Hop in my car, and I'll take you on a quick tour from the countryside of central Virginia to the bustling Tidewater region. The picture on the left was taken in front of the Chrysler Museum in Norfolk, but we'll start in Montpelier, Virginia, and we'll explore that area before we leap to the east. I don't have any details on the equine statue, anyway; It was a cold night and I snapped the photo from the warmth of my car.From the previous blog post, in addition to exploring Morris's grandmother's house, our travels took us through portions of Hanover, Louisa, Orange, and Madison counties. We made a calculated decision to take backroads - true backroads that veered off of the two-lane byways - that were paved but off the standard roadmaps. This allowed us to see places like Beaverdam, Bumpass, Fredericks Hall and Cutalong. Some were just crossroads, others were towns that declined when rail travel fell out of favor.
When I ride through these areas, I often wonder how I would like living in such a bucolic setting. In my fantasy I can visualize an old cottage, surrounded by flowers in the spring, and a comfy chair & a book next to a crackling fire in wintertime. I think I would enjoy living in the country, as long as I had a reliable connection to the Internet. And no job to slog off to each day. And a Useful Man (link to The Old Foodie, a very interesting blog) to take care of tasks that would confound me. In other words, I'm better off in my maintenance-free home unless an unexpected & sizable windfall drops into my bank account.
Montpelier
Just south of Beaverdam, near a place with the alluring name of Old Bandana, we happened upon the Aaron Hall Free School. Boarded up but well maintained, it was obviously an historic property, and we stopped to take a closer look. Aaron Hall, a farmer, bequeathed funds upon his death to establish a school for his neighbors who could not otherwise afford formal educations for their children. What an act of love! The central portion of the structure is obviously the oldest part of the school, constructed with rough-hewn logs in 1844 at a time when this section of Virginia had no nearby schools.I love exploring city & countryside with Morris because we share a curiousity about our surroundings. I like taking pictures, and Morris never gets impatient when I pull over or turn around for a photo opportunity. No road is too narrow and no village too obscure when we set out for a drive. We took one road near a dot on the map called Rising Sun, but turned around when it began looking suspiciously like someone's driveway.
When we return to our homes, each of us likes to research what we've discovered via the Internet or area libraries. A wealth of information from reliable sources is at our fingertips nowadays. The Library of Virginia, the Virginia Historical Society, the National Park Service, and Virginia Commonwealth University have established websites where we can view court records, maps, essays on history, and old photographs.
The outside looked promising, but the Court Cafe was obviously more bar than restaurant, since at midday we were the only two patrons. People probably swing from the ceiling lights at night. Still, we had good food & very friendly service.
Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk
I made a spur-of-the-moment trip down to Norfolk to see Suzanne, who was in town from Amsterdam visiting her mother. I doubted I was going to see her, because we didn't talk until the midpoint of her stay, but I was able to arrange a day away from the office on short notice. We had a fine time. We rode by our old high school, stopped & sat awhile in front of the house where I grew up, and had a nice dinner in Norfolk.
Oh, the comfort, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person; having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words, but to pour them all out, just as they are, chaff and grain together, knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them, keep what is worth keeping, and then, with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away.
George Eliot
I've got two friends, Suzanne & Brenda, whom I've known since childhood. We have so many shared memories and stories.We have seen each other through the calamities of life: loss of romantic relationships, financial uncertainty, ill health, crazy thinking, financial uncertainty, change of careers, and the death of loved ones. We have celebrated each others' joys & successes. We have shared hours of unbridled laughter. We have seen one another at our best and our worst, but we remain constant. Old friends know us better than we know ourselves, in some ways.
And a youth said, Speak to us of Friendship
And he answered saying:
Your friend is your needs answered.
He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And he is your board and your fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
Kahlil Gibran
Virginia Beach
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1 comment:
I enjoyed the drive, Bill! I needed to get out this afternoon;) It's fun looking at all the old buildings, imagining what they were like back in the day. When Dan and I used to camp a lot, I liked to find a book or two about the areas that we frequented and get to know them 'way back when.' Now when I see movies that are based on a person or event, I usually get online and find out the 'real' story. The internet is a marvelous thing!
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