Critters and Car Rides

Hi, it's Charlie. I’ll show you a couple of big animals, but first I'll share a picture of me that my mom filtered on the computer.

Sometimes I see animals from the car, like this deer or the cows. I don’t worry about them because they don’t come close.

I saw a dog in another car and he looked friendly, but I did not get to meet him.

Often I meet dogs at the dog park. It is disappointing when they are not there. Yesterday no one was there so I explored the park and waited, and then a girl dog showed up. She was too tired to play because she had already been for a long walk but she smiled when I showed her how fast I could run. She didn’t stay long, and the man with her took her home. So we left and went home too.

I have gotten braver about riding in the car. Today a lady named Miss Deborah rode in the backseat with me. She is very nice.

My mom bought a big painting of some birds.

 

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.

American Robins, Virginia Deer

I liked the way the robin was perched on the rooftop so I took a picture with my cell phone. It is not detailed so here's an older picture that's a close-up.

Also, I want to share with you these deer before I lose track of their pictures. I’ve taken many photos this summer, and I don’t want to forget any special ones.

Fawn and Woodpecker

The young deer was with his mom, but she was camera shy. I took this picture on Monday and today I saw more deer, but I was driving on a road where it was not safe to stop.

The woodpecker picture is from a previous July. I believe it’s a red-bellied woodpecker because that’s the kind I usually see around here.

Wild Bird Wednesday

 

Man on Wall, Deer in Road

Shenandoah National Park

Don’t worry; the drop off is not as steep as it looks. You can step down and walk around in the grass. 

The speed limit in the park is 35 miles an hour or less. Not only are there many curves, but often there is wildlife that walks out into the road. 

Sometimes Charlie is my riding buddy. I’m afraid we may have to take a break from that for a while because he has gotten very adept at getting out of his harness, which is fastened to a doggy seatbelt to keep him safe.

Deer Along the Drive

Shenandoah National Park

On Tuesday afternoon, I took the long route home from Harrisonburg. That is, I drove east to Shenandoah National Park and took Skyline Drive north to New Market Gap. Then I took 211 west and headed towards home. I suppose it took a couple of hours extra to go this way, but it was worth it. The views are terrific, and the park is very peaceful in winter.

I saw a deer before I even reached Big Meadows, which is a great place to view wildlife. A beautiful red fox crossed the road in front of me there, but disappeared before I could stop to take a picture.

Desire for Peace

Today’s Daily Word was World Peace.

Many people are praying for peace, or at least hoping for a more peaceful world. Events in the news are disheartening… Often heartbreaking. Greed and lust for power are doing so much harm.

Yet “There is is a striving and yearning in the human heart for peace.”  Let us keep striving. 

Mosaic Monday / Blue Monday.

 

Photo of the Year 2022

City Daily Photo has a theme for the first of each month, and the theme for January 1st is always Photo of the Year. It isn’t easy choosing one so I made digital copies of images I thought were worthy and then clicked through them several times. I decided on this river scene because it is intriguing, the golden light is pretty, and the location is the Shenandoah River, which is one focus of my blog.

I’ll show you the runners up in collage form to save space.

The young woman is showing her child an exhibit of photos of endangered animals. The icy tree is a recent shot that I took while walking my dog.

A dramatic sky will often prompt me to take a picture.

The Love sign and the small garden are both at Seven Bends State Park. I work with a group that supports the park and I logged 101 volunteer hours in 2022. The park is still being developed but it is open for hiking, fishing, canoeing, and picnicking. There is a great play area for children near the Hollingsworth Road entrance.

The final four images show a hawk, Charlie and me, a unicorn, and a deer. Looking at these reminds me that I saw some wonderful things in the past year. 

Charlie and the Scary Beasts

Charlie here. Let's talk about animals because something scary happened.

Normally I like animals. I like dogs and it's fun seeing animals from the car window. Also, small critters are interesting. I don’t know what any of them are called unless they’re dogs.

One day Mom was going to take me to the dog park, but when we got there she saw four dogs going in and she said that was too many. So we didn't get out of the car. She said she would take me somewhere else for a nice walk.

We drove a little way and got out of the car and walked across a little bridge. We went through a gate and then we stopped because there were some beasts in the distance and they looked at us. Then they started walking towards us and they were really, really big! And they looked hungry!

it was scary. I could hear their big feet thundering across the earth and they were headed for me. I was so glad when we got back through the gate and closed it, but they came up and looked over the fence. I ran back across the little bridge and got back in the car as fast as I could. Mom closed the door and we escaped.

 

Deer in a a Drizzle

Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park

The mountains called me during the rain again. It was more of a drizzle than a storm, but the feeling of being above the clouds is magical.

I stopped at the Dickey Ridge Visitors Center. A couple of deer were grazing next to the bike racks. They were accustomed to people, and the buck let me walk (slowly) within 12 feet of him. I took quite a few pictures of him, so for variety I’m posting a painterly version.

The park was lovely and the views were great so I drove south to the next exit. I saw a couple more deer on the way. I was hoping to see a bear from the car but no luck.