The last act
Just one month shy of 24 years ago, we packed everything we owned into a rented Ryder truck and began the 714-mile drive from Alton, Illinois, to Washington. We arrived one day later, on March 1, 1981, to begin what became almost a quarter century there.
Today, we drive back up to the Washington area to oversee two teams of movers as they empty out our storage rooms in Arlington and start the 300-mile journey from there to Floyd. Our last connection to the National Capital Region comes to an end.
We only have ice for you
Ice provides a different winter pattern than snow, one that is often more stark with clearly defined lines.
Couldn’t resist…
I know. Wasn’t going to do any more moon shots. After all, the full moon that lit up the sky so beautifully this week is on the wane.
But what the hell. The clouds this morning added just the right touch.
The talking heads say we get snow today. Lots of snow. So now I can get into a snow shot war with Fred First.
What tha…?
No, you’re not hallucinating. Well, maybe you are but it’s not because you clicked on the url for DougThompson.Com and ended up here. I merged DougThompson.Com with Blue Ridge Muse while you were sleeping and incorporated both blogs into one: Blue Ridge Muse.
Visitor with a lot to say
A visiting blogger, David St. Lawrence from Charlottesville, had a lot to say about Floyd in his excellent blog, Ripples. An ex-corporate type, David, provided more perceptive coverage of two local businesses — Oddfellas Cantina and Cafe del Sol — than any of us who write about life in Floyd on a regular basis.
All right. If you insist. One more
That’s the problem with driving home on clear nights. Just gotta take one more picture of the spectacular moon in the night sky.
Quite a few emails over the transom on the techniques for shooting moons, especially questions on how to expose to get detail on the orb itself.
OK, one more
OK. I’m a sucker for moon shots. The moon is usually rising over the hill behind our home when I get home at night. Wednesday night was no exception.
As for the Great Moon War with fellow Floyd County blogger Fred First, it was was over before it began.
Whither the Muse?
What am I going to do with this blog? I started it as a place for writings and photography about life in the Blue Ridge but find that most of that goes into one of my other blogs at DougThompson.Com.
Between that blog, American Newsreel and Capitol Hill Blue, I find myself running out of time on any given day.
I’m weighing some options: Merging Muse with DougThompson.com, trying to devote more time to it or dropping it.
Not sure yet what to do.
One more moon shot
Sorry, couldn’t resist another moon photo. The full moon rising over the landscape in Floyd County last night was just too beautiful to ignore.
The great generator chase
When we bought our home in Floyd County on December 3, we immediately ordered a generator to provide power during the electrical outages that can hit the area during the winter months.
We chose one of Generac’s new Guardian models — a 15-klilowatt monster that starts automatically when the power fails, will power 12 circuits in the home and can run up to 36 hours off a 100-gallon tank of LP gas. When we placed the order at Lowes, the estimated arrival time was two weeks.