Serenity please (5/8/2025)

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

I have a friend whose adult son is addicted to fentanyl. He has been kicked out from rehab clinics for the stupidest things such as giving (selling?) cigarettes at the clinic he was in for rehab (yes, he was stupid). His son now lives out of his car in Richmond; he refuses help from his father and is still using drugs whenever he can. My friend was told that he is essentially helpless and just must wait till his son either dies or genuinely asks his father for help and to put him in rehab again. In the meantime, my friend’s counselor told him to pray. The problem is that he does not believe in a god, and we had a long discussion on prayer. We concluded that the best would be to recite the serenity prayer that I started out with in this post.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

My wife and I are extremely upset by what the current occupier of the White House is doing. So much so that when we watch some of the comics making fun of tRump or mUsk and accomplices, she gets even more upset. We refuse to watch the national news shows any longer, although we do read the New York Times and the Washington Past. She is getting more and more distressed. I told her to recite the serenity prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

I have adopted a more Buddhist attitude: you cannot do anything about the past (or dwell on it), you cannot impact or be worried about the future (or get upset about it). However, best is to try to live in the present and enjoy the shit show!

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Maybe a strange way of living; and yes, I get pissed about what these people and the republican house and senate are doing. The only thing that I can do about it is to contact my elected officials, to demonstrate, and to advertise my displeasure in my writings, postings and interaction with people.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

As I promised in my latest post, I will continue writing and let you know where my heart is and what’s going on in my mind and heart. We are living in difficult times; USAID, the EPA, NOAA, Social Security, health and money items more are being assailed by these nuts, they want the clearcut and mine our national parks and monuments. They are going after art and education, planning to turn museums into prisons. This all feels very much like what happened in the 1920s and 30s in Germany; and we know what that led to. They built their first concentration camp in Poland, the republicans built one in El Salvador. Nicely out of the way of the public in both cases (the 30s and now). So don’t get me wrong, I am angry and upset; however, I keep reminding myself to “enjoy the shit show.”

One more time: 

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Last week we spent some time at James River State Park near Gladstone, VA.  It was so nice to be off the grid and enjoy the night sky in this dark sky park,

James River State Park Squirrels (10/13/2024)

“Wow, look at those branches swaying around. Oh, it is a squirrel.” We were sitting on the terrace/porch at a cabin in one of Virginia's State Parks. I sat on my rocking chair nurturing my beer, watching a squirrel run to the end of a branch, grabbing what I assume were acorns, scurrying from a branch at perilous heights to the bottom of the oak tree and after a few minutes speed back up to the end of the branch and repeat the process. It is early October and time to prepare for the onslaught of winter and store food.

We were spending a few days at James River State Park. A new one for us. We have really enjoyed every state park we spent time in and this wasn't an exception. Donna told me that this might be her favorite (a five star). I hate to assign favoritism to any state park in Virginia; however, this one definitely ranks up there. I need to update my list of Virginia State Parks one of these days.

Back to the squirrel, the reminded me that fall is rapidly approaching here in Virginia. The temperatures were in the low 70s during the day and low 40s at night. This time last year we already had colors on the leaves when we spent time in Natural Tunnel State Park in the mountains of SW Virginia. Here in the Piedmont we noticed a faint bleaching of some of the leaves, and the dropping of dried out leaves from some of the trees. My ex-colleague Doug who lives nearby in Lynchburg reported that this area was affected by a severe drought this summer, which may be the explanation of the dried out leaves raining down on us during sections of our hikes the past two days.

The squirrels also took me back to some research we did in the mid 1990s. I was working with a group that needed to restore 440 acres of wetlands just outside Indianapolis. The airport was expanding and they needed to mitigate for filling in some wetlands. We were restoring 400 acres of forested wetlands and 40 acres of emergent wetlands (swamps). As part of this effort, we needed to monitor the recruitment (invasion) of plants in our plantations. We planted some 16 different tree species in a random pattern. Recruitment patters we noticed were that species with heavy seeds (i.e. acorns) invaded closer to the boundary with natural woods or hedgerows. We assumed that these seeds either rolled in or were cashes stored (planted) by squirrels. Maybe the previous winter was mild, and the squirrels did not need all the stored food, or maybe they simply forgot where they buried those acorns. Lighter seed, like those from maples, appeared to have flown in and these plants dispersed further into our plots, while plants that were fruit baring were scatters throughout our plots. We noticed that the fruit baring species invaded mostly around the tallest seedlings that we had planted, or at least the ones that were growing the fastest. We surmised that fruit eating bird landed on the tallest plants and used these as lookout posts, in the mean time pooping out seeds from the fruit they consumed. Interesting to see how natural succession takes place.

This all came back to me watching that squirrel doing its job in securing a stash of food for the upcoming winter. Obviously, we had such a relaxing time at James River State Park that it allowed for these memories from long forgotten time flooded back into my head. Those were fine times and so are the present. Guess it is nice to be retired, slow down and remember the yesterdays. Interesting what a visit to a State Park does to you.

James River State Park is a "dark sky park" which means that on a cloudless evening the sky is amazing.  I tool this picture of the Milkyway with my Samsung telephone camera.

Mushrooms

Donna and the dogs at the Tey overlook.  There are some really good hikes in the park.  Day 1 we hiked just over 4 miles and day 2 we hiked more than 5 miles along the James River (picture below).  Evidence abounds that the river just retreated from a major flood stage, probably caused by hurricane Helene.

Procrastinators Unite (5/19/2016)

Why do we procrastinate?  Beats me, and I even do it at times. 

At work there is another deadline looming and man does it get me riled up.  I work in a certificate program that is in place for 17 years or so, and people's certificate expire either on May 31 or November 30.  About 300 every half year.  Their certificate is valid for 3 whole years.  People have certain requirements they have to fulfill to the eligible to recertify, like taking classes during those three years, enter them in a tracking system and pay a small fee.  Well if you look at the date, you know: THE END IS NEAR!  Just today, I already got three emails from people who have not taken one class yet and have 13 days left to get them all in.  Fun!

This is one thing we seem to procrastinate very well: :The end of war", where we will save the lives of young men.
This is a quote on the memorial bridge over the James River in Richmond from Browns Island

Frank Partnoy writes in his book “Wait, the Art and Science of Delay” that procrastination may be good, at least when it comes to making a decision.  I can see that, on the battlefield, in sports, and in making stock decisions; maybe even in photography, taking that perfect shot.

Susanna Halonen argues in her blog in Psychology Today that procrastination actually improves your productivity and happiness:

1. You can therefore concentrate on other (important) things and those things are getting done leaving more time for the thing you procrastinate.  (personally I find this a little farfetched, but OK).
2. Unnecessary tasks disappear with procrastination. (I'll buy that).
3. Procrastination shines a light on what is most important to you. (maybe).
4. Procrastination makes you more creative. (Yes, I can really see that).
5. Procrastination helps you make better decisions. (Partnoy agrees with that)
6. Procrastination leads to better apologies. (I like this one, and yes I have seen some good ones, even the ones like "I started my last online course at 10 pm om May 31 and the Internet went down" ... oh well).

But you could be lying to yourself as Dustin Was suggests in his article, and that is often where I see the people that I deal with.  It is so difficult not to call them out, to rub their noses in it.  Tell them they are full of crap!

Why do I procrastinate?  Looking inward, my excuse is often motivation and inspiration, not because I know I would be making better decisions or have better apologies; I don't go to war.  Halonen's point 4 speaks to me; once inspired and once it flows I can be darn creative!  Points 2 and 3 are also up there.  But once I am inspired watch out, then my motivation kicks in higher gear.  Like earlier this week when I was working on a new course that I was designing.  It was fun, I was going strong.

However, I am different, even when I am inspired.  I need to think and mull things over (as I also describe <here>).  Sometimes I only get one or two slides developed in a day and I can just sit there and think of how to the class is going to go; about what is next.  It is fun and sometimes very exhausting.

Oh my god I just came up with a great apology why I procrastinate with the development of a new class!

Jamestown (1/28/2016)

I drove the Colonial Parkway on the way back home today and snapped this picture of Jamestown Island and the calm James River today.  The water was like glass, the sky was grey, and it was very peaceful until a van with high school students stopped who were obviously on a school project. 

Took the day off today to go to a workshop at the Jamestown Settlement today.  It was a four hour course on"Nature Journaling."  While it was not exactly what I was hoping for, I did have a lot of fun and I did learn quit a bit.

The course was put on by the Jamestown/Yorktown Foundation and was part of a special antiques native plant botany exhibit that they have.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, that's right up my alley.  Yes, I was hoping to learn some tricks of the trade that I could use here in these blog entries, and I guess maybe I will some day.  Maybe I have entered the instant electronic gratification era with my digital photographs and the blog, and am I lost (forever) from the more elegant note taking of the past.

The 4 hour course was given by Betty Gatewood.  Betty is an absolutely delightful person with an energy that is enviable.  She is an amateur naturalist/water colorist; one of those renaissance people.  If you ever have a chance to take a class of her, don't hesitate!

What did I learn?  Journaling is not a crazy hobby or a way to pass time.  It can be beautiful and the way Betty does illustrates it, in particular with her quick drawings and small water colors, it is even very nice; a keepsake for future generations.  I asked her why she does it.  Things like this are very personal, you hope your children read it, and maybe you hope to ever get it published.  I think a lot of people I know are closet authors that hope to write their book and this is one overt way.  Some do however.  Journals from Thoreau, Leopold, McPhee, Hoagland, Ehrlich among others have had a huge influence on me, or the book that resulted from their (nature) journals.  This and some of the blogs I read are journals entries in their own way.  Somehow and for some reason I put them out there for the world to read.  My lame excuse is education and information.

Nature journals reflect your personal relationships with nature, I learned today.  It also chronicles changes over millenia and can document global warming.  So yes, I had a wonderful time, and I even learned how to tie die my journal (or paper) with shaving cream and food coloring!

I do write a lot about nature.  I think half my entries relate to it in one way or another.  It's precious and we need to protect it.  Betty taught us that by journaling, writing about it or drawing it, you observe it more closely and you become one with it:

I have learned that what I have not drawn, 

I have never really seen.

(F. Franck, arts and author of Zen of Seeing: Seeing/Drawing as Meditation)

I think the same hold true when you really describe it and write about it.  But one thing is for sure, get out there and enjoy nature!

Richmond (10/5/2015)

It's been an interesting weekend, and we in Virginia had it easy compared to the Carolina's.  Let me explain:

When I took the first picture on Wednesday September 30, the clouds were building and the weather outlook was for a lot of rain and a possible hurricane over the weekend.  Predictions were at the time that hurricane Joaquin was going to come right up (what we call) the main stem of the Chesapeake Bay as a category 1 or maybe even a 2 storm, and for us who lived through hurricane Isabel, we feared the worst.  I took this photo, in anticipation that it would look very different a week later.

A picture of the James River in Downtown Richmond from Brown's Island Park taken on 9/30/2015.

There was this European model out there that was sowing doubt in our mind.  In the past the European hurricane model had been the most reliable, so were were all somewhat skeptical about the initial dire predictions of the other models, and we did not really make many hurricane preparations.  From the look of it some people did, because when the I visited our local Lowe's on Friday after we were sure that the storm was going to pass us by, the return line with people returning unused generators (still in the box) was very long!

The next photograph I took on the 5th of October after the mountain region of Virginia received a lot of rain and you can see that the water is much muddier and that it has risen a lot.  There was a sandbar in front of one of the bridge pilings and that is now underwater; moreover the first section of the piling is almost completely submerged.  What a little rain in the watershed will do!  Actually the week before September 30, the mountainous region of Virginia received close to 8 inches of rain in 2 days (for my non-American readers that is 200 mm) and during the "hurricane weekend" or the weekend before the 5th we got another 2 to 3 inches (50 to 75 mm).  After a little lag time as they call it in hydrology (it takes a few days for all that water to flow down hill), we saw the water levels rise.

The James River on October 5, 2015.

As of the writing of this blog (10/8/2015) the water level in the river is back to the level of the first picture.  Again, this is nothing compared to what the people in South Carolina are going through.  My hearth goes out to them.  The climatological extremes seem to be getting more frequent, fires out west, floods in the east.  As predicted, global warming is slowly expressing itself isn't it?

Hightown (7/12/2015)

Yes, Hightown.  Located in Highland County, smack in the middle of the Blue Grass Valley along route 250.  It consists of a farm building a few supporting buildings and what looks like a general store.  This is the place where we turn right when we visit our friends who live in the valley.  It was also the place that was a rest stop when we biked the "Mountain Mama."

Hightown has another distinction, it is the divide between the James River watershed and the Potomac River watershed.   Actually the roof of the barn in the middle of the photograph is the divide.   Rain that falls on the left side becomes the James (or the Jackson River one of the two main tributaries that make the James) and the rain that that falls on the right side of the roof becomes the South Branch of the Potomac.  It is fun to see such a significant place: the source of two (historically and environmentally) major rivers.  And it all starts with a roof!  Naturally, the Jackson and Potomac will gather more and more water when the flow down hill, but they have to start somewhere.  That the story of our life, plant a seed to grow a plant, start with the first drop have a major river, etc.  Fun!

Bluegrass valley is gorgeous, but from what I hear, a darn cold place in the winter, but it is nice and cool in the summer; no air-conditioner needed.  We have biked it in the summer and hiked on our friend's property.  Unlike some other places I've been in the world (like Scotland), we value private property in the US and I would not dare walk through someone else's fields, and I know of no public hiking trails in Bluegrass Valley with the exception of the public roads.  (During previous visits we have hiked along the Jackson River as I described here.  That was in a county park.)  Still it is a great place to relax.

Random ramblings about the Hampton Roads (5/24/2015)

The Australian kayaker Steve Posselt visited the area this past week.  He is trying to convince the world about the gravity of global warming by kayaking in 3 continents.  He eventually plans to end up in Paris for the next climate conference.   There are many ways people try to focus our attention to a (their) cause: be it dead soldiers with Memorial Day, multiple sclerosis with an MS 180 bike ride (I rode one from Houston to Austin 8 years ago), a breast cancer walk for life, circumnavigate the Americas for disabled sailors, or even kayaking the world to focus attention on global warning.

I have been interested in the issue of how to convince people that environmental responsibility is a must.  It seems that there is a group that is concerned about the environment and a whole group of people who do not seem to give a damn.  Crazy enough they seem to fall out along political or ideological lines, or even religious lines.  That's what's fascinating me.  As I mentioned in my bio, it was Stanford University's psychologist Leon Festinger who wrote the following in the 1950s:  "A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point."  Call me crazy, but it still applies 60 years later.   I really wonder how to get that paradigm shift, but I'm afraid that they'll only see the point when it is way too late.

The way I see it, it was Francis Bacon (1561-1626) who reminded us that we humans had dominion over " the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.’ (Gen.1:28).  In the Novum Organon, Bacon writes: "Let the human race recover that right over nature which belongs to it by divine bequest."  It is scary to see that in those days we already felt that we owned the earth and that we could do with it what we wanted, with the excuse that God gave us permission (dominion).  Still now do I see Facebook posts by religious friends that tell me to trust God, and to relax because God is in control.  I find this outright scary, but it illustrates the divide that I was writing about; although as I am often reminded by Donna (my wife), dominion over nature does not mean that you do not need to take care of it.  Dominion means you have a responsibility to take care of the eartg.  I honestly do not think that any God would have a plan to let her/his creation go to hell.

Anyway Steve Posselt called our area "This is a staggering part of the world," or as I may paraphrase one of the crown jewels in God's creation.  Below are a set of pictures that I have taken over the years of this crown jewel.  Hopefully we can preserve this beautiful landscape.

View of the James River from Surry towards Jamestown

York River from York River State Park

Sunset over the York River from the National Colonial Parkway

About the cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel with my sailboat 

James River (12/1/2014)

I posted a small write up on the James River approximately 9 months ago (click here if you like to see that one).  However, here I go again.  It was such a beautiful day on Monday that I had to go for a walk that took me again along the James river in Richmond.  It was great to meditate on the old railroad bridge that juts out over part of the river and think about the force of that water and about where all those drops of water have been.  You can think about where the drop was introduced into the watershed, or even become more philosophical about it and wonder where those molecules have been in the past.  Were they in a drop of sweat that was beading up on the forehead of Leonardo da Vinci or where have those molecules been in the past.  I have mused about things like this before in a blog I did that I called George Washington's shovel.  But water is an amazing thing; without it life is not possible.  Moreover, the way it freezes is important.  If it froze like any other substance would when it cools down, life would be impossible.

We teach that of all the water in the world only 6% is available to us.  All the other water is locked up in ways that we cannot get to it.  Of the 5.85% is in the oceans, leaving only 0.15% usable/fresh water.  Of this fresh water two thirds of it is locked up in glaciers and the remaining is either groundwater or fresh water.  In other words 0.05% of the water on earth is available to us for consumption.  I guess this is why I am always a bit upset when I watch people water their lawns, and especially so when they do it with valuable drinking water.  It is such a waste in my eyes.

Anyway, this another picture of the James.  One of these days I am going to create an extensive post on the river; showing pictures of it's origin (headwaters) to it's outfall into the Bay.  The picture below shows the jumble of the various bridges that go across the river: the road bridge and the I-95 bridge in the far back; the old pilings of a railroad bridge to Petersburg within the back a railroad bridge to Danvville and on the side the main track from Lynchburg.  A virtual spaghetti bowl of bridges and ruins of bridges.  What amazes me that they were able to build them on the spot where the river goes over the fall line.  Just looking at the force f the water amazes me.

Bath County (11/02/2014)

It was an interesting weekend to spend in the high country of Virginia.  We stayed in Highland County but also visited Bath County for dinner, visit with friends and for a hike in Hidden Valley.

Hidden valley is a great place for a hike.  The trail we took straddles the Jackson River, which is one of the headwaters of the James River.  We hiked it in late afternoon; the weather was cold (it snowed in Monterrey), most of the trees had lost their leaves, with the exception of the red oaks.  The trail is great; it is an easy walk with the exception of crossing the suspension bridge over the river with dogs.  one of our dogs freaked out when the bridge moved.

Bath County is famous for the small towns of Warm Springs and Hot Springs, which are aptly named after the springs (and associated bath houses) found in the area.  Unlike Highland County, which seems depressed, Bath County is opulent, with resorts and a wonderful restaurant in Warm Springs that is part of the Grist Mill.  Hidden Valley also has a wonderful looking B&B associated with it.

Attached are a few photos from our trip to Warm Springs and Hidden Valley.

The Inn at Grist Mill

Highland County (11/1/2014)

We visited Highland County in far western Virginia this past weekend.  The county seat for Highland County is Monterey, but unlike the famous Monterey, this one is a small sleepy town, with absolutely very little going on.  Some statistics, it is supposed to be the highest (in average elevation) county in the eastern U.S.  It is cool in summer and in winter outright cold.

Highland County is known locally for it's Maple Festival and the Mountain Mama (a 100 mile bike ride through the mountains.  One year we did a shortened ride of 25 miles and that kicked our old low country butts.  The Bluegrass Valley (the valley west of Monterey, is the location where both the Potomac River and one of the tributaries of the James River (Jackson River) originate (less than 30 feet apart).

The photo below was taken at our favorite Bed and Breakfast, the Laurel Point Inn and Retreat.  Inn keepers Lorraine and Jim are amazing people and make you feel welcome.  They are pioneers, having a great Inn and a farm.  The photo below was taken of their Highland Cows (what else would you raise in Highland).  Absolutely a great place to visit.

Blue Ridge Parkway (10/15/2014)

Having to travel out to the western part of the state, we decided that it did not matter what time we arrived at our motel, so we took the Blue Ridge Parkway to our destination.  It was just after a rain, and the fall colors were in their full glory.  Below are some pictures I took on my way down to Roanoke from Afton Pass.

The pictures below give you an idea of the vistas and just simply nice areas we passed by.  We crossed the James River, which was flowing lazily underneath the bridge that is posted here as well.  There is a restored lock on the other side, and that really amazes me, the human effort that was put into getting transport up these types of river.  The other photographs are some beautiful pictures of fall colors and a wall near the visitor's center near the Afton Pass.  It was a great dive and wonderful to see nature in its full glory.

Richmond (9/17/2014)

Staying with the Richmond theme (yes I am not traveling today, just commuting); one of my favorite lunch-time walks is along the James River.  It is wonderful to see the powerful river going over what we call the fault line.  The fault line is the transition zone between what we call the Piedmont and the Coastal Plane.  Interestingly enough, it is also where a lot of the major industrial cities are on the east coast.  I can imagine cities like Columbia, SC; Rocky Mount, NC; Petersburg, Richmond and Fredericksburg in Virginia; and last but not least Washington, DC (or at least slightly west of DC).

The advantage of being located near the fault line is cheep energy.  In Richmond the river drops more than 100 feet, and enterprising individuals figured out how to harness that energy.  They built canals to keep the water high and then make it drop through water wheels etc in order to generate energy.  At the same time the canals allowed boat traffic further inland through a lock system.

Historic features abound along the river and I just took this picture to juxtapose the old and the modern.  The cobble stones remind me of my home country (the Netherlands or Holland); as a biker, I have to think the famous race from Paris to Roubaix, a bike race over cobbles like this.  You can see the footprint of an older building and in the background of the picture you have a very modern building and the more conventional building of Dominion Energy.  Nice to see this contrast between old and new.  I really like new, very modern looking buildings, but the old is attractive as well.

Colonial Parkway (6/27/2014)

I usually don't post two photographs (or entries) on the same day, but what the heck.
I desperately needed a haircut, so decided to drive to Wiliamsburg to get one.  I love driving the Colonial Parkway between Yorktown and Jamestown; although I stopped in Williamsburg this time.
The Parkway is part of the Park Service and considered part of National Park System.  For us it starts out along the Yorktown and ends in Jamestown, along the James River.  Jamestown is one of the first places the colonialists arrived, in particular captain John Smith.  Our area is also called the historic triangle.
Both rivers used to be very rich with seafood.  Over-fishing and pollution has really lowered the yields.  Having done a lot of historic (environmental) research in this area, I was amazed to learn that in the time of John Smith you could walk across the James river on top of oyster beds.  I've seen photos on downtown Norfolk where, during the turn of the century, they would convert oyster shells into lime.  They would harvest the oysters and in a lot of cases, not even eat them.  Oysters would go into kilns with coal and lime would come out the other side.
In addition, I have collected fishing data for my job, and found that in the past 30 years the amount and the type of fish caught by commercial and recreational fishermen has changed drastically.  Fish caught in large amounts 30 years ago, have disappeared and now they are catching different species and we are eating them as well.  This past week the state has announced crabbing limits.  We are catching too many crabs and the stock is not rebounding fast enough.  The same is the case with the menhaden.
Enough said, driving the Parkway, I got my horizon and water fix.  I love it and try to drive the road at least once a day during my commute to or from work.  You often see water men and their boats taking care of their crab pots and harvesting these delicacies.  This photo shows one of those boats.  There were a lot of crab pots in this area (which are a pain when you are sailing, but obviously great eating in the future).

Richmond (2/19/2014)

Today I took a walk in the canal street park in Richmond.  Crazy, but the information on my phone says it is a rainy day, boy are they wrong.  It was nice and sunny with temperatures finally at a decent level, although there are still a few heaps of dirty snow visible in town.

Instead of going my usual left, I went right for a change, towards the Civil War Center.  Walking back along the river there is a small causeway from where you can look back on town from above the James River, from where this picture of downtown is taken.  In front of course is the James River, then the CSX line and the big building is the Federal Bank Building.  The cause way is neat, it has all kinds of quotes from civil war soldiers on it and it gives you an interesting flavor.   It is amazing how big the Civil War is in the psyche of this state; but then as a foreigner I should understand that because we still talk about the 2^nd World War.

As you can see, the James is fairly full at the moment; it has been a cold and relatively wet winter here.  I think a lot of us will be very happy when spring comes around.  Just looking at my own yard, we usually have daffodils by now.  The first ones are usually flowering by early January.  At the moment none of them are even close to breaking bud.  Today was a fun teaser, but it felt oh so nice. 

Richmond (1/15/2014)

Decided I needed to make up for a rainy day yesterday and had a 45 minute walk by the James River and back through town. This is a picture of the canal http://www.envisionthejames.org/detail/james-river-and-kanawha-canal/evj6E320620CD3A8CF84that runs along the James downtown. It has a nice walking path along it and there were quite a few walkers out today. A nice stiff walk and revenge for being stuck inside yesterday.

Richmond (7/3/2013)

James river view.  Independence celebration preparations were in full swing.