This is the entrance to the George Washington Birthplace National Monument. In the traffic circle is a smaller version of the more famous Washington DC landmark.
First /
The monument to the First Flight from this Kill Devil Hill on the Outer Banks. This shot if from the back side of the monument with darkening skies coming in fast.
Sign of the Times /
Not sure if this business is still open.I love the photos peaking out of the windows and the sign is simply wonderful. Plus how cool are those colors? I need to find out if that is for sale if the shop is closed. Walking around small towns leads to great discoveries.
Devil's Golf Course /
is a nickname for this portion of the Death Valley National Park valley floor. The jagged and sharp salt encrusted floor is difficult to walk on and those crevices are 2, 3 and even 4 feet deep. Indeed a difficult lie for a golfer!
Hope your All-Hallows Eve is very quiet.... /
It is a Law... /
... or at least it might be required that any photographer passing any Joshua Tree silhouetted against the sunset sky MUST stop and take a photo. Failure to do so results in confiscation of your camera and you are given an unsharpened pencil and butcher's paper instead.
Welcome to Monday!
42 /
Movement Christian Church opened on October 22 in Knightdale, NC, my 42nd new church involvement. Bobby Wallace is the lead minister. This Sunday's Scripture is found in the photograph!
Blessings.
140 Years Ago /
A rancher built this water trough to provide for his cattle. Today, lots of animals seek it out in the middle of the Joshua Tree National Park arid landscape.
Andrew Jackson /
The Jackson statue stands near the White House and is one of the many small parks in the District that are managed by the National Park Service. People are making Jackson - Trump parallels today, valid or not, Old Hickory watches over the current White House residents.
You have seen the movie.. /
...now the actual interior of the Deloran that was used in Back to the Future, on display at the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles. We are now 2 years and five days past the future date when Back to the Future went forward from the 1985 time.
J Davis /
Jefferson Davis was the president of the Confederacy. He was imprisoned in this cell, located at Fort Monroe in Hampton, VA after the war. A large American flag was hung on one wall as a reminder to him of his defeat.
Bloom /
We saw lots of these Yucca plants in various stages of blooming but this is the only one that was in full parade dress. When these grow wild in Southwestern graveyards the flowers appear spectral at night. The plant is also an interesting study in mutual benefits with the Yucca moth. This one is at Joshua Tree National Park. We also got a bonus little purple flower in the other plant.
Streaming /
Today, streaming is watching TV shows or movies like Netflix or Amazon, today's photo is the old fashioned version. New leaves and rushing water in King's Canyon National Park.
Path /
Cindy on the Channel Islands National Park trail. We really wished we had more time here but the fog was too thick for the early trip so we had to go later and were only on the island for 3 hours. Hardly enough time to soak in this beautiful place.
"He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name." Psalm 23:3 NLT
Home Built /
I watched as these stand up paddle boards glided along the shore near Tiny's boat a couple of Saturday's ago along with Dennis (Wandering Lensman web site for more photos and information on Tiny). Talking with the men I found out they built them and that they were very stable, more even than your standard kayak, according to the fellow that built this one. Looks like fun, love to try that sometime soon.
Remote /
Joshua Tree National Park is not the remotest of the parks but it can feel that way. It encompasses two distinct deserts, one where the Joshua Tree grows and one where very little anything grows. This ridge is at the edge where they merge. You can see down in the valley a dust storm swirling up the floor.
It is also inhospitable. Shortly after our visit, I read about a young couple who were being searched for, missing at that time for two days in 115 degree heat. Well, I read that they found their bodies last week, almost six months after they wandered off the trail and only two miles from a busy stop on the auto route traversing Joshua Tree. Exercise caution in the parks, they are wild places.
Paper Bag Bush /
This little plant was growing just a few yards from our campsite in Joshua Tree National Park. It was an intricate mix of colors and shapes. I thought in cool that such a delicate plant could thrive in such a harsh climate.
Fury /
In early May over 150 years ago the edge of this farm field, Saunders Field, was a hive of activity. Men from Ewell's division hastily built a series of trenches and breastworks to hold off a much larger Union force. They used, knives, bayonets, broken canteens and anything else they could find. These are the traces of that effort. Ewell did hold off repeated attacks across Saunder's Field until the Union chose to try another point on the battlefield. It eventually failed to dislodge the Confederate forces at the battle of the Wilderness in Orange County, Virginia.
Sounder's Field, Orange Turnpike off to the left
Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site /
Pennsylvania Avenue is a separate National Park Service site. Not completely certain of the process that makes these designations. But in trying to find a "shot" for the purpose of this blog (and to compete another of the 417 sites) I found this plaza at the end of the Avenue - at first it seems just a large flat space but when you walk on it is has quotes, line drawings of buildings, like the White House and much more. This is looking along the nearly entire length of Pennsylvania Avenue from the plaza to the Capital. That building with the tower is the Old Post Office.
From the NPS.gov site: "A street unlike any other. It is known the world over as the heart of the Nation's Capital. America's history has marched, paraded, promenaded, and protested its way along the Avenue."
Reflections /
The US flag is reflected in the shallow pool at the Korean War Memorial in DC. A very small space that is nestled behind some trees and bushes designed to sit and think. We ought to do more of that.
