Icarus shed

which witch, T-111, boy, falling

Slabtown

winter. Snowing hard in CHO presently. Taking refuge in the song of Slabtown amphibians.

crow

4" diameter composition, corvid and crown by Robin Hanes

Tristes Tropiques

Farewell to savages, then, farewell to journeying! And instead, during the brief intervals in which humanity can bear to interrupt its hive-like labours, let us grasp the essence of what our species has been and still is, beyond thought and beneath society: an essence that may be vouchsafed to us in a mineral more beautiful than any work of Man; in the scent more subtly evolved than our books, that lingers in the heart of a lily; or in the wink of an eye, heavy with patience, serenity, and mutual forgiveness, that sometimes, through an involuntary understanding, one can exchange with a cat.-- Claude Levi-Strauss

the final frontier

These are the voyages

third dog

My third dog Charlie. Charlie was the first dog for whom I was responsible. I failed miserably.
Charlie killed some rabbits, for food for sport? Didn't matter. The bunnies were livestock, being raised for their meat by a farmer down the road.
Killing livestock is a serious offense for canines in Virginia, a capital crime.
I never requested proof of Charlie's crime. How many rabbits? Who witnessed the event? Show me a Polaroid. Show me rabbit carcasses. I was a total believer in the righteousness of Authority. The Man came to the house and said the dogs had to die. (Dogs, my roomate had a dog). We inquired about death options. The best death option was to shoot them on site. Right then, at the house. Execute them.
And so. Mr. Man shot the dogs for us. I remember crying a lot. Digging a hole.
It changed me.

G Man

Missed the street party on Pennsylvania, busy with an interrogation. FBI's 100th anniversary.

Madison County, Virginia

Argus

Emma blew through town the beginning of the week. Sophia was beside herself. Pack member. Yipping with delight.
Thanksgiving morning Emma was gone.
No joyful vocalizing. Waiting.
Argus arrrgus arrrguss, dog of Odysseus.

stairway

up the side of Mt.Katahdin, Baxter State Park, ME

badlands

uncharted territory ahead

big stick

Right here let me make as vigorous a plea as I know how in favor of saying nothing that we do not mean, and of acting without hesitation up to whatever we say. A good many of you are probably acquainted with the old proverb, "Speak softly and carry a big stick - you will go far." If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble, and neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power. In private life there are few beings more obnoxious than the man who is always loudly boasting, and if the boaster is not prepared to back up his words, his position becomes absolutely contemptible. So it is with the nation. It is both foolish and undignified to indulge in undue self-glorification, and, above all, in loose-tongued denunciation of other peoples. Whenever on any point we come in contact with a foreign power, I hope that we shall always strive to speak courteously and respectfully of that foreign power.
September 2, 1901 Teddy Roosevelt

coulrophobia

"Can't sleep, clowns will eat me."

There is something about a stop sign that motivates people to take their happy meal and pitch it out of the car window. Fries, burger, everything on the street complete with the red white and yellow bag.
Sophie's morning walk takes us past two popular ejection points. Add rain and vehicular traffic and the "I'm lovin' it" product metamorphoses to an organic calorie rich spooge. In dry weather the "food" makes a dark greasy spot on the asphalt. In wet weather it stays "ready to eat" much longer. Sophie loves it.

Why would a corporate entity admit to having a clown on the payroll?

On this blog the other day a reader characterized some very well meaning civic minded Central Virginia leaders as clowns.
I think calling someone a clown is the ultimate insult. In the politically correct environment of today I reluctantly admit that there are "good clowns" out there. People dressing up, tying balloons for children on the cancer ward, donning squeaky noses. But honestly, I'm a borderline coulrophobic, my mom raised me never to trust a Clown. To me, "good clown" is an oxymoron. (for some interesting educational musings on coulrophobia read Joseph Durwin's piece Coulrophobia and the Trickster.)

Memo to Mickey D customers: keep that trash in your belly or in your car. The Woolen Mills is a clown-free zone.

Scary Clown Plaza
John Wayne Gacy

black widow

Latrodectus mactans:

They can also be found around lids of dust bins, around seats of outdoor privies, spaces under chips of wood, around stacked materials of any kind, in deserted animal burrows or rodent holes, and entwined in grape arbors.-University of Michigan Museum of Zoology

Under the seats of privies, that's the worst.

in the Light

0616hrs

t-2

day of rest and remembrance

The mountains didn?t weep audibly. There was no way to know that planes had impacted buildings. The absence of contrails in the sky was the only visible sign of the destruction.

snow creek

The Virginia Highlands festival photography juror liked the image above. Receiving words of encouragement is a rare and wonderful thing.