Week Seven ~ Someplace Peaceful

This one was an enlightening and strange discovery for me in January 2018.  I had driven cross-country from Virginia to California with my mom.  On day nine of the trip we left San Francisco to head to our final destination, Sacramento.  On the way out of town we headed to Muir Woods for a morning walk on an overcast day.  I can still remember how warm it was and how wet the woods were without feeling muggy like warm wet days back home. 

Usually, my peaceful spot is sitting on a beach watching the wave roll in and listening to the crash of all that water against the shore.  Staring out at the horizon and realizing just how small a part I am in this great wide world.  Kind of makes my worries seem tiny.  But on this particular day as we began to walk in those woods with my frayed nerves, the group of tourists that entered with us spread out and thinned out.  Suddenly I could feel this energy around me and a calm wash through me. 

It was amazing and I so desperately want to take my husband on a trip back there so he can see, hear and feel it too.  The woods were quiet and seemed so vast.  It reminded me of the thick forests from Middle Earth.  Along the way I found this felled tree that looked like a heart and that sealed it.  I fell in love with Muir Woods.  So, instead of rambling through the photos this time, I leave you with this quote, "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks" John Muir.

 

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity” 
― John Muir, Our National Parks

I wanted to hide in these trees, just sit in them and be with nature, maybe read a book or just be still and wonder at the marvelous creation in which God so generously placed me.

“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” 
― John Muir

Week Six ~ Someplace Abandoned

This week was hard for me to photograph.  I had it on the list early and kept moving it later and later because stopping to really look at abandoned places makes me sad and I don't like feeling melancholy.  Last Friday in a fit of restlessness I ran away for a while.  Jumped in my car, headed down US 158 to Highway 12, my heart leading me to places I love and find peace.  As I drove I passed a spot I once used play and has been abandoned for many, many years.  Imagine my surprise to find it still standing-ish.  So I stopped to grab some photographs.

 Waterfall Park was once a very small amusement park that straddled highway 12 near Rodanthe and Waves.  There were a couple water slides, bumper boats, go-karts and bungee jumping.  I never participated in the bungee jumping but I remember what a big deal it was when the tower went in.

I mean how crazy does a person have to be to climb up a tower and jump off with a bungee chord!  Clearly I am not an adrenaline junkie and don't have the part of the brain that says this looks like fun. 

The go-Karts sat on the opposite side of the highway from the water slide and bumper-boats.  

Week Five ~ Sidewalk

This one is short and sweet, just one photo essentially.  It's two different snaps, just different focal lengths to better show the texture of the bricks and plants growing up between them.

I have a thing about texture, I love it.  And I often want to be able to look at my images and feel the texture of the subject.  Sidewalks like this also tend to just amaze me.  The amount of upkeep it must take to keep those bricks from going all wonky with the moss the grass trying to grow between not to mention the amount of precipitation during the wet seasons! 

Week Four ~ Creek or River

Two posts coming at you tonight!  I need to get caught up and do better.  So for week four I'm going for the Creek or River category, and giving you both!  I find myself often drawn to water, looking back on all my photo adventures from the last three years there is at least one picture of water, be it creek, river, ocean, bay, puddle, lake in all of them.

 First up, we have a creek that wound through Zion National Park.  I'm told this creek is actually a river, but only once the snow melts.  It actually was not terribly cold on my visit, but there was snow a top the peaks and more to come for the year.

This part of the creek ran a bit faster and I could definitely see in the brush where it could be a river as the volume of water increased.

 These photos are a creek that wound through Muir woods.  I could have spent days wandering these woods.  Even in January it was pleasantly warm and the damp didn't bother me.  I stopped many times just to watch the reflections in the water.

Growing up beside the ocean and between a number of rivers I don't often get to watch water this calm.  It was mesmerizing.  I only wished I could have gotten closer, but in this park you must remain on the marked paths, so alas I had to admire from afar.

And lastly, we visit the Chowan River where it meets the Albemarle Sound.  I spent a lot of time on this sound and river in my childhood, visiting family friends.  It's not a fast moving river, at least not around Edenton, NC.  This particular day was very windy, so the water was not at all still.

Week Three ~ Old Building

I got busy last week cleaning up around the house and getting a bunch of things ready to go to Goodwill and totally forgot to post that week's challenge.  This week I have just been lazy.  So my apologies.  

For challenge number three we're back in Edenton, NC.  This time taking a look at the Chowan County Courthouse, constructed in 1767.  The original court house at the fork of Queen Anne's Creek was constructed from wood and completed in 1718.  Obviously, that structure is now gone.  However the new brick building was begun fall of 1766 and completed 1767.  It is the oldest government building in continuous use in the state of North Carolina.  

And out behind the court house of course sits the jail.  It only had four cells and each held four prisoners.  The second floor held offices and the like. 

For more information on the court house, and the source of my knowledge on it, you can check out this North Carolina History website.

Week Two ~ Porch or Balcony

This week's subject is a porch or balcony.  This images were taken in Edenton, NC at the Penelope Barker House and welcome center downtown.  The model is my friend Alyssa.  She was a great sport and there are some other awesome pictures from the day will probably show up in a later blog.  Something I learned today, I need to get better at giving directions to adult models.  And go in with a plan.  As you will discover in this post, my southern roots run deep and strong.  But for your viewing pleasure, the images.  

A view of the entire house from around the corner.  With both upper and lower porches facing out over the bay where the Chowan River meets the Abremarle Sound.  It's an amazingly beautiful spot.  There's a lighthouse behind the house that will feature in a later week of the 2019 series.  

Positioned all down the upper and lower porches are these green wooden rocking chairs.  I can attest, they are quite comfortable!  I have often fantasized what it might have been like to live in that house looking out over the water sipping sweet tea and reading a book in a rocking chair.  

This beauty, is Alyssa.  She was a great sport and we did some fun images too, that again may show up in a later post.  But for this, a woman and her view.  

Week One ~ Tiny Town

For week one I've chosen to feature the Tiny Town prompt.  I couldn't decide on just one image so I've decided this one should be a photo study.  In a sleepy little town on Christmas afternoon I walked the streets of downtown Buchanan, Virginia.  It lies on US Route 11 to the north and east of Roanoke.  Typical of many picturesque little southern towns there are more churches on the main street than restaurants.

First up the Baptist and Lutheran Churches. 

Followed by the Presbyterian and United Methodist Churches.  They're all such beautiful brick construction buildings. 

 I've attended a few services at the Presbyterian church and wish I could have gotten inside to get a few images.  White walls, gorgeous hardwood floor and wooden pews adorn the small sanctuary.  During the Christmas season last year they had fresh greenery decorating the room.  It was cozy and so very welcoming.

The memorial rescue squad center sits across the street from the Buchanan Volunteer Fire Department.  I'll have to go back sometime when the town's not all closed up for a holiday to get a picture of the engines out in front of the building.  

Picking Christmas day for this walk was a mixed blessing.  I didn't have to try very hard to capture everything I wanted without a bunch of random strangers or cars in the images.  Not that it's a huge challenge unless it's open house weekend or a holiday like Independence Day, Memorial Day or Labor Day.  This town really comes alive for a celebration! But the walk was also rather lonely and a little bit creepy.  

Ransone's Drug and The Fountain sandwich and soda fountain is a fixture in the little town.  They make a mean BLT, delicious burger and one of the best club sandwiches I've eaten.  They also make a killer-diller milkshake.  Don't be in a rush though!  If you're expecting a fast meal you might be disappointed.  This charming little spot, like the rest of the valley exists at a slower pace.  I actually love that about it.  

The Buchanan theater shows two movies per week on Thrusday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I still haven't been able to catch a movie there yet, but I will one day!  The town is just eleven miles away from my parents' house.  From what I hear though it's a charming little theater with candy counter.  The ticket booth sits out front still.  

Down by the river is a very large park the town uses for festivals and fairs.  If you happen to be in the area near the fourth of July definitely check it out!  We played bingo for a quarter/card/game.  This little gazebo sits at one end of the park and I don't know why but every time I visit I am inexplicably drawn to the little building.  It's quite a nice place to sit and people watch too.  

I'll wrap up with just a few more pictures from around town.