Vicki's Blog: November 2006

Danny and Music

It is an amazing thing. Danny has been so very sick the last three days (he had a fever of 102.5), but you sit him down in that First Chair with a violin in his hand, and he comes alive in an astonishing way. I know inside he is still aching and exhausted. He has been laid out flat up until about 40 minutes before we left the house. From my seat in the empty concert hall, I can see his hands shaking a little. But he is sitting up straight, bouncy and swaying, leading not only his section but the whole orchestra along from that first chair. Best of all his feet are moving every few moments, in that characteristic way he has, that always makes me smile. This is such glorious music! I know that they have done studies and found that laughter has healing powers. Surely Handel's Messiah, complete with a choir of nearly 60 and a full orchestra with harpsichord and soloists, would be uplifting not only for the soul, but for the body as well, especially for him to whom this music means so very much. I am so proud of Danny, and so very glad that he is mine.

Trees at Great Falls: in Color

Olmstead Island, Great Falls, Maryland

Reflections

Due to recent rains there was a bit more water than there had been a month ago.

The Potomac in Black and White 2

Trees at Great Falls: in Black & White

Chapter 5, In Which Vicki Recalls Her Childhood

Yesterday's inclement weather brought some childhood memories to mind.

I used to be quite a Pooh Bear fan. When I was very little my father gave me a stuffed Pooh that was bigger than me. . . I think my parents still have it. :) The photos in this post were taken with the little camera that is in my phone, then converted to black & white using PhotoShop.

From: Winnie The Pooh and the Blustery Day
Written by: Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman

"Oh the wind is lashing lusterly
And the trees are thrashing thrusterly
And the leaves are rustling gusterly
So it's rather safe to say
That it seems that it may turn out to be
Feels that it will undoubtedly
Looks like a rather blustery day, today
It seems that it may turn out to be
Feels that it will undoubtedly
Looks like a rather blustery day today."

Followed of course by:

"The rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down
In rushing, rising, rivlets
'Til the river crept out of it's bed
And crept right into Piglet's.
Poor Piglet he was frightened
With quite a rightful fright
And so in desperation
A message he did write.
He placed it in a bottle
And it floated out of sight
And the rain, rain, rain, came down, down, down
So Piglet started bailing
He was unaware atop his chair
While bailing he was sailing.
Pooh too was caught and so he thought
I must rescue my supper.
Ten honey pots he rescued
Enough to see him through
But as he supped up his supper
The river supped up Pooh.
And the water twirled and tossed him
In a honey pot.
The rain, rain, rain, came
down, down, down
When the rain, rain, rain,
came down, down, down. . ."

Chapter 4, In Which Seneca Creek Overflows Its Banks

On our way home from running some errands (during what we thought was a break in the storm, but which actually ended up getting Danny very, very wet as he ran into Lowes) we noticed that the Seneca Creek trailhead was experiencing high water. We decided to pull into the parking lot and take a quick peek. This is how the area we hiked at two weeks ago looked this evening. I took the following two pictures with the small camera in my phone.

After seeing that, we were naturally curious to see how the second stage of the trail looked. We swung by the house long enough to pick up my regular camera, the kids, and to put some boots on.

This is the second trailhead where we began last week's walk.

As you can see by the blue blaze on the tree, the trail is most definately under water.

In fact the whole valley was pretty much under water!

The calm after the storm.

This is near where we saw the snake last week.

A Walk Around the Park

Today we decided to explore some of the paved walkways at South Germantown Recreational Park. Paved trails seemed like a good idea because we have had several days of rain and the ground is very muddy. We saw several mallards, and I think we may have seen a coot.

King Farm Dairy Mooseum

Looking across the toy boat racing pond towards the Mooseum.

The Potomac in Black and White

I had previously posted this picture with the fall color trip we took to Great Falls, but I felt that it looked out of place there and wanted it to stand on its own.