Saturday, June 18, 2011

Saturday in the Shenandoah Valley

Congratulations to Mike and Erika as they wed later today. SWAC Son is a member of the wedding party for this beautiful outdoor event that will take place in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Going to the Chapel, the Four Weddings and a Funeral version in honor of Mike and Erica's big day....

Congratulations to Nate Salatin, VMI Class of 2011, and Josh Salatin, who have both landed jobs in New York City. You're not in Kansas anymore! Big city, bright lights....

Freedom is not free.... Sadly, America lost another soldier this week during a battle in Afghanistan. Army Ranger Staff Sgt. Jeremy Katzenberger died June 14 while on his eighth deployment during the war on terrorism ... four tours in Iraq and four in Afghanistan. Our prayers go out to his family and friends at this sad time....

A positive thought for the day for all those positive people out there ... "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." ~Galatians 6:9

And another positive thought: "Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character." ~Albert Einstein

It's Father's Day weekend and I'm missing my dad who left us way too soon in 1975 when he lost his battle with cancer at the age of 51. He loved camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia and taught me to slow down, enjoy the beauty around us, and respect nature. Every time I hear Diamond Rio's "One More Day," I think of him....

The jousting tournament is this weekend at Natural Chimneys in northwest Augusta County. It's fun to take in the ambiance and watch the modern-day jousters with the backdrop of the North River and the decades-old natural chimneys. Damsels and knights will roam the Shenandoah Valley this weekend....

It's the 3rd annual Wine and Jazz Festival this weekend at the Frontier Culture Museum in Staunton. Saturday's fun is doubled in the surroundings of Ireland, England, Germany, Western Africa, and pioneer America in the central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

Sinkhole repairs continue in western Augusta County in the spring of 2011 where there have been sinkholes on I-81, Rt. 250 west of Staunton, Rt. 254, and back roads.

The exhibit "Jed Hotchkiss, Valley Mapmaker," will be on display at Staunton's R.R. Smith Center for History & Art's History Gallery through December 31, 2011. If you know nothing about this fascinating right-hand man to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson, you must make time to visit the museum to see the exhibit. The Hotchkiss house is located on East Beverley Street in downtown Staunton. My husband is reading a book right now about Jedediah Hotchkiss that he bought at the Green Valley Bookfair ... a book full of the mapmaker's amazingly accurate maps of the Valley compiled during the Civil War....

It's a great day ... enjoy yours wherever you are and those you're with....

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