Favorite Part of Town

Theme Day: City Daily Photo

When I first considered this months theme, “My favorite part of town,” I felt puzzled. Most of my favorite places are not in my town. But then I remembered that the Shenandoah River is on the edge of town, and we even have a state park there! Of course, that’s it!

I go to Seven Bends State Park at least once a week, often more. Today I took Charlie for a walk near the Lupton Road entrance. I bundled up because the weather has just turned cold. Many of the leaves have fallen, but there’s still some bright yellow ones and the grass is still green.

Charlie likes all the smells of the park. Is it his favorite place? Let’s ask him.

Charlie: “No. It’s interesting, but my favorite place is the dog park. It’s the most fun. I get to run really fast.

Yesterday, Sadie went there with us. I wasn’t too sure that was a good idea, but we had a good time. Some of my friends were there. It’s the best place ever when your friends are there!”

Roads, River, Birds

After I took Charlie to the dog park this afternoon, I decided to drive down to the river. I was surprised to find that Lupton Road has been paved! It's one of two narrow roads that go down to Seven Bends State Park, which is located along the North Fork of the Shenandoah. The rough condition of the roads has been a concern.

The afternoon light was pretty. I thought I might photograph some birds for Wild Bird Wednesday, but I didn’t get close to any.

I decided to go down the other road to the park to take a look. But first I passed a sign that appeared to have two crows standing on it. Oh, they’re decorations.

I found a bird in the park, but it was a wandering guinea fowl from a nearby home. It wandered back to its driveway as I left the park. The geese live there too. Oh, who is that coming up the driveway!

It’s the peacock and his kitty friend. It’s interesting how such different species can get along when they live together.

We live in a beautiful world. Why can’t we all get along?

Skywatching from Lupton Road

It was late this afternoon when I took Charlie to the state park because I had a meeting that ended after 3:30, and I came home and had a snack before heading back out.  The clouds were a mixture of fluffy clouds and contrails that had started to spread apart.

We took a short walk, met another dog, sat on a bench. By the time I crossed the bridge to come home, the sky was starting to darken.

Park Critters and Effects

Seven Bends, Hollingsworth Road

 Our state park turns out to be a good place for a sniffari. That’s a walk where a dog gets to sniff a lot. And since Charlie’s a beagle, sniffing is an intense activity for him, and actually tires him out.

On Wednesday, I took him to the Hollingsworth Road entrance to the park. I was pleased to see the peacock again because I haven’t seen him in a long time. He belongs to a residence next to the entrance which also has geese. I believe this is a Sepastopol goose.

I parked in the lot by the river because I didn’t want to deal with the birds while walking the dog. The first time I met the peacock, he jumped up on my car and would not get off!

My photo of a man fishing near the swinging bridge was not very satisfying so I filtered it in an app. Friends liked the result, so I tried a painterly effect on a picture of some deer that ran through the park after a jogger startled them. They show up better now, but the trees suddenly acquired fall colors.

I don’t want to leave Charlie out of the special effects.

Concert Coming to Our State Park

Camp Lupton Barn

I took this picture to illustrate an fundraising event at Seven Bends State Park. It will be held this Saturday from 4 to 6 pm. UPDATE: The event has been postponed to October 14.

This pony barn is the only remaining building from the days when the property was a summer camp. The concert will be held outdoors.

An Eagle Set Free

When I saw an announcement for a bald eagle release, I made plans to go. I've only been to one eagle release previously, and this one was to be at our local state park. I had heard about the eagle being rescued when it was very young after a storm blew the nest down in April. The parents were still feeding it, but it had an injured wing and would have been prey for predators. Park rangers gathered up the eaglet and took it to the Wildlife Center of Virginia. There it was able to heal safely.

A juvenile bald eagle still has a dark feathered head. This one was old enough to survive on its own, so it was brought back to Seven Bends State Park on September 1st to be released.

Ed Clark of the Wildlife Center handled the eagle. He posed with the park rangers. Then he took the eagle around so that the audience could see it.

I had brought my Sony camera so I had a better chance of getting pictures of the eagle flying. I set it on sports mode so it could fire quickly.

The eagle flew up, got its bearings, and headed toward the sky. It circled around overhead, as if rewarding us for cheering it on. How wonderful to see it set free!

Blue Monday / Mosaic Monday

Summer’s End

🎼 “Summer's end's around the bend just flying

The swimming suits are on the line just drying…

— John Prine

We are officially in a drought. My town has mandated water conservation measures, as have other places in the Shenandoah Valley. Well, at least the high temperatures will abate now that September is here.

Farmers, of course, are affected by drought. Some early crops got harvested, but others did not thrive. The creeks and rivers are low. There are mats of algae in the North Fork. 

Charlie was with me when I took those pictures last month. The water is even lower now.

I’ll post one more picture of Charlie for his fans. I used in oil paint filter in BeCasso for the pet art linkup.

A Smoother Path

Seven Bends State Park

A paved earthen bridge now crosses the ditch between the parking lot and the Bass Bight Trail. This replaces a jumble of rocks that was an invitation to a twisted ankle.

Good fences: Gosia is posting again and will bring back the Good Fences linkup. 

The river water is low, but not too low for tubing.

A ramp with steps is helpful when you want to bring a canoe up a steep slope. It's also fun to explore. 

 

Skywatch 

Yucca at the LOVE Sign

Seven Bends State Park

Yucca is a wildflower that is also planted in gardens. Another name for it is Adams needle. The small blossoms decorate long stalks.

The love sign is near the Lupton Road entrance to the park. The road crosses the North Fork of the Shenandoah River.