A) Another of my ADVENTURES was traveling across America to study at Montana State U. in Bozeman, Montana! Instead of flying, like the others did, I drove, for the very first time! And honestly rediscovered, down on the ground, my America. This native Virginian is even mo' of a patriotic kinda person, now, as a result of that trip!!!
B) Saw the Mississippi at St. Louis for the first time! And paused a bit to explore that Gateway Arch along the banks. By the way, what IS the official title for this Arch?................Jefferson Naional Expansion Memorial!
C) Then drove north along the river, going through the real country (love small country towns) to Hannibal! First thing I did was to get out of the car and wade into the semi-muddy Mississippi River, sans sandals, before exploring the quaintm historic small town. Yes, commercialization had moved in with real places. Remember, also, that the Samuel Clements award-winning fictional characters and places were just that...fiction.
D) ....more.....
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
7- HOT-AIR BALLOONING...UP, UP And AWAY EARLY One ALBEMARLE COUNTY MORNING!....
A) My beautiful little daughter then, Sarah, spent the weekend with me and a friend from New England and had decided to visit and surr-prise both of us early on that Saturday morning! We had no idea whatsoever of what she was up to, not until she drove out in the country to an Albemarle County lodge outside of C-Ville. And there we saw the crew, preparing for sending alft a huge HOT-AIR BALLOON!
B) Was early...7:30am, needing to "catch" the early am currents! Best times to balloon ARE early in the morning or late afternoon. During the day, because we were beside the Blue Ridge Mts., the air current had a tendacy to move up the mountain. We didn't want to wind up across and over in the Shenandoah Valley. HOWEVER, doing so would have been another neat adventure on its own.
C) Ten (10) of us, three in my group, walked over to the small thatched box, thru the little door and were greeted by the Pilot. Before lifting off, he shared brief instructions on how the hot-air balloon system operated, making it all make sense! And then the ground crew loosened the support lines, and we were quickly off and moving up, up and away! WHAT A THRILL!!!
D) Did take a bit of getting use to the firing sounds of the pilot opening the burner above for hot air to drift up into the Envelope. I covered her ears, and she, within a few minutes of time, adapted and moved to the edge to experience the terrific adventure, as the balloon began to quickly soar straight up for height. She was OK for non-stop smiles spread across her face. And they were non-stop smiles for the rest of our hour flight!
E) We could see the lay of the foothils all around us, for miles, and up the old worn Blue Ridge mts., including barns....farmhouses...lakes...ponds. Horses and cows would see the shadows coming across from above, in their fields, and take off running, fearing something strange!
F) Once, the pilot went straight up into the clouds....then came back down to skim across the treetops, with Sarah reaching out and pulling off some leaves! She really had a smile for that one.
G) After an hour of so, the pilot searched for a good, treeless spot to land, and found one near a solitary house. As we slowly ascended, we could see, on this early Saturday morning, family inside having breakfast in the kitchen. Suddenly, the two childrend jumped up and ran out on their porch, excited to see such a HUGE hot-air balloon landing right near their home. The parents came out to join them, WITH a camera. What an ADVENTURE for them and for us.
H) By the way, "ron rascal" (college nickname) had taken my Nikon, as usual, and recorded the ADVENTURE....recently, sent Sarah pics of her at and inside the hot-air balloon!
I) ...a bit more coming....
B) Was early...7:30am, needing to "catch" the early am currents! Best times to balloon ARE early in the morning or late afternoon. During the day, because we were beside the Blue Ridge Mts., the air current had a tendacy to move up the mountain. We didn't want to wind up across and over in the Shenandoah Valley. HOWEVER, doing so would have been another neat adventure on its own.
C) Ten (10) of us, three in my group, walked over to the small thatched box, thru the little door and were greeted by the Pilot. Before lifting off, he shared brief instructions on how the hot-air balloon system operated, making it all make sense! And then the ground crew loosened the support lines, and we were quickly off and moving up, up and away! WHAT A THRILL!!!
D) Did take a bit of getting use to the firing sounds of the pilot opening the burner above for hot air to drift up into the Envelope. I covered her ears, and she, within a few minutes of time, adapted and moved to the edge to experience the terrific adventure, as the balloon began to quickly soar straight up for height. She was OK for non-stop smiles spread across her face. And they were non-stop smiles for the rest of our hour flight!
E) We could see the lay of the foothils all around us, for miles, and up the old worn Blue Ridge mts., including barns....farmhouses...lakes...ponds. Horses and cows would see the shadows coming across from above, in their fields, and take off running, fearing something strange!
F) Once, the pilot went straight up into the clouds....then came back down to skim across the treetops, with Sarah reaching out and pulling off some leaves! She really had a smile for that one.
G) After an hour of so, the pilot searched for a good, treeless spot to land, and found one near a solitary house. As we slowly ascended, we could see, on this early Saturday morning, family inside having breakfast in the kitchen. Suddenly, the two childrend jumped up and ran out on their porch, excited to see such a HUGE hot-air balloon landing right near their home. The parents came out to join them, WITH a camera. What an ADVENTURE for them and for us.
H) By the way, "ron rascal" (college nickname) had taken my Nikon, as usual, and recorded the ADVENTURE....recently, sent Sarah pics of her at and inside the hot-air balloon!
I) ...a bit more coming....
Sunday, February 14, 2010
6- WHITE-WATER RAFTING on the GALLATIN RIVER in MONTANA!.....
It was a scary thrill, through those wild river rapids in the Gallatin Valley, near Bozeman, that helped me become a much better and stronger person, inside. And, at the end of the float trip, inside, I yelled..."I DID IT, SQUIRE, I DID IT!"
Was studying the "federal government" with a special Montana State U. class meeting at Big Sky, all expenses. Intead of flying out to Bozeman, Montana, like the other ten from different schools, rr decided to leave early from Virginia and drive across country, for my first ever trip on ground. First night was in a small Illinois town, then off to see the great Mississippe River. Took time to explore the St. Louis ARCH. And then took the route up the river to Hannibal, Missouri. Explored that writer's old town, houses, cave and...waded in the M-i-crooked-letter, crooked letter-i-crooked-letter-crooked-letterhumpback-humpback-i!
Was studying the "federal government" with a special Montana State U. class meeting at Big Sky, all expenses. Intead of flying out to Bozeman, Montana, like the other ten from different schools, rr decided to leave early from Virginia and drive across country, for my first ever trip on ground. First night was in a small Illinois town, then off to see the great Mississippe River. Took time to explore the St. Louis ARCH. And then took the route up the river to Hannibal, Missouri. Explored that writer's old town, houses, cave and...waded in the M-i-crooked-letter, crooked letter-i-crooked-letter-crooked-letterhumpback-humpback-i!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
5- SUPPER With A POLTERGEIST?.....
One of my many interests, and adventures, included an invitation from an older country couple to spend the evening in their home. The invitation included, yes, a homemade supper and meeting the family dog, Sam. And as a part of my research on ghosts...a poltergeist.
The meal was in the large country kitchen...a new addition to the old home, with a reason why.
The poltergeist...the old country home dates back before the Civil War. A girl, who worked for the original family back then, began to experience strange and unusual occurances only when she was alone in the house doing her cleaning chores. Objects about the room in which she was working suddenly flew up and around, directed at the girl, often hitting her with force. When she would go outside on an errand, globs of mud would appear, as if thrown by someone with malice and strength. She, according to stories told in the county, would run and scream back inside, only to have objects about the room come flying at her. Mud, even inside, would suddenly appear and hit her.
When the girl left the house, in fear, the happenings ceased!
After supper, and listening to the elderly couple describe the tales told to them over the years, from the Civil War era, the husband told me to come over to the door from the kitchen to the older, original portion of the home. He proceeded to pick up Sam and carry him into the old sitting room. Immediately, Sam squealed and scrambled back into the 'safe' kitchen and turned around to mysteriously stare back into the sitting room, nervously.
The husband picked up Sam again and placed him once again further back into the sitting room.
The same mad dash to return to the kitchen happened again, with Sam turning and looking back, scared!
That's my story, and this educator, historian and researcher is sticking to it!
The meal was in the large country kitchen...a new addition to the old home, with a reason why.
The poltergeist...the old country home dates back before the Civil War. A girl, who worked for the original family back then, began to experience strange and unusual occurances only when she was alone in the house doing her cleaning chores. Objects about the room in which she was working suddenly flew up and around, directed at the girl, often hitting her with force. When she would go outside on an errand, globs of mud would appear, as if thrown by someone with malice and strength. She, according to stories told in the county, would run and scream back inside, only to have objects about the room come flying at her. Mud, even inside, would suddenly appear and hit her.
When the girl left the house, in fear, the happenings ceased!
After supper, and listening to the elderly couple describe the tales told to them over the years, from the Civil War era, the husband told me to come over to the door from the kitchen to the older, original portion of the home. He proceeded to pick up Sam and carry him into the old sitting room. Immediately, Sam squealed and scrambled back into the 'safe' kitchen and turned around to mysteriously stare back into the sitting room, nervously.
The husband picked up Sam again and placed him once again further back into the sitting room.
The same mad dash to return to the kitchen happened again, with Sam turning and looking back, scared!
That's my story, and this educator, historian and researcher is sticking to it!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
4- YES, HITCHING A RIDE ON THE SIDE OF A MOVING FREIGHT WAS ONE OF MY MANY A-D-V-E-N-T-U-R-E-S!...
During high school, there were three us chums living in the same country neighborhood, and across a small valley, with the mountains about 15 miles off in the distance. That day we three decided to hitch a ride...on a lonnnnnnnng freight train outside of town that was slowly heading up a long hill grade. And here's where my tale begins!
The first freight train was moving rather slow up a long grade, heading, eventually to Ohio. As we approached the Appalachian Mts., about 1o miles from town, I had visions of winding up in Ohio, so, I jumped, with the others following. No problems, from the slow moving freight.
We could tell that another train was coming because of the green light on a tower on the other track. So, we waited, ready to catch it back to town. And it did, also moving slowly up a long grade. We each grabbed on to a railing on different boxcars. Little did we realize but that train was beginning to go down the grade....a very long grade, picking up speed as it lumbered along. We knew that the town's station would be soon coming into view. One of my chums decided to jump off first. When he did, he landed in the small rocks of the tracks, breaking his glasses. it was my turn next. I lept way out...and landed in the fine black "gravel", coming to a halt when my feet stuck in the fine black "soot".... The motion of jumping from the boxcar in connection with me moving forward MADE me go forward into the "soot"...yeah!
Our third pal was scared and didn't jump, instead going around the bend, headed for the station.. By the way, freight trains never stop at the stations. We figured he was going on to Richmond or Norfolk....hmmmm.
Maybe 15 minutes later, we saw him walking back along the tracks, headed our way. After we settled down, from the scare of riding a freight train and jumping off, we made a pact to NEVER EVER do that again...until the next adventure cropped up. For the record, the next adventure that cropped up was....climbing a very high water tower and touching the "bulb" on top. That's for another time and adventure!
The first freight train was moving rather slow up a long grade, heading, eventually to Ohio. As we approached the Appalachian Mts., about 1o miles from town, I had visions of winding up in Ohio, so, I jumped, with the others following. No problems, from the slow moving freight.
We could tell that another train was coming because of the green light on a tower on the other track. So, we waited, ready to catch it back to town. And it did, also moving slowly up a long grade. We each grabbed on to a railing on different boxcars. Little did we realize but that train was beginning to go down the grade....a very long grade, picking up speed as it lumbered along. We knew that the town's station would be soon coming into view. One of my chums decided to jump off first. When he did, he landed in the small rocks of the tracks, breaking his glasses. it was my turn next. I lept way out...and landed in the fine black "gravel", coming to a halt when my feet stuck in the fine black "soot".... The motion of jumping from the boxcar in connection with me moving forward MADE me go forward into the "soot"...yeah!
Our third pal was scared and didn't jump, instead going around the bend, headed for the station.. By the way, freight trains never stop at the stations. We figured he was going on to Richmond or Norfolk....hmmmm.
Maybe 15 minutes later, we saw him walking back along the tracks, headed our way. After we settled down, from the scare of riding a freight train and jumping off, we made a pact to NEVER EVER do that again...until the next adventure cropped up. For the record, the next adventure that cropped up was....climbing a very high water tower and touching the "bulb" on top. That's for another time and adventure!
Thursday, November 12, 2009
3- SEARCHING For EARLY 20th CENTURY HUGE BUILDING WALL SIGNS OUT And ABOUT MY HISTORIC VIRGINIA!....
The huge brick wall signs, usually, were located in our small towns in every nook and cranny in the Old Dominion! Older cities, like Newport News, Richmond and Northern Virginia are included, also. Like all of my other dozens of researches on my native State, this historian has traveled extensively with notebook and Nikon, recording much on paper and especially on slides and prints.
1) One of my 115 essays, now, in the Virginia Gazette and published in January of this year, was given nearly a page on the old "Adverising Art on Town Walls." Since the 1990s, one of my many research adventures has included exploring nearly every nook and cranny of my native Virginia! And, searching for old barns, lighthouses, standing depots, old-fashioned lunch counters, abandoned farmhouses and even swinging bridges, I noticed in every small town and old areas, like Richmond, Newport News, Roanoke and Norfolk, these large store brick walls and even water towers with very large advertising signs! To me they were a definite part of our Virginia art history. With this venture and adventure, I've discovered that this was and is the first, and original, history project!
My fave advertising art wall? There are two. One, "UNEEDA BISCUITS", is on a brick wall off of Broad Street (east) on Church Hill, near that famous Patrick Henry church! The other one is in Chilhowie, near Marion..."PIGGLY WIGGLY" sign painted on the side of a brick wall!
1) One of my 115 essays, now, in the Virginia Gazette and published in January of this year, was given nearly a page on the old "Adverising Art on Town Walls." Since the 1990s, one of my many research adventures has included exploring nearly every nook and cranny of my native Virginia! And, searching for old barns, lighthouses, standing depots, old-fashioned lunch counters, abandoned farmhouses and even swinging bridges, I noticed in every small town and old areas, like Richmond, Newport News, Roanoke and Norfolk, these large store brick walls and even water towers with very large advertising signs! To me they were a definite part of our Virginia art history. With this venture and adventure, I've discovered that this was and is the first, and original, history project!
My fave advertising art wall? There are two. One, "UNEEDA BISCUITS", is on a brick wall off of Broad Street (east) on Church Hill, near that famous Patrick Henry church! The other one is in Chilhowie, near Marion..."PIGGLY WIGGLY" sign painted on the side of a brick wall!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
2- EXPLORING THE ROSEWELL RUINS ONE SUMMER WHILE STUDYING AT W&M!...
The ROSEWELL Plantation home in ruins...Gloucester County, on the north banks of the York River. I wandered about the vine entangled ruins years before, on a weekend while studying at William & Mary, years before a group cleaned it up, like it is today. My directions were given the class back then by an excellent History prof.
I drove acorss the York River bridge early on that Saturday morning, carefully following each step on the map, in my little VW 'bug', with no problem and stopped along the country road in Gloucester County...where were the ruins? Only a cornfield and a large patch of woods in the middle.
Getting out, I pulled on my trusty Konica, then, found an open path and walked. Was summer hot, plenty of insects. My eyes were fixed intently on the woods in front of me, in the middle of the field.
A strange shiver of a feeling came over me as I approached the edge of the woods. The tangled vines and weeds made the going rough, but I was certain that my directions were on target. With my eyes adjusting, the outline of IT came into focus..........(more)....
I drove acorss the York River bridge early on that Saturday morning, carefully following each step on the map, in my little VW 'bug', with no problem and stopped along the country road in Gloucester County...where were the ruins? Only a cornfield and a large patch of woods in the middle.
Getting out, I pulled on my trusty Konica, then, found an open path and walked. Was summer hot, plenty of insects. My eyes were fixed intently on the woods in front of me, in the middle of the field.
A strange shiver of a feeling came over me as I approached the edge of the woods. The tangled vines and weeds made the going rough, but I was certain that my directions were on target. With my eyes adjusting, the outline of IT came into focus..........(more)....
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