Posts tagged ‘Virginia’

Oct 19

Apple Trees and Waterfalls – Part One

I had a wonderful day last Saturday! I spent it with my good friend, Vicki, her sister and their two nieces in the Shenandoah Valley, picking apples and climbing waterfalls. Well, climbing a trail. But there were waterfalls!

One of the great things about where I live is the proximity to so many other wonderful places. We’re an hour away from our nation’s capital, an hour away from the state capital, an hour and a half from the mountains and two hours from the beach. If your notion of fun runs to roller coasters and water parks, King’s Dominion is a forty-minute drive, and Busch Gardens is two hours or so. I’d say that Fredericksburg is a day trip away from just about anything you’d want to do.

First stop – the apple orchard. I was too short to reach these, so my friend helped me out. The bottoms of the trees were well picked over, but there were some big beauties still hanging up top.

I have long wanted to experience the fun of picking my own apples. That sounds silly now that I’ve written it out, but it’s true. Another friend of mine used to go every fall with her family and she loved it. It always sounded like so much fun, and a little exotic, in a country kind of way. I imagined what you see on the television or in movies: tall trees with apple-laden branches stretching out across a bright blue sky, wooden ladders propped up against sturdy trunks, and apple baskets (you know the kind, with bright red handles) filled to the brim with delicious redness. continue reading…

Oct 12

12 Comments

Vanity Plates: Cool Carcessory or JST TMI?

So, I was driving along the other day and I pull up behind a mini-van with a vanity plate. That’s not such a big deal in itself, because where I live they’re all over the place. Vanity plates, I mean. Mini-vans too, but that’s not what this post is about. Anyway, this driver struck me right away as someone who is very comfortable in their own skin, someone who knows who they are and aren’t afraid to advertise it:

HATEFUL

That’s what the tag said! Of course, maybe it was a gift or something. continue reading…

Jun 25

17 Comments

this used to be my town

When I was growing up, it wasn’t entirely unusual for my parents to randomly tell us how things had changed in our town. We are a fairly settled family, with both of my parents having done their growing up in Fredericksburg or one of the surrounding counties. We mostly all still live here, including aunts, uncles and cousins on both sides. Every now and then we raise a wanderer, but it’s unusual. So when my parents say the town has grown, they know firsthand what they’re talking about.