Thoughts on a beautiful autumn day in the Shenandoah Valley....
Is it a sign of a bad winter when:
-
snow comes before Halloween?
- the cedar trees are so loaded with berries that their limbs are weighed down to the ground?
- there's a bumper crop of acorns and black walnuts?
Hunting season is here and it's that time of year when parts of the
Skyline Drive closes at night.
You know it's fall when
bear sightings pick up. There's still some beautiful leaf color in the Valley but most trees on the mountain ridges are bare as the autumn of 2011 winds down. It was an extraordinary color season in this part of the Commonwealth, and now that color action is moving eastward toward Richmond and beyond. Have you ever seen Williamsburg in the fall? It's beautiful....
Christmas ads are showing up on the television and, quite frankly, I'm ready. The next seven weeks will fly as we celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.
The Staunton Christmas parade is Monday, November 28, at 7 pm in historic downtown Staunton. Bundle up and join the fun....
There's a snowstorm today in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and I've enjoyed watching the white stuff pile up. Colorado is special ... I learned to snow ski in Aspen, my sister was married in Boulder, one brother-in-law is from Denver and the other is from Boulder, and I've spent time on the mountain slopes and back roads of Vail, Georgetown, Breckenridge, Colorado Springs, and many other places in that beautiful state.
No more time to waste today ... back to work. Enjoy this gorgeous weather and relish the season! It's autumn in the Shenandoah Valley....
Photo by Lynn R. Mitchell
October 2011
"Welcome" to the County Fair harvest party! The annual church event is a hit every year. The parking lot was filled to capacity as kids of all ages enjoyed this year's festivities.
Come right in ... it's lots of fun! Be sure to sidle up to the barn and rake in some of those good eats ... chili, chicken nuggets, fries, and nachos. Don't forget your goodie bag of candy treats!
Now that's a hay wagon where little ones can't bail over the side! As the hayride drove past with laughing children ...
... Mr. Scarecrow kept a watchful eye over the parking lot and the autumn-colored hills beyond.
Kurt found an alpaca friend ...
... one of those miniatures that mirror llamas.
Look out, Partner ... Jason was helping the kids take their turn on the climbing wall ...
... while his better half was at the bottom to help little ones find their way safely off the slide. What a cute buckaroo!
Our own little ladybug and the gun slinger prepare to head out to the harvest party.
Cotton candy clouds ... the perfect ending to the day looking out from Waynesboro at the sunset over the Blue Ridge Mountains. Photo by SWAC Daughter.
Snow from earlier in the week can still be seen along the sides of I-81.
Looking from Weyers Cave toward Grottoes and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Shenandoah Heritage Farmers Market in Rockingham County.
Old-fashioned country store feeling at Grandma's Pantry in Shenandoah Heritage Market with baskets and shelves of every kind of candy imaginable.
The old water wheel marks the entrance to Grandma's Pantry and bulk goods as well as other goodies.
Christmas lights gave a festive air to shopping.
Okay, "measureable" may be a bit too optimistic. A first glance out the window this morning showed what looked to be a heavy frost ... but a double-take proved it to be our first dusting of snow for this season with a morning temperature of 20 degrees.
It was beautiful glistening in the sun....
SWAC Husband lined up the last of the summer tomatoes from the garden to ripen in the kitchen window. He picked all the green tomatoes from the vines when temperatures in the 20s killed the vines a few weeks ago.
We are usually able to have a few tomatoes left for Thanksgiving when we give thanks for those juicy red summer treats ... and then they are gone until next July.
Steady rain caused wet cobblestones and drenched leaves on a foggy day in the Shenandoah Valley.
Trees in the back yard lost the last of their leaves in the overnight downpour. Time to rake again! Fog shrouded the mountain ridges.
