Redirection Road

Spring is full on here in Virginia and my weed yard is totally out of control….

I finally got out to Culpeper and fell in love with this little town. My gym is in Culpeper and that was the impetus that spurred me on to explore this area. The town was named for the Lord Thomas Culpeper, Colonial Governor of Virginia, 1680-83. The county was confiscated by colonials during the Revolutionary War. They formed the Culpeper Minutemen on July 17, 1775 consisting of 350 men all ready to take up arms at a minute’s notice. They had the first battle on Virginia soil, the Battle of the Great Bridge. So, Culpeper has some history that draws tourists to the town. You can read more about it here if you are interested.

The headline photo for this issue is actually a historic theater. Not sure the history on this one, but Hurricane Teddy (a street person ) gave me the scoop on this while hitting me up for a donation. Yes, I bought him lunch. He is an interesting fellow…. Also, you tell a lot about a town by the movies they watch.

Another little fun fact is Culpeper has been ranked as the second healthiest place in the United States. 🙂 There is a Civil War Museum and plenty of curated walks around town. A variety of historic battlefields, houses, museums and other interesting things to see in the town. I was drawn to the Graffiti House. This is a historic house (of course) next to the railroad that during the Civil War soldiers left messages on the interior walls. There is a project to digitize the graffiti and you can learn more about that here if you are so inclined. Graffiti House is on my list of things and places to see and get pictures. When I get out there, I will post an update.

Culpeper also hosts a “Living History Event featuring members of the 23rd United States Colored Troops.” I am going to try and get out there and see what is up with that. There are some re-enactment events around Virginia that I will be hoping to get out and get some images and notes on the battles.

The tree-lined streets host victorians and old southern homes with white picket fences and lush gardens. Many a great walk can be had wandering the residential streets in Culpeper. This is another item on my list to capture. I held up this post to put up some images of Culpeper. I finally grabbed a few. Most of the time I am there I am at the gym and rushing home after. There are some great restaurants there. My waistline says to wait on trying these till I have room….. ;-). So, here are a few grabs of the downtown. They have several music stores, a good sign and actual barber shops.

Just a little me time here….I bought a $9 watercolor palate and some card stock to make my own note cards. Keep in mind that I am not a painter, just dabbling…. Recently, I decided to start writing letters again and thought I would make up some note cards also. It slows me down so much and I get more thoughtful about my communications.

Ye Ole Homestead

You are never alone if you live in or around a forest. Even though it appears to be isolated and quiet here, my cameras prove otherwise..! I have a variety of tenants living on the land here with me. The residents include a family of rabbits, a HUGE raccoon, scary giant possum, cats and variety of strange bugs and crawling things.

Spring is full on here with the skies opening up and flooding us with summer storms. Fanghorn Forest in the back has totally changed. Overnight it has become the fern jungle.

Until next time, I leave you with you with a picture of Circe discovering the woods.