Herr And Back Again

When the temperature is hovering around 100 most people do the sensible thing and stay indoors or at least in the shade with an iced glass of planters’ punch. However, during the heat wave we had this summer I showed my contrarian nature and went out. Possibly the reason for this was just to gather gist for my whine mill as I do love to complain. But the major reason I think was that I get stir crazy in the house and like to wander. Not surprisingly I brought my camera along and managed to keep my sweaty fingers from sliding off the shutter button too often.

I planned to have lunch at a microbrewery housed in a building that has been used as such since the early 19th century. It is located in the town of Mount Joy which neither was elevated nor particularly rapturous but was quaint enough. Upon arrival I found that the main street was cordoned off for an auto show. Since I love anything having to do with autos I wandered up and down the street for a bit under the sun becoming a human puddle with a camera.

After that is was off to Bube’s Brewery (if you think of “boobs” or “pubes” when you see this name keep it to yourself) which is housed in a fascinating old building. Its long history as a brewery means a dark industrial atmosphere with catacombs and a dining/bar area which feels like a cave. Very low and reddish mood lighting doesn’t dissuade that impression of stifling antiquity but that’s part of the charm. Good atmosphere, food, and drink made it a happy respite from the heat.

Lastly I traveled to the Hans Herr House in the Amish country of Lancaster County, PA. Built in 1719 it’s now a nice way so see how those who founded the Amish community first set up shop (or farm).

I went to that farm actually to hear an acquaintance (Oliver Craven) play in the lovely duo The Stray Birds. It was nice to sit in an apple orchard and hear music until a summer thunderstorm came to finally lower the temperature a touch. It was almost worth fleeing for shelter.

Warmth In Winter

I was thankful to spend Thanksgiving in Florida. That’s because while it was getting chill here in Virginia the weather was perfect there. The Sunshine State is a strange place full of natural loveliness and so many new urban areas that it often seems like there are only two times: now and the future.

We landed on the West coast and spend time in Naples. After that we drove across the narrow peninsula and arrived on the other coast in Stuart. It was fun to visit both the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic in back to back days. We saw a sunset over a beach and the next day a sunrise. You can’t really beat that.

On this trip I visited two wonderful gardens. The Naples Botanical Gardens were pristine with tropical plants from many areas of the world. After being in gloomy fall weather to see the visual pop of colorful flowers was fantastic.

On the other coast was the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens. Finding this in Florida feels a bit strange but there is a compelling story about why an elderly Japanese-American man donated the land for this endeavor. You can find it on their web site.

As usual I took way too many pictures and it took forever to sort them out. I’ve included a few from the trip here and I hope you enjoy them.

My Perfectionism…no…Perfectionism And Me…no…Present Perfect…no…

Calling someone as imperfect as me a perfectionist boggles the mind. I’m often haphazard and prone to procrastination. I’m messy and ramshackle. I’m unorganized and absent minded. None of that sounds like the profile of someone who fights to make every detail correct.

Despite what the litany of attributes above says about me I have to admit that I can turn into a hyper-focused perfectionist at times. I see it more as a curse since it makes itself known with silly things and never what might be helpful in the pursuit of bettering my life or work. When the demon does pop out it seems a bit self-defeating and senseless as when I make sure my ink bottles are sorted by maker.

A recent example of this tendency occurred last weekend during a sunny sojourn with nature. While bicycling along I took a quick glance to my side and was presented with a scene I thought would make a great picture. Yes, I always sling my camera bag over my shoulder when I mount my trusty two wheeled contraption on the off chance I see something I want to capture for posterity. That leads to some of the slowest bike rides ever as I often stop to click my shutter button over and over. Sometimes I jump out of jogger’s and biker’s ways as they almost run me over during my fixation on something through the lens.

In this instance I saw a fallen red leaf being illuminated by the sun and surrounded by darker ex-foliage. It seemed very right as a shot to me in both color and composition and so a few seconds of squealing brakes later and I was on my knees leaning in to focus. It was a rather windy day and the leaf that was the center of my universe for that fleeting moment flew off before I could get a third picture of it. My perfectionism in this case makes me wish to be sure I’ve got a good image so I press that dang shutter release a few times in case focus or lighting is off at first. I was dismayed to think that my need for excessive exposures would not be accomplished so I ran after that dang leaf so I could bend it to my will. What followed was me putting the leaf into many similar settings and positions for ginormous run of subsequent photo-ops.

Now you may feel taking 30 pictures of one sad beat-up leaf is a bit excessive. Um…what would you say about 40 or 50 then? Actually, I’ve not counted and I will not in order to maintain my self-respect. When I did get home with my days’ worth of photographic meanderings I dutifully went through the cavalcade of red leaves I now had. OK, you know there will be a punch line to this story and I don’t want to disappoint so here it is: the one I liked best was the very first frame. Typical.

So, was I right in my choice? I’ll let you decide. Below is the image I liked best and several of the “posed” surplus shots taken later. They are not in order so examine them all and find which one you feel is nicest. I’d be interested in seeing your choice if you would be so kind as to indicate it in the comments. A few days from now I’ll let you know which one I chose. Yes, they are all rather similar so you might just think any would do…but I didn’t. I’m Mr. Picky.

That’s Capital!

I’ve never visited the capital of the state I live in at all. After over 10 years here you’d think that would have happened but so far I’ve skirted it instead going to the coastal, mountain, and northern (mega-urbanized) regions of Virginia in the past. Last weekend I was thrilled to travel to Richmond for a couple days to visit a friend and eat far too much. The city was wonderful with so much history, beauty and activity. I managed to go picture crazy too and here are a few of them.

Richmond

Hollywood

Maymont


Old Salem

Another day and another bike ride somewhere new. This time I decided to try a greenway on the outskirts of Winston-Salem, NC. Recent floods made it a bit dirtier than I expected but the strangest thing was the construction. A section had some workman and vehicles installing what looked like pipe or drainage corridors underground. What was odd is that much like what you would see on a busy street they had a person at both ends of the work holding a “Stop” or “Slow” sign to give directions to us intrepid path users. I always thought a bike was pretty slow to begin with.

The ride was nice as it wound along the side of a creek on this crisp early fall day passing a ruined railroad bridge which I took a few snaps of. Eventually I reached a rather confusing spot where I couldn’t figure out how to continue on. The greenway went up over and under some roads and ended. I knew you needed to ride along a road to rejoin the path the signage was lacking. I set out in a likely direction and discovered to my surprise I was in Old Salem which I’ve not been to for a few years. I spent a good part of my day wandering around and taking photos of this historic neighborhood. Take a look below for some of them.

Natural Bore

Greensboro and High Point, NC share the Bicentennial Greenway system. It’s not always linked together but there are a number of nice long stretches that are fun to bike on. I’ve still got a thing for taking pictures of nature in some way or another while I ride. Even I realize this is rather boring and looks like a thousand other images but that doesn’t stop me from sharing a handful of pictures here I took on a stretch of this system.

All That Glitters Is Not Ringgold

Ringgold, VA is a crossroads without much that needs mention except a restored old depot with a caboose. Oh, and a trail.

The trail is along the route of the old Danville/Richmond railroad line and is where there tracks used to be in the distant past. Now there is nothing but butterflies, dragonflies, and old bikers making use of it. The latter was me today as I decided to pull out my two-wheeled transport and see this for myself. I took some pics along the way I hope you enjoy.

Laborless Day

Labor day is a holiday many people have off work so it always confuses me. I’ll never solve that conundrum but I do know it’s often thought of as the end of summer so I went out to catch some of the last flora, fauna, and weird animal stuff while I still could in the pleasant sunny weather. These photos were taken at the Bicentennial and Bog Gardens in Greensboro, NC.
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Petal to the Metal

I think I take pictures of flowers because they can’t run or hide. It’s easy to walk around them and take as many pictures as you want. They don’t complain about posing or itch their nose at the wrong time. Once in a while a bee will appear out of one and let me know I’m disturbing his work and should buzz off.

I took a walk through the Greensboro, NC Arboretum the other day and cornered some of these not-elusive subjects and took a few pictures. A factoid about Greensboro is that this is the place where Union General William T. Sherman negotiated the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston’s Confederate troops at the end of the Civil War. The terms Sherman gave were considered too lenient in Washington and were nullified.