Bowden-Armistead House

 

"The Bowden-Armistead House, a three-story Greek Revival home surrounded by black wrought-iron fencing, stands out. It is an antebellum relic; the last remnant of the post-colonial homes and businesses present before the 1930s restoration of Williamsburg was finished. The house is located at 207 W. Duke of Gloucester Street, on a lot once owned by the adjacent Bruton Parish Church. Built in 1858 by prominent lawyer Lemuel J. Bowden, local gossip of the time reported its astonishing cost to be more than $10,000. The Bowden-Armistead House has ever since been a landmark on the cultural and geographic landscape of Williamsburg’s main street." -- The House & Home Magazine

Virginia Fences II

 

Porches

 

In colonial America . . . "hooded doors or small covered entryways flanked by benches, often called stoops (from the Dutch "stoep" for step) that served as short covered transitions to and from the outdoors were common features, especially in New York and the mid-Atlantic colonies." -- Keperling Preservation Services

Virginia Fences

 

"New-Englanders have a saying, when a man is in liquor, he is making Virginia fences." -- Thomas Anburey (1779)

Geothermal

 

Geothermal work being conducted under partly cloudy skies on Colonial Williamsburg's Palace Green.

Linking again today with Skywatch Friday.

In the Garden of Beasts

 

I rarely re-read a book, but when I saw Larson's In the Garden of Beasts on my library's bookshelf again this past week, I knew I had to give it another go. It's just such a compelling read. William Dodd is a "mild-mannered professor from Chicago" who suddenly finds himself appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as ambassador to Germany. The year is 1933. Hitler's rise to power is seen by many as nothing more than the proverbial flash in the pan. Only, they're wrong, and Dodd now faces extraordinary challenges as he attempts to forge respectful if not always cordial relations with Germany's Nazi leaders.

The parallels between Dodd's experience and what is happening now in the United States are truly alarming. The descent into identity politics, the lying, the violent rhetoric that often as not leads people to equally violent reactions, all are disturbingly familiar. 

I'm not quite done with my second read, but I've read enough to confirm my reasons for giving this book a second look.

Last Man on Earth

 

I'm very rarely up at this hour. But as I was up and about, I snapped this picture of a fully lit grocery store--with no customers or employees. None. Nada. Zip. Kinda creepy, don't you think? Reminds me of one of those sci-fi flicks where you're the only one left standing after some kind of catastrophe. On the other hand, no long lines of anxious customers waiting to check out. :-)

Idling

 

I've noticed recently how many truckers leave the engines of their trucks idling while they are waiting to deliver a load. That got me to thinking not only about the truckers' reasons for doing so, but also about the environmental impact of the practice. That's what led me this conclusion of an article in Big Rig Pros:

"It’s clear that the road ahead necessitates a collaborative effort to develop and implement solutions that uphold the vital role of trucking while mitigating its environmental footprint. The industry continues to move forward, and perhaps soon, the rumble of idling trucks will become a sound of the past, replaced by the hum of innovation and environmental consciousness."

I sure hope that "road ahead" is short.

Powder Magazine

 

Officials in Colonial Williamsburg have decided that the wall surrounding it’s historic powder magazine was restored to the wrong height. Instead of ten feet, it never would have actually been more than seven. So work has begun to restore the wall to its “proper” height while keeping as much of the original material as possible.

Morning Tea

Just now (this afternoon) finished reading Liz Cheney's book. By far and away, the most important thing she had to say (although everything she said before led up to her statement) are her final words:

"Every one of us . . . must work and vote together to ensure that Donald Trump and those who have appeased, enabled, and collaborated with him are defeated.

This is the cause of our time."

Pyx

A pyx used for many years to hold the ashes for Ash Wednesday.

Pareve

 

"MK Pareve Kosher Certification is a kosher certification provided by the Montreal Kosher (MK) organization. The MK is a widely recognized and trusted kosher certification agency based in Montreal, Canada. The MK Pareve Kosher Certification is specifically focused on certifying food products as 'pareve' in accordance with kosher dietary laws."  -- Common Share

"Pareve (from Yiddish: פאַרעוו for "neutral", in Hebrew פרווה‎, and also parve and other variant English spellings) is a classification of edible substances that contain neither dairy nor meat ingredients." -- Wikipedia

I Voted

Someone last year said that it seemed to her that we are constantly holding elections in the United States. It's true. We do have a lot of elections. There will be even more this year because of the number of primaries, caucuses, races for House and Senate seats, as well as, of course, for president. Today I voted in Virginia's presidential primary. 

Noodler's

 

I've been "noodling" with this ink for quite a few months now. It was given to me as a gift by someone who knew of my fascination with fountain pens. So far, I will have to say that I've been impressed. Goulet Pens says, "This is an incredibly interesting ink with remarkable properties. In terms of its anti-feathering properties, it held up against even the dubious paper quality of the Moleskine notebook [my go-to paper]. It is still water based, so we can't guarantee that it won't ever feather, but it's your best bet if you are in a situation where you can't control the paper quality. It's an ink that could be good for any situation- work, school, journaling, art, you name it!"

Bell Tower

Foot Warmer

18th century central heat

Bee Kind

 

 

 

Experimenting a bit here. Some guests recently left these containers behind, and I became interested in how the fluorescent light from above and to the left illuminated them.