Mabry Mill

Mabry Mill was our last stop in the Shenandoah Valley on the way home from Virginia. The working water wheel in the restored grist mill, outbuildings complete with attendants in period dress, and well-stocked gift shop, attract thousands of visitors every year. Of course, the beautiful trees surrounding the mill attracted my attention.

Shenandoah 4

I like trees. I don’t know why exactly, but all my life long I’ve liked trees. Especially winter-time bare pecan trees with all their “bones” showing – years ago I did pencil sketches and concentrated on pecan trees. Some were pretty good. I wish I’d saved them.

Anyway, on our Shenandoah trip I took a number of photos of trees that I liked. Here are a few of them. In the first row below, there was a couple taking photos and I snapped one of the lady posing… I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get another one, but they left immediately so I got one of just the tree itself. I like both shots, actually.

The gingko grove at the Virginia Arboretum was beautiful, especially one tree that was more golden yellow than the others. On the road leading to the grove was the Cedars of Lebanon Allee, so naturally I got a shot of that too.

Shenandoah 3

I re-checked all the photos I took and did find a couple from the “deer strolling down the road” incident… most of his photos were quite fuzzy and unusable but these are recognizable, if not perfect.

I had forgotten that after we drove around the curve, there was a doe, presumably following the buck.

Shenandoah 2

Skyline Drive runs throughout the length of Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, with visitor centers, campgrounds, hiking trails and overlooks spaced out along the way. Looking for a good spot for photographs, we drove into one of the campgrounds that also had cabins overlooking Shenandoah Valley.

We pulled up in front of one cabin and Harold got out of the car to take a few photos. Suddenly a doe walked out of the woods, right up to the car. I softly called to Harold to turn around and look behind him, and there she stood. He tossed a small piece of a cracker to her which she patiently nibbled away, then looked up and waited for more.

Despite the fact that signs are posted throughout the park, “Please don’t feed the deer,” it’s pretty obvious that people do. This was just one of many deer we saw in the parks along Skyline Drive and all of them seemed very tame. They are protected by federal law from hunters.

One afternoon we came up on a string of cars stopped in the road, both directions. A deer (with antlers) was strolling slowly right down the center of the white line, crossing the road at a long angle. People in nearly every car were hanging out of their windows snapping photographs. He wasn’t fazed in the least, just slowly made his way on across to our side a few cars ahead of us. By the time we got close enough for a photo, he had turned his back to the cars and was making his way on into the woods.

Shenandoah

Shenandoah Morning, from one of the Skyline overlooks.

We left Florence bright and early Monday morning, October 19th, headed for the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Skyline Drive begins where the Blue Ridge Parkway ends, and traverses the Shenandoah National Park through the most beautiful mountains and valleys on the East Coast. For four days my photographer brother Harold Motte and I visited and viewed scenery, parks, historical sites, wildlife, and the colors of the changing season. Even snow!

Deemed the “Bridge of God” by the Monacan Indians, the Natural Bridge was surveyed by a young George Washington for Lord Fairfax and deeded by King George III to Thomas Jefferson two years before the Revolution. The site is only a few hours from Washington, DC or Richmond, VA, and just five minutes off I-81. It is well worth the trip.

Jefferson established a visitor’s lodge, opening the door to visitors and artists from around the world. On the day we visited, a small multinational crowd accompanied us as we walked along the path, through the bridge, and on along the trail that led to an Indian Village. Time constraints prevented us from visiting the village, although we did browse through the large gift shop.

“Iran, Lebanon Destiny Interlinked”

Fars News: Iran, Lebanon Destiny, Interests Interlinked

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday underlined that Iranian and Lebanese destinies and interests are intertwined. Speaking to Lebanese president Michel Suleiman on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session, President Ahmadinejad urged expansion of Tehran-Beirut relations.

“…Iran and Lebanon have common enemies…”

To read the entire article, click here: http://bit.ly/Iran-Lebanon

With all the news this week – the UN General Assembly in New York, the G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, next week’s 5+1 meeting in Europe, (the five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany), the announcement about Iran’s “new” uranium enrichment facility located beneath a mountain near Qom, Friday’s Muslim Prayer Rally on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, the arrests in three cities of terrorist suspects – why did I pick this one to highlight today?

I read online newspapers and blogs from around the world and today I began reading a new one, Fars News Agency, one of the online Iranian newspapers. I found this short article and immediately took notice.

For years people have complained that Syria and/or Hizbollah really controls Lebanon. There have been multiple and repeated attacks on Israel from Lebanon, just as there have been from both ends of Gaza.

Now we have Iran declaring that Lebanon and Iran have common enemies, and that their destinies are interlinked. I find that – in light of Iran’s nuclear ambitions – fascinating and troubling indeed.

Consider also who the current President of Lebanon is: The following is from the Lebanon online news site yalibnan.com, May 2008 when Suleiman became President of Lebanon:

“Here is a brief Bio of Army chief General Michel Suleiman:
Age and date of Birth – 59; Nov. 21, 1948.
Education — Graduated from Lebanon’s military academy as second lieutenant, 1970; holds bachelor of arts degree in political and administrative sciences from Lebanese University. He masters English and French languages.
Experience — Commander of armed forces, December 21, 1998-present; commander of 6th Infantry Brigade, 1996-98; commander of 11th Infantry Brigade, 1993-96; army staff secretary-general, 1991-93; chief of intelligence branch, 1990-91.”

Military through and through, as well as intelligence branch.

Netanyahu at UN: “Have you no shame?”

“What a disgrace! What a mockery of the charter of the United Nations! Perhaps some of you think that this man and his odious regime threaten only the Jews. You’re wrong.”

Link to video and full transcript of Israeli Prime Minister’s speech to United Nations.
http://bit.ly/lJVr7

From speech: “Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, nearly 62 years ago, the United Nations recognized the right of the Jews, an ancient people 3,500 years-old, to a state of their own in their ancestral homeland.

I stand here today as the Prime Minister of Israel, the Jewish state, and I speak to you on behalf of my country and my people. The United Nations was founded after the carnage of World War II and the horrors of the Holocaust. It was charged with preventing the recurrence of such horrendous events.

Nothing has undermined that central mission more than the systematic assault on the truth. Yesterday the President of Iran stood at this very podium, spewing his latest anti-Semitic rants. Just a few days earlier, he again claimed that the Holocaust is a lie.

Last month, I went to a villa in a suburb of Berlin called Wannsee. There, on January 20, 1942, after a hearty meal, senior Nazi officials met and decided how to exterminate the Jewish people. The detailed minutes of that meeting have been preserved by successive German governments. Here is a copy of those minutes, in which the Nazis issued precise instructions on how to carry out the extermination of the Jews. Is this a lie?

A day before I was in Wannsee, I was given in Berlin the original construction plans for the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Those plans are signed by Hitler’s deputy, Heinrich Himmler himself. Here is a copy of the plans for Auschwitz-Birkenau, where one million Jews were murdered. Is this too a lie?

This June, President Obama visited the Buchenwald concentration camp. Did President Obama pay tribute to a lie?

And what of the Auschwitz survivors whose arms still bear the tattooed numbers branded on them by the Nazis? Are those tattoos a lie? One-third of all Jews perished in the conflagration. Nearly every Jewish family was affected, including my own. My wife’s grandparents, her father’s two sisters and three brothers, and all the aunts, uncles and cousins were all murdered by the Nazis. Is that also a lie?

Yesterday, the man who calls the Holocaust a lie spoke from this podium. To those who refused to come here and to those who left this room in protest, I commend you. You stood up for moral clarity and you brought honor to your countries.

But to those who gave this Holocaust-denier a hearing, I say on behalf of my people, the Jewish people, and decent people everywhere: Have you no shame? Have you no decency?

A mere six decades after the Holocaust, you give legitimacy to a man who denies that the murder of six million Jews took place and pledges to wipe out the Jewish state.

What a disgrace! What a mockery of the charter of the United Nations! Perhaps some of you think that this man and his odious regime threaten only the Jews. You’re wrong.”

Muslim Prayer Day on Capitol Hill, Friday Sept 25

From TheFirearmsForum.com:

Washington, D.C. – On September 25th there will be a national prayer gathering of Muslims on the west front of the U.S. Capitol Building. They are expecting at least 50,000 to attend from mosques all across America. They will gather to pray from 4:00 AM until 7:00 PM. The gathering will take place by the site where U.S. Presidents have been inaugurated since 1981. The organizers say that it was Obama’s inauguration speech in January and his speech broadcast from Egypt in June that gave them the idea for this prayer gathering on Capitol Hill. They have a website set up for this event. If you never look at another website, look at this one, especially the final words:

ISLAM ON CAPITOL HILL 2 0 0 9

IN THE NAME OF ALLAH….

The objective of this gathering is to invite the Muslim Communities and friends of Islam to express and illustrate the wonderful diversity of Islam. We intend to manifest Islam’s majestic spiritual principals as revealed by Allah to our beloved prophet Muhammad (PEACE BE UPON HIM) of Arabia. Likewise; we intend to inspire a new generation of Muslim to work for the greater good of all people. We shall serve all people, regardless of race, religion or national origin.

ON THIS DAY….

* The Athan will be chanted on Capitol Hill, echoing off of the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument and other great edifices that surround Capitol Hill
* Thousands of Muslims from all races, creeds, colors and ethnicities will gather for the sole purpose of prayer
* Bonds of friendship will be formed between those in attendance, both Muslims and Non-Muslims
* Muslim youth will experience tours of the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court.
* The peace, beauty and solidarity of Islam will shine through America’s capitol.

A DAY OF ISLAMIC UNITY…
Jummah prayer Capitol Hill September 25, 2009

OUR TIME HAS COME

http://www.thefirearmsforum.com/showthread.php?t=66672

Eight month perspective

In National Review Online yesterday there was an article in the Corner section well worth reading. The following excerpt was called “Obama’s eight month reign of terror” in a Powerline blog update – although the author actually titled it “Dealing with what has come.”

“I thought Barack Obama would be a poor and troublesome president. Did I think he would yuk it up with Hugo Chávez, smirk with Daniel Ortega about the Bay of Pigs, turn his wrath on a Central American country trying to follow its constitution, denounce President Bush abroad, bow to the king of Saudi Arabia, endorse a radical Middle Eastern view of how Israel came into being, knock Western countries that try to protect Muslim girls from unwanted shrouding, invite the Iranian regime to our Fourth of July parties, stay essentially mute in the face of counterrevolution in Iran, squeeze and panic Israel, cold-shoulder the Cuban democrats in order to warm to the Cuban dictatorship, scrap missile defense in Eastern Europe, and refuse to meet with the Dalai Lama — in addition to his attempts to have government eat great portions of American society? No, I did not. You?”

Click here to read the entire article. http://bit.ly/2ydtlR

I have a new blog, by the way. Inspired by news articles I’ve read lately that seem to jump off the page (or computer screen) at me, I call it Tapister.

Who do you read?

I like news. Real news, not what passes for news on most TV networks nowadays. Although I still read several print newspapers daily, I also read a great deal of internet news from around the world. (See a list below.)

Of course, you always read the news through a personal filter, no matter who you are and who you read. And you need to add a filter of suspicion, considering possible agendas of the news media and their sources as you read.

But there is so much going on that will affect the United States and especially will affect Christians, it pays to stay informed. Billy Graham said that Christians should “pray with the Bible in one hand and a newspaper in the other…” I agree.

On September 10 I tuned into the live “Inside the Revolution” webcast (see www.insidetherevolution.org for information) and took notes during the discussions between Joel Rosenberg and several others, particularly Lt. General (ret.) Jerry Boykin, founding member of the Delta Force and former Dep. Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence at the Pentagon; Tom Doyle, former pastor, now with E3 Partners and a licensed Middle East tour guide; and Dr. Hormoz Shariot, former Iranian Muslim and now a Christian pastor (known as Iran’s Billy Graham). A taped interview Joel had done with Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, was included in the program. The interview was done before “Bibi” became PM of Israel but was very timely.

The focus of the program was the current political and religious status of Iran. Excerpts shown from a DVD of the same name were eye-opening. The DVD can be ordered online from the website.

I thought I’d share a list of who I’ve been reading online this weekend. Some are websites, some are blogs. Some are newspapers, some are news magazines. The list varies daily and I open links on many sites and read specific articles, so the following won’t be exhaustive, just a current sample…

Washington Post
Council on Foreign Relations
Sky News
Conservative Outpost
Fox Breaking News
CNN Breaking News
Karl Rove
Glenn Beck
Jerusalem Post
Haaretz
Debkafile
Moscow Times
Pravda
Aljazeera

Here’s an article from today’s Aljazeera online news, about the American Tea Party rally in Washington, DC yesterday: Interesting that the Arab world is watching all this, too:
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/default.html

Here’s another one, also from Aljazeera, about Vladimir Putin’s possible return to the Presidency of Russia. Are we surprised?
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/09/2009911145354434112.html

Well, I think that’s enough to give you an idea of how I stay informed. There are a few more that I’ve browsed, but I’ll save that list for some other day.