Around town...

Not many trees have leaves remaining...but we marvel at this Chestnut tree every time we are at the Church. You can see shades of green, yellow, orange and even burnt umber..all mixed together. The chestnuts look like "porcupine eggs" with stiff, sharp, spines. It's awesome!

A local artists does historical scluptures on brick walls. This one, "Souls of Freedom" is outside the Richland's police station. We have found others at the community college, that I hope to photograph next time we are in that area.

Autumn decorations are everywhere...this one is on the portch of the Richlands Library. Our daughters will be proud of us...we find the library a great resource for locating area maps and sending faxes. The young Elders go here to use the computers and email their families on "P-Day." So far it is our best resource for a copy machine. Upstairs is a wonderful children's reading room...and although I haven't found Bill Peet books yet, this title caught my eye: "Big Brothers Don't Take Naps!" Of couse, I thought of Jonah.

Autumn in Virginia

These roadside pics document autumn in Virginia. They are taken through the car window while driving our 85 miles to stake conference in Pembroke yesterday and today.

It's miles and miles of rolling hills and winding roads. There is no north or south in directions given by local residents. Example: "Go two far-sees and turn at the barn with three dogs." A far-see means drive as far as you can see, the road will turn, and you drive as far as you can see again.

I especially like the trees that are yellow-orange. In real life the colors are so vibrant they almost look florescent.


This morning as we left our apartment we could see our breath. For desert dwellers like Karl and I, this was exciting. I'm sure the new will rub off very quickly, but for a moment today we were sending each other puff signals and having fun.