Canada geese migrate south in the winter time. Here in Virginia, they often stay year round, plus we get migrants from Canada because this is south to them. Nonetheless, it gets very cold here, but their feathers are remarkably effective at insulating them.