Suspension Bridge

Looking back here to my hike last Friday from Richmond to Belle Isle, Virginia. This is the ramp leading to the suspension bridge that takes pedestrians across to Belle Isle.

Sixth Day of Christmas

A scene from the just recently opened Pepper Palace in Williamsburg.

Fifth Day of Christmas

No golden rings here, just mice drinking ale.

Feast of Saint Stephen

I'll be celebrating this Saint Stephen's Day (according to some traditions), appropriately, by gathering with family and friends for a hike and lunch/feast at a Richmond restaurant. How about you? What are you doing on this third day of Christmas?

Linking again today with Skywatch Friday. Merry Christmas to all my fellow skywatchers! :-)

Boxing Day

Happy Boxing Day, my friends! Not sure how many folks observe this old English tradition. Wasn't there an episode in Downton Abbey that featured the holiday? Maybe not. Maybe I'll have to check that out sometime over these remaining eleven days of Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

A very Merry Christmas to all my fellow bloggers! 

Christmas Eve

Hey, have a great Christmas Eve y'all! And, remember, don't let the rats eat a hole through your shoe.

Rats!

This year's blue ribbon winner in the amateur group took as its theme the archeological discoveries attributed to . . . rats. :-)

I enjoy wreaths, like this one, that work outside the conventional circle and aren't statically symmetrical. 

Grand Illumination

Yesterday's comment from Linda made me think about how much I take where I live for granted. I should therefore mention that these holiday wreaths are part of a larger Colonial Williamsburg celebration we call Grand Illumination. It used to be that the holiday festivities here kicked off around the time of Thanksgiving Day and more or less culminated in one night called the Grand Illumination, when there would be a huge fireworks display along with numerous other events. Now, though, because of its huge popularity, Grand Illumination is spread out over the three consecutive weekends in December before Christmas. Tonight, then, is the final night of Grand Illumination when there will be yet a third magnificent fireworks display. The wreaths, though, stay up and are replenished as needed throughout Christmastide.

You should come! :-) We have people visit from all parts of the world and on any given day, as I walk the old colonial capital's streets, I can hear people speaking in seemingly countless different languages and dialects. It's fun!

Palace Greens

Governor's Palace

Colonial Williamsburg

Linking again today with Skywatch Friday.

Buds?

Not sure what those red and white things are. Buds? Part of what makes these holiday wreaths so interesting, I guess.

Mystery

Of course, what I'm left wondering is how they attach these shells to the wreath. I assume it's by way of some tiny wires. But, if so, then they are p-r-e-t-t-y well hidden.

Autumnal Sun

Lately, I've been intrigued by the shadows cast by our late autumnal sun.

I am the autumnal sun,

With autumn gales my race is run;

When will the hazel put forth its flowers,

Or the grape ripen under my bowers?

When will the harvest or the hunter's moon

Turn my midnight into mid-noon?

I am all sere and yellow,

And to my core mellow.

The mast is dropping within my woods,

The winter is lurking within my moods,

And the rustling of the withered leaf

Is the constant music of my grief…

~ Henry David Thoreau

Elves?

Greensprings Interpretive Trail

Muskrat Love

Greensprings

The Pond

Greensprings

Linking on this Friday the 13th (!) to Skywatch Friday.

Beehive

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

Ball

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

York Town

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

Feather

Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

"Good Day!"

Duke Gloucester Street in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia

Paramount

Charlottesville, Virginia

House of Music

Main Street, Charlottesville

Family

Main Street in Charlottesville, Virginia

Charlotte

Spent part of Black Friday on Main Street in Charlottesville, a city named after Queen Charlotte, which I consider rather ironic, considering that she was married to one of our country's nemeses in the 18th century, namely King George III and that one of its most notable citizens was none other than Thomas Jefferson, primary author of the Declaration of Independence. 

Cook's Garden

 

 

One of the outbuildings (cook's house?) associated with the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg located just above a multi-tiered vegetable garden.

Busy Season

'Tis the busy holiday season in town these days, what with Grand Illumination weekends coming up, special holiday concerts, the D.O.G. (Duke of Gloucester) street ice skating rink, etc. Hard to keep up with it all, frankly. 

Advent

Today is the first Sunday in Advent. Depending on which tradition you follow, the season began either at sundown yesterday or at midnight. Following the former practice, I hung a wreath on my front door and set flameless candles in the windows, as is customary here in the colonial capital.