Covid-19 Update: Since I picked back up on blogging, I’ve been sharing brief updates about our travels. Rest assured, we are taking precautions. Wearing masks, eating outdoors or take out (or in empty restaurants), and hand sanitizing. We are doing our part to keep ourselves and others safe!
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Covid-19 Update: Since I picked back up on blogging, I’ve been sharing brief updates about our travels. Rest assured, we are taking precautions. Wearing masks, eating outdoors or take out (or in empty restaurants), and hand sanitizing. We are doing our part to keep ourselves and others safe!
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We spent last weekend traveling the roads of Southwest Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. The colors on individual leaves and trees were so varied and drew my eye again and again.
What a glorious way to spend Election Weekend!
Mother Nature was celebrating, too! ❤
My new husband Greg and I decided to spend the weekend near Cumberland Gap National Park, Tennessee and left out of his home town in far Southwest Virginia early this past Saturday morning.
Our Wedding Day, September 5th, will always be a day that signifies love, life, and loss: the day of Pauline’s birth and also the day she left her dear daughters, Danella and Jo, her sweet Siddy and Orlando, and so many, many friends.
Dear Pauline, when I think of you, I think of wisdom, artistry, and kindness. What a giver of love and life you were!
I will miss knowing you are not in Dunedin waiting for us to visit again, but I am thankful that I will wake every morning to your painting of daisies and when at work, the gorgeous painting of me on my bike.
Friends, please visit Alys Milner’s blog post about Pauline so that you may learn more about this remarkable woman.
❤
* I am on my honeymoon and am not able to access much of my photos; I will add images of Pauline’s paintings when I return *
Last week, my friend Ruth and I visited the Blacksburg Museum in order to view the work of longtime Roanoke Times photographer Matt Gentry. Despite the fact that we have spent the last 6 months checking the CoVid19 status of every business and restaurant and potential activity, we somehow forgot to check this day.
Upon arrival at the Alexander Black House, which was built in 1897, we learned that the museum was temporarily closed due to CoVid19. Despite our disappointment, the outdoor exhibits and the Queen Anne Victorian house were still worth exploring. I did the best I could with my cellphone and was thankful for the beautiful day.
The exhibit Glass Reflections, created by artists Kate Golden, Paula Golden, Diane Relf and many community volunteers, is made of “serving plates, bowls, saucers, salt cellars and other glass / crystal dishes collected from antique stores and combined into flowers as garden accents that remind us of our parent’s and grandparent’s gardens”.
This next piece, Tryptic in Glass by Diana Relf, is created from “pieces of glass, many unused, discarded, and no longer valued. When combined they are both beautiful – and strong”.
Through the trees, I saw the house next door. The Thomas-Conner House, c.1878, is registered as a Virginia Historic Landmark.
Our next stop was the Hahn Horticultural Garden on the campus of Virginia Tech. The garden was founded in 1984 and covers 5.8 acres. “The garden was renamed the Hahn Horticulture Garden in November 2004 in honor of Peggy L. Hahn who was First Lady of Virginia Tech from 1962 to 1974 during her husband’s tenure as President. Their generous gift and bequest for expansion has had a significant impact on the garden – from the construction of the Peggy Lee Hahn Pavilion (2006) to the Hahn Meadow Garden (2008), as well as in other ways too numerous to list”.
My post-surgical status kept me from exploring as much as I would like so I look forward to going back!
Next time, we’ll pack a picnic and spend much more time exploring the gardens
Today, I am thinking of all the amazing women in my life and all that they have done for me and for those around them.
In particular today, I am thinking about the women without children.
They serve as guidance-givers to friends, family, and even strangers, and as role models and confidantes. They are our aunts, teachers, on-the-job mentors, and neighbors. They might not have given birth or raised children, but they’ve made a difference to the young people in their lives — nieces and nephews, and the children of their friends.
Whether by choice, or by other circumstance, these women earn just as much love and recognition as women with children.
Raising a glass to all mothers and mothers without children ❤
One weekend this past March, while we were all still adjusting to the “new normal” of CoVid19, it was warm enough to ride.
We decided that time on the motorcycle was the ultimate way to be socially distant.
Typically we ride 100 miles or so before stopping for lunch at a local pub. In light of the times, we all packed our lunch and enjoyed each other’s company from a distance at a roadside picnic area.
Then we headed back out on the beautiful back roads of Southwest Virginia. See those splat marks on the windsheild?
I guess it was the warm weather that had so many bugs out and about.
We rode through several rural counties, along too many back roads to count, and the wind in our faces helped us to put aside the worries of the day.
I can’t wait for more rides like this one!
Peace! and Stay Well, my friends
Life on the Bike and other Fab Things 