Our neighbor up the street seems to think so, and has an unusual twist on the manger scene that he sets up in his front yard each year. This year, I had to get some pictures before he took it down.
At least he seems to have the plant eaters positioned closest to the child. This is one of the funnier sights each Christmas in our neighborhood.
I took A. and the girls to visit my sister in Blacksburg today, and after a wonderful afternoon I decided to take a really rural road back to the in-laws' house in Roanoke (instead of relying on the interstate). This was one of the views that we saw as we were driving along -- it's incredible to realize, even after having been raised in this part of the state, that places like this still exist. Living in the D.C. area, you don't get to see this too often!
My father-in-law and I took a drive to Lexington, Virginia today and among other stops visited the gravesite of one of Virginia's favorite sons, Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Lexington is a beautiful, well-preserved southern town and has countless places to take some beautiful photographs. My time was limited, but I wanted to include these two.
A memorial to the firefighters of Engine Company 10 who lost their lives on 9-11, located at the station -- right across the street from Ground Zero.
Some severe thunderstorms that moved through the area this afternoon and early-evening prevented us from getting out to the city's fireworks display, but it didn't keep us from watching the show put on by our neighbors. It's the first time I've used the fireworks setting, and since there weren't many sky displays I had to practice on the "lawn lights."
After a long spell of not much rain, we've gotten a bit more lately -- and in celebration, the hostas are blooming once again.
The fact that I don't own a tripod for my camera -- and my strong inability to hold the camera steady -- lead to some very unusual shots. This is the harvest moon that had just come up over the horizon across the street from our house tonight; gives new meaning to the phrase "moon bounce."
I thought the picture above really captures the spirit of our parish retreat at Shrine Mont: a circle of fellowship.
On our way home this afternoon, we stopped by a very old church (constructed in 1825) in Mount Jackson, Virginia. My wife pulled the car off the road so that I could get out and take some pictures, including this one of an amazing gravestone crafted in the late 19th century.
This evening, nearly everyone who was attending our parish retreat went to a candlelight Compline service at the outdoor chapel of Shrine Mont. While everyone was being seated, I snapped this picture; initially, I thought I would be disappointed in how it turned out, but now that I've seen it on the computer I don't think I would change a thing.
I was trying to capture some good shots of my wife and daughter dancing at the sock hop at our parish retreat tonight, and surprisingly came up with this one that I think is really cool. You see the double strand of the moving rope, and the doubled-up images of the folks dancing in the background.
We were having some difficulties with the car we normally use to pick up our oldest at pre-school, so today she had the big thrill of riding in our Mustang convertible. Someone looks really happy in this picture!
Today was the first day of cereal for our youngest, and big sister really wanted to help with this first feeding. Looks pretty intent about the whole thing, don't you think?
The family visited Virginia Tech today with my youngest sister, but rather than post something about the memorials on campus (which I'll do in my other blog) I'll post an example of why I love the architecture. Another experiment with black-and-white.
My in-laws' cat certainly had the right idea on how to spend this Sunday afternoon.
I made a trip up to the Cathedral today to pick up some gifts for the godparents of our youngest child, and as always carried my camera with me. I'm still having some difficulty with interior shots of the nave and stained glass...
... but am having no trouble whatsoever with the exterior shots. It was an absolutely gorgeous day to visit.
One of my favorite hobbies is collecting signed books and author autographs, particularly from well-known writers. I've found that authors are often agreeable to honoring requests for signed books or bookplates, particularly if you send a polite, commendatory, and short letter to them. The two Updike signatures arrived in today's mail, the Irving in the past week. The Vonnegut and Styron, of course, were signed long before now. It's a very enjoyable hobby, and I look forward to passing my collection on to my girls one day.
I spent the better part of the afternoon taking pictures of MB and watching how she used her hands during the day: to play with little rocks, to find caterpillars, to look for ants on their little mounds, to look at flowers in the yard. And then I took this one, and the rest didn't seem quite so important anymore.....
I think hostas are the prettiest when it's early in their annual life. And a touch of rain adds a nice bit to the imagery. We have two types growing in our yard; these two are among the many that got a nice shower overnight.
A. and I had promised our oldest that we would take her to the zoo today, and so we enjoyed a nice visit of a few hours to what I think is one of the better sites in D.C. Took a lot of great pictures, although many of the animals MB wanted to see weren't out.
I love especially this picture above; the one on the right looks like he's contemplating either what to do next, or what to make of all of us.
And the big toothy grin from this fellow/gal (I'm not sure which).....
Everything in our neighborhood is in full spring blossom, from the bushes in our front yard above to the cherry trees across the street at our neighbors' house below.
This eyesore has been sitting across the street from us since we moved in -- it didn't look quite this bad, but add a bit of old, old siding and a few windows and you'll know EXACTLY how it looked. The new owners have finally decided to tear it down...
...with the chimney starting to be pulled away from the house above...
... and being captured on film a moment before it hits the ground. I've got to give the demolition crew credit; it only took them five or six tries before they figured out how to tie a knot at the end of the rope (attached to the tractor) which wouldn't snap off when they tugged at the chimney.
I'll have to come up with a prize for whoever can figure out what this is. I didn't intend for this picture to come out this way, but it looks pretty cool and conjures up all sorts of images of fairies and magical creatures. Start your guessing!
These two chums paid a visit to my backyard this afternoon, and seemed to be pretty bored with the whole thing -- even after I startled them.
I wonder if maybe there was some courtin' goin' on???
