You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.
Mostly just views, a minimum of commentary this time
Except for this, a view of the apse end of the St Francis church in Staunton, VA, on an early morning walk
Stalker Cat
Choupette's hobby is lying in wait for Melvin to pass by, and leaping out on top of him.
She's persistent, and indefatigable.
But not entirely indefatigable. Stalking is hard work.
Views of Sherando
Sherando Lake in Virginia, just west of the Blue Ridge, on a not very chilly day, and we're here to read our books and mange a picnic lunch, 11 March 2022
They've saved our favorite benches for us.
The lunch lady totes in the victuals.
'Our island' (we like to think)
The visitor centre from our bench
Times passes, we finish our chapters, and set out for a consitutional walk round the lake.
The east side of the lakeshore trail
The dam at the northern end of the lake
The 'Bridge on the River Kwai', or maybe the North Fork Back Creek
It's bound inexorably to the Back Creek, thence to the South River, and thence . . . oh, never mind. The Chesapeake Bay eventually.
Up we go.
The western side of the lake
The island
The south end of the lake
The visitor center
Very sadly, bad luck at the Sherando United Methodist Church
The Montgomery Hall jungle, Staunton VA
Starting off on the MHP Expressway Trail, a warm day (21 March 2022). It's springtime, and we're here to see all the flowers.
A yellow trail marker, reassuring
A vegetative nightmare. But no flowers yet.
Mind your head
Some bouncy roots on the trail to surprise the mountain bikers
'Please keep to the trail' (as if there were any alternative)
A lot of annoying green stuff, but no real flowers yet
A disc golf fairway, too close to our trail for comfort
How can anyone fling a frisbee into that thing? On a par 3 'hole'.
'Found art'
Don't linger.
The Rock Garden bypass -- nothing to see here yet.
No flowers at all yet
Someone's identifying a bird call.
Another bird call. There's a sign of springtime, right there. No flowers yet, though.
More freaks of nature
We've crossed over now from the Expressway Trail to the shorter Yulee Trail that circles us back towards the car.
-- Watch you don't step on it. It'll bite your foot off.
Our only estimable flower for today
Ascending 'Black Dog Mountain'
Descending 'Black Dog Mountain'
Distressingly loud appallingly call-it-music-if-you-must descending upon us from the picnic pavilion up on our left. (Luckily for them, we're not armed today.)
-- No straggling.
Back to the carpark -- away from the call-it-music-if-you-must
And so to home
In downtown Staunton, a large poster for the local artistic glassblowing studio -- 'visit out gift shop'
Dogwoods in our neighbood, 27 March, worth waiting for
The dogwoods median along the length of the Statler ring road
The Hall Monitor
The Hall Monitor does not want to be disturbed.
Gypsy Hill Park, the Project Dogwood display, 29 March 2022
Some great flowers, but no dogwoods yet. Seven varieties side by side here -- whenever they're ready.
Next up: April scenes in Staunton
Dwight Peck's personal website
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All rights reserved, all wrongs avenged. Posted 10 April 2022. 
