A Macro Weekend in Black and White ~ 10-30-10

Reflections in Chrome

Visit Weekend in Black and White to view other monochromatic shots from around the world, and visit Macro Monday for more interesting macro shots.

Daily Phot0 ~ 10-31-10

Mushroom Hunting

Daily Photo~10-30-10

Fog and Reflection at Douthat State Park, Virginia

Skywatch Friday ~ 10-29-10

Go to Skywatch Friday to see more sky shots from around the world.

Daily Photo~10-29-10

Halloween Fun

Daily Photo ~ 10-28-10

Very Berry Red

Daily Photo ~ 10-27-10

North Mountain Rock Formations

Watery Wednesday #111 ~ 10-27-10

Belize Revisited #2
Go to Watery Wednesday to see more beautiful water shots from around the world.

Daily Photo ~ 10-26-10

Storm Approaching

Kerrs Creek Country Airstrip (for 4 Small Planes)

Daily Photo ~ 10-25-10

Almost Home

Today’s Flowers ~ Rhododendron Blooming in October

Rhodendron Blooming in October

Rhododendrons are grown in many North American and European gardens; however, the rhododendron species originated from the East, brought to Europe by plant explorers.The rhododendron species belong to the Ericaceae plant family; rhododendrons are botanically related to azaleas, blueberries, heathers and mountain laurels. The name rhododendron is derived from the Greek word rhodos (meaning rose) and dendron (meaning tree). There are over 1000,natural species of rhododendron; however, many rhododendron species found growing in North America and Europe today are hybrids. They bloom from January through August depending upon the location and the climate.

**NO WHERE DID I FIND ANY REFERENCES TO LATE OCTOBER BLOOMING...and there were many blooms about to burst forth. AMAZING!

Go to Today’s Flowers to see beauty from around the world.

Ugliness

Wart Man in Stone

North Mountain ~ Rockbridge County~Virginia

While hiking up on North Mountain Saturday, I discovered this rock formation perched above the valley where we live. The closer I got to it the more interesting it became, and then I saw the face with its extended forehead and protruding nose. I immediately thought of Rodin’s “The Thinker” at the Musee’ Rodin covered in warts with his head resting on the lower section of the rock. For me, I have to say it represents the epitome of ugliness. I’m sure a geologist would beg to differ, but the Flickr Macro Monday prompt did say...Ugliness~a personal interpretation."

This shot is a part of the Flickr Macro Monday Group.

Weekend Reflections ~ 10-24-10

Kerrs Creek~Bean’s Bottom~Lexington, VA

To see more reflections from around the world go to Weekend Reflections at newtowndailyphoto. 

http://www.newtowndailyphoto.blogspot.com

Sunday Bridges ~ aka The Bridges of Rockbridge County

Concrete Bridge to Wilson Field ~ Washington and Lee University ~ Lexington, VA

Close-up of the gargantuan structure.

See more bridges from around the world at Sunday Bridges.

Daily Photo - Lexington’s Art Graffiti #3 ~ 10-23-10

Weekend in Black and White

Hungry Bee

I am participating in Weekend in Black and White meme which is full of beautiful monochrome photographs from around the world.

Skywatch Friday ~ 10-22-10

Belize Revisited

This post is linked with Skywatch Friday where you can see skies from around the planet...new every week.

Daily Photo ~ 10-21-10

It’s Rakin’ Time

Watery Wednesday ~ 10-20-10

 Red Heart

Wood’s Creek

Lexington, VA

This photo is linked with Watery Wednesday.

Daily Photo ~ 10-20-10

The Art of Balance
The Bridge to Somewhere ~ Summer

Daily Photo ~ 10-19-10

The Bridge to Somewhere in Fall

Daily Photo ~ 10-18-10

Forgotten

Magical

Magical

 This week the prompt for the Flickr Macro Mondays is “abracadabra” which to me means magical, chants, wands. My Leki walking stick is my magic wand. When I wave it and chant LEKI, I can walk anywhere I want in the woods. Without it I stay at home!

This post is linked to the Flickr Macro Mondays Group.

Sunday Bridges ~ aka ~ The Bridges of Rockbridge County

 Washington and Lee University Sorority House Bridge

Lexington, VA

Sunday Bridges Meme

Macro Monochrome ~ 10-17-10

Gone Pumpin'

Macro Monochrome Meme

Daily Photo ~ 10-17-10

 Gone

Weekend in Black and White

Searching

This post is linked with The Weekend in Black and White, the new home for monomaniacs.

Daily Photo ~10-16-10

Daily Photo ~ 10-15-10

Lightly Lavender

This post is linked to Weekend Nature.

Skywatch Friday ~ 10-15-10

Ominous

Views from School

 Skywatch Friday

Watery Wednesday ~ #2 ~ 10-13-10

Boogying ~ Son and Grandson

Sandbridge Beach

Virginia Beach, VA

I am linked up with Watery Wednesday.

Daily Post ~ 10-13-10

 Fog Lifting at Sunrise

7:00 A.M. 10-12-10

Daily Photo ~ Teaford Homeplace ~ 10-12-10

Kerrs Creek

Rockbridge County, VA

Daily Photo - Lake Hike - 10-10-10

Lake at Douthat State Park

Millboro, VA

10-10-10

Macro Monday ~ Hand Pump in Blue

This hand pump has the tropical and warm colors...the blues of the waters and then oranges and lush greens.

I am totally fascinated by old nuts and blots, wires, bridges, and anything with a linear quality. Today on our hike at Douthat State Park I found this old hand water pump. It immediately said “tropical and warm colors” so I couldn’t resist shooting it. The colors on the metal are just as they are in this picture.

This photograph is linked to the Flickr Macromonday Group. The prompt was to post something that had tropical warmth and color. If you would like to see some fabulous photography, click on the link above.

Daily Photo - Fluff in Tree 10-9-10

Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge
Virginia Beach, Virginia

Sunday Bridges ~ The Bridges of Rockbridge County

The Bridge to Somewhere

When we bought our old farmhouse 32 years ago out here in the country, the bridge across the creek was in terrible disrepair. We replaced it with this wooden one that has served us well...though it is going to need to be replaced in the next 10 years. When we turn in the driveway, we have to cross this section of Kerrs Creek to get to the house.  At times it will fill with water, but it usually runs low. We are not the least bit afraid of the old thing, but the propane man, the Shenandoah Spring Water man, and the Fed X man will NOT drive across it. UPS comes right on down without a care in the world.  It is really cool when the snow piles up on it like it did last winter...22 inches and it stayed on the ground for 2 months. We had some of the worst storms in this part of VA we have ever seen.

I am linking up with the Sunday Bridges meme at San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

Daily Photo ~ Getting Ready ~ 10-9-10

Hiking Season Is Here

“Me thinks the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow.”

~Henry David Thoreau

Weekend in Black and White

All Alone in Black and White

On my way home from work this afternoon, I found this one tiny flower alongside the Maury River down in a great fishing area called Bean’s Bottom. It looked so lonely there among all the leaves on the the bank I just had to take a picture. I think it’s face lighted up and smiled just as I was snapping the photo. Shooting monochrome is WAY out of my comfort zone, but one cannot learn without taking some risks. 

I am linking up with Weekend in Black and White, the new home for monochrome maniacs.

“I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

~Henry David Thoureau, 1854

Daily Photo - Lexington’s Art Graffiti #2

Wall between the Rockbridge County Public Library Parking Lot and Building Next Door  

Skywatch Friday - Flight of the Cloud Monster

This shot was taken through the windshield from the passenger’s seat en route to the Cyrus Hall McCormick Farm via I-81N.

I am linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Wheels Friday

 Today I discovered a new meme which is just up my alley. It is Wheels Friday over at Gemma’s Greyscale Territory. Here are the rules:

WELCOME TO WHEELS FRIDAY
Here you may post ANYTHING related to WHEELS!
You may offer some explanation OR you may simply let us enjoy the view!

cars - vintage and modern - exterior or interior
trains/buses/trams
trucks
steering wheels
bikes - motorised or pushbikes
carts/wagons - vintage or modern
trolleys
paddlewheeler
inner mechanisms - e.g. wheels of a clock
whirlygigs
art/ornament based on wheels

Last weekend my husband and I went to the annual festival at Cyrus Hall McCormick’s farm and someplace out in Steeles Tavern, VA. If you need me to jog your memory, Mr. McCormick invented the “reaper” which revolutionized farming in America.
Before his reaper, our country depended upon manual labor to cut down the fields of grains. To learn more about his invention, go to this Wikipedia entry. Another interesting fact is Mr. McCormick and Abraham Lincoln were both born a few days apart...Lincoln on  February 14, 1809, and McCormick on February 15, 1809.

Present Day Hay Bale Hauler

The wheel from one of the old McCormick tractors.

The Shenandoah Valley Agricultural Research and Extension Center includes more than 900 acres of owned and leased land in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Research and Extension programs at the center cover livestock production, forages and forage systems, and small-scale forestry and wood lot management. The center’s beef cattle programs include breeding, reproduction, nutrition, and management, as well as controlled rotational grazing and forage systems. Sheep programs include ram performance testing and commercial ewe lamb development. The goal of this work is to help develop a more forage-based sustainable agricultural industry in Virginia and to be a leader in livestock and forage-based research in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. In the past five years, several small-scale forestry demonstration areas were developed to educate landowners about long-term management of their valuable forest resources.  

A two-acre memorial plot at the center pays tribute to Cyrus McCormick and the ingenuity of the McCormick family. The memorial area is designated a National Historic Landmark and Virginia Wayside site, and is toured by thousands of visitors every year.

Daily Photo - Lexington’s Art Graffiti #1

Wall between the Rockbridge County Public Library parking lot and another building.