It was just another morning drive to work, and the sun on the field pulled me to stop.
I was intent on capturing the light … and then I received the dreaded message “insufficient room” on the SD Card.
As I was frantically deleting photos, the sun went behind a cloud and I never did capture the light as well as I would have liked.
Amateur mistake! Thank goodness, that’s exactly what I am!
🙂
My all too short visit to Blowing Rock was so much fun (see here), and as I walked around the town before heading home on the first day of 2014, I couldn’t help but photograph a few doors and windows. As with the chairs and benches, I didn’t realize until I got home just how many doors and windows I had photographed.
Some from the outside …
… and some from the inside.
At times it was the color that caught my eye …
… and other times, it was the light.
And sometimes … I just don’t know 🙂
No matter the reason, I spent 24 wonderful hours in this little town (well, except for when I locked myself out of my room … in my PJs … ha!). Friendly folks, delicious food and drink, and lots of places to explore.
Be sure to check out Blowing Rock the next time you are near.
Next Trip? A day trip to Roanoke to buy my new camera!
During the middle of our zero degree day, I literally ran outside in between patient appointments to capture the incredible blue sky. As I turned around to go back inside, the colors of these leaves caught my eye.
Today … the sky just could not compare.
Zero Degrees
So cold yet so beautiful
I don’t have the camera (yet!) to capture the frost in true macro, so I went about it another way, and lent beauty to the trees in the background at the same time.
As I walked around Blowing Rock – see my previous post for more about this cool little town in the mountains of North Carolina – I kept stopping to admire the chairs and benches.
I suppose it was the lighting, both indoors and out, that caught my eye, and frankly, I didn’t realize until I got back home that I’d taken so many photos of furniture.
Of course, the reflections on this table were irresistable, both in color and in B&W.
The next morning, I was the only up and about in the common rooms at the Inn and the soft morning light, kept me shooting.
On my next visit, I’ll try to sit a bit more!
Do you know how hard it is for me to not use words? 🙂
Despite spending a couple days in Charleston for Christmas just one week ago, I still had the itch to travel, and Blowing Rock seemed like the perfect destination. Not quite 3 hours from Radford, Blowing Rock is located right off the Blue Ridge Parkway in the mountains of North Carolina. It’s a small community only 3 square miles in size and visitors can easily walk to shops, restaurants, galleries, and opportunities for recreation.
Knowing that my only time constraint was the start of the VT / UCLA Sun Bowl Game, I took to the back roads. Old Rt 221 provided pretty views and incredibly curvy roads that really made me miss my bike.
I tuned the radio to the 740 AM station, WPAQ out of Mt Airy, and in addition to hearing some good old time music, I soon found myself listening to a man reading the obituaries. Sure enough, it was just as if I was reading them from the paper. It somehow seemed fitting as I drove those back roads and I imagined what it would have been like to have lived there during a time when local AM radio might have been the only real connection to life off the farm.
The town of Blowing Rock takes its name from an unusual rock formation which juts over 1,500 feet (460 m) above the Johns River gorge. Due to the rock’s shape and size, wind currents from the gorge often blow vertically, causing light objects to float upwards into the sky.
Upon arriving in Blowing Rock, I checked into the recently reopened Blowing Rock Ale House and Inn, before heading out to find a place to watch the game.
The Town Tavern offered a comfortable seat at the bar, right in front of a TV showing my game. The food and microbrews were great … too bad the Hokies weren’t. Sigh. Even still, I enjoyed practicing photography and chatting up the folks coming and going at the bar.
In the next couple days I’ll be sharing more of Blowing Rock with you, but for now I’ll leave you with a few pictures taken during my walk back to the Ale House.
Once back at the Inn and while sitting in front of the fire with new found friends, I enjoyed a delicious Grilled Flatbread with Wild Mushrooms, Grilled Vidalia Onions, Smoked Mozzarella, Basil Pesto and Porter-Balsamic Reduction accompanied by a lovely glass of cabernet.
Not a bad way to spend the last day of 2013.
Cheers to you, my blogging friends!
You have embraced my blog, enhanced my life, supported my health, and made me better in so many ways.
Peace, contentment, joy, and health to all of you! Have fun and Ride Safe!
My dear friend is grandmother to twins, a boy and a girl, and yes, I did capture a few really nice shots. Since I left it to the parents to share them, I thought I’d post these two photos (get it? two … one for each baby … ha!) from inside their very beautiful, almost century old home.
The muted light was awesome, and I just wish I’d had a tripod to improve the outcome.
You see what I saw though, right?
You were expecting something hanging from a tree?
Nope! Just an Ornamental Cabbage … taken on the fly in Charleston.
So what does this have to do with Motorcycles? It’s time to start thinking about my next one!
Life on the Bike and other Fab Things 