Categories
-
Recent Posts
Archives
Author Archives: John M
Crossing the Styx
I was driving around in northern Virginia last week and heard this news story on the radio: 11-Yr-Old Suspended From School For Merely TALKING About Guns Martin Di Caro, WMAL.com, June 3, 2013 OWINGS, MD — The father of a … Continue reading
Posted in Guns, News
Tagged calvert county md, fort belvoir virginia, free speech, Maryland, tax, tobacco, Virginia
Leave a comment
Dark Hollow Falls/Hawksbill
Hiking in the Shenadoah National Park is great, but it’s such a long drive! Skyline Drive is cool (in the Ultimate Driving Machine), but the entire distance is a 2 1/2 hour haul each way. Whenever I go up there tagging along with … Continue reading
Flavor of the day: Cicada Crunch
I’m a longtime fan of the Dairy Godmother, a frozen yogurt shop in the Del Ray section of Alexandria, Virginia, so I was looking at their “Flavor of the Day” forecast to see if they had something appealing on the calendar … Continue reading
Posted in Events, Hiking
Tagged alexandria virginia, cicadas, dairy godmother, del ray, frozen yogurt, frozen yogurt shop
Leave a comment
Catching up: Sky Meadows
I’ve been so busy out walking around over the past week or so that I haven’t taken time out to write about any of them! Back on May 12 I organized a 5-mile urban walk along the Bluemont and Custis Trails … Continue reading
Posted in Hiking, History, Photography
Tagged Appalachian Trail, Mosby, nature, outdoors, Piedmont, Sky Meadows, Sky Meadows State Park, wildlife
Leave a comment
Gold: How low can it go?
A couple of recent items provide some insights on what’s driving gold prices these days: “What is the Cost of Mining Gold? ” A great info graphic from Virtual Capitalist analyzing the top 50 mining companies in the world. (Then again, just … Continue reading
Azaleas!
Last Saturday I went with a group on an early morning walk though the azalea gardens in the US National Arboretum in Washington, DC. If you live anywhere nearby, it’s worth the effort to drag yourself out of bed early and beat the rush … Continue reading
Posted in Hiking, Photography
Tagged Arboretum, azaleas, capitol columns, national arboretum, nature, outdoors, peak bloom, us national arboretum, Washington DC
3 Comments
Elementary
“Elementary, my dear Watson.” A familiar quote, but one Sherlock Holmes never actually said in any of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories! But this is about a different Holmes – Holmes Run – and an “elementary” walk with a local hiking group. The … Continue reading
Posted in Hiking, Photography
Tagged arthur conan doyle, Holmes Run, Holmes Run Trail, nature, outdoors, wildlife
2 Comments
A Rowdy Tale
Here’s a wonderful story about Rowdy, a kitten who recently got a big boost up in life from the great folks at Cat’s Cradle, a nonprofit, no-kill animal rescue organization located in Harrisonburg, Virginia. March 19 Cat’s Cradle rescued Rowdy, an adorable … Continue reading
Posted in Cats
Tagged animal rescue, animal rescue organization, cat shelter, Cat's Cradle, charity, no-kill, non-profit, North Shore Animal League
14 Comments
Going out on a limb
Just the other day I was reading a story in which the housing market has apparently rebounded so well that the administration is going out on a limb, pushing banks to overlook weaker credit ratings in granting mortgages to prospective homebuyers: The … Continue reading
Posted in News
Tagged economy, fairfax county virginia, home prices, mortgages, national debt, Washington DC, washington dc area
3 Comments
Atrocious Hideousness
Many American numismatists may have heard this expression, used by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt in a 1904 letter to Secretary of the Treasury Leslie Mortier Shaw to describe US coins: “I think our coinage is artistically of atrocious hideousness. Would … Continue reading
