For As Long As You May Need Me

Over twenty years ago, Bill planted a sapling.

It was a Red Maple that never turned red in the Fall.

Yellow was always her color.

But this summer she is again sporting her beautiful mantle of green.

Other trees managed to succumb to benign neglect or wicked weather;

• a gigantic Bradford Pear who split in two during a storm called a Durecho,
• a Weeping Cherry who never made it past puberty,
• an enormous Crab Apple who nourished our deer but simply gave up.

But the beautiful Red Maple stayed on as if to comfort and assure,

“I will linger long and grow toward heaven for as long as you may need me.”

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Halloween Texting

Was the Wicked Witch Texting?

This is my annual Halloween post.

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A Virginian Visits the Old World

 

 

We were on our way to the “old country!”

En route I spotted a ghostly cloud in the shape of a sister-jet following along for good luck.

This is what I saw through our plane window.

 

Bill and I were on our way to a riverboat cruise featuring the Highlights of Germany.

And there are now 193 photographs awaiting your viewing pleasure!

No, please don’t worry.  This is a Virginia blog after all and the subject is always Virginia Views.

I will only share the best of the best of cathedrals, castles, and narrow streets.   Now they have already  blended into one delightful memory.  The truth is, we can’t remember where we have been!  At least that’s what Bill says.  After awhile one castle looks a lot like the last one.

But I’m baaaaaack!  The called for “Time Out” is over.

And now, tradition has it that I must post a wayward witch’s photo to celebrate the season.

It was not taken in Germany but a few years ago “down the street” right here in the neighborhood.

Many thanks to the neighbor who took the time to put up this funny lady.

They don’t make much of Halloween in the Germany we visited and I am glad to be back among all the U.S. pumpkins, gourds, and all the anticipation in the air about costumes, tricks and treats.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN my friends!

It’s good to be home.

She must have been texting!

 

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A Love Affair With Herman

Herman’s Produce in Lexington, Virginia, is my favorite place for anything fresh and beautiful or freshly preserved and delicious.  I harvested their fabulous tomatoes all summer (from the shelves)  and now there are crispy apples guaranteed the best of the best.

Even their plants scream quality.  I bought a basil plant that grew into a beautiful round mound with constant leaves to harvest all season, and a giant mum of enormous beauty for only $12.

Herman’s is also a wonderful center for meeting, greeting, laughing, and putting aside the worries of the world.  There is an old rusty tractor “out front” and they have made good use of it to wish their friends the best of Fall and a Happy Halloween.

I do love Herman’s because it’s humble but top-of-the-line, habit forming because you always want more, and because the folks at Herman’s really and truly care.

Note:  This is not an advertisement!  Really.

And I am not actually having a love affair with Herman either.

I know it  sounds that way but some places simply require accolades.

Congratulations Herman!  You have won my heart.

Happy Fall and Happy Halloween from Herman’s

 

 

 

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Creating a Place for All Seasons

Weekly Photo Challenge:  Containers

Boxes, tanks, wrappers:  for this week’s Photo Challenge, show us something that contains something else.

It was the container of all containers somewhere in a courtyard in Arizona.

And it was around Halloween.

And I have never forgotten it.

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Halloween Morn

This morning was “haunting” befitting a Halloween morning following Super Storm Sandy.

There was a sense of eeriness in the sky.  

The old barn across the way took on a mysterious mantle.

The mountains of the beautiful Blue Ridge exposed an eerie light.

And suddenly as if to say, “I’m sorry,” the looming clouds turned pink and bright

and shared the promise of a new day.

Eeerie Halloween Morn

Dawn Breaks on Halloween

Skylights

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