International Festival -- Getting a Hemp Tattoo

An Indian draws a hemp tattoo on Anna Maria's hand, while Magdalena watches. To see the finished products (Maggie & Liza got one, too), see the next entry. This was just one of many displays and events at the International Festival in Harrisonburg yesterday. I also heard a gentleman play an Alpine horn; I didn't realize this, but the horn was about 12 feet long!

A Natural Tattoo -- by an Indian artist

An Indian artist created these hemp tattoos. Hemp dye is placed on the skin in a design (done in a way very similar to the way a cake decorator uses a special tube to place designs on a cake). Once the hemp has dried, it flakes off, leaving behind a golden brown stain, or tattoo, that will last about 6-10 days.

Kurdish Dance -- A Scene from the International Festival

Kurdish Community: The Kurds often dance, the speaker said, around a bonfire. My son-in-law described their dance as something a bit reminiscent of line dancing but in a circle, with the participants all holding hands and touching shoulder to shoulder. The speaker said that all, not just the Kurdish people, are invited to join; it's their way of welcoming people. Anna Maria said that first the Kurds all join the dance and, then, the rest are invited. Above the beginning of the dance.
Generally the men dance in one line and women in the other. The gentlemanwith the purplish cloth is the leading the line of men. Above the Kurdish women in their sparkling native dress have begun their line.
And, above, Magdalena nearly hidden beside her daddy in jeans and sandals, Eliza Grace and Mama Anna Maria have joined the dance.

Eliza - in Arabic

Eliza, here with a flag painted on her face, shows what her name looks like when spelled in Arabic. Learning the Arabic letters was a craft option Eliza chose to do at the International Festival in Harrisonburg yesterday

Dirt Princess

A steep hill behind AM and Steven's house has become a channel guiding water down the hill and INTO the house. To solve the problem, AM decided to dig a trench and ultimately install drain pipe and gravel, so that water will go AROUND the house and into a drainage ditch on the other side of the property. I went down Saturday evening and did some digging myself.

Little Maggie (above) plopped herself in the wheelbarrow and announced, "I am the Dirt Princess." She loved it when the dirt flying off our shovels sprinkled over her and covered with dirt.
This is one tough mama! She dug most of this by herself throughout the past week. But Saturday, after helping for about an hour, I got to give the little girls wheelbarrow rides, bouncing them down the hill.

Rock Plucker

Eliza Grace plucked cobbles, stones and rocks from the digging site Saturday night. Since AM dreams of a retaining wall on the right side of the trench, and a patio filling the space between the trench and the house, those cobbles, stones and rocks just might prove very useful.

Sunday Dinner

Granddaughters Eliza and Magdalena, Daughter Anna Maria and Son-in-Law Steven came to my apartment for dinner Sunday.

My Girls & Me (Vickie's Version)

More post wedding photos

Sisters and their spouses...
Maggie tosses her shoes (photo by Vickie).
Bride with her big sister... (photo by Vicki)
Photographer Steven Johnson and wife...Steven rarely gets IN a photo; he's usually on the OTHER side of the camera. (photo by Vickie)

More of the wedding (photos by Sam's coworker, Vickie)

Mt. Torry Furnace

An historic marker identified this spot as Mt. Torry Furnace, and a web search led to this blurb on the National Register of Historic Places explaining its significance.

"Mt. Torry Furnace is situated at the foot of Torry Ridge, north of Route 600 and Back Creek. The furnace is located within the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests in an area of young deciduous trees. Originally the Mt. Torry iron furnace complex included the iron furnace and its support facilities, as well as structures necessary to support the workers and animals who operated the h c e . The original cold-blast charcoal stack was built in 1804; its
original dimensions are unknown. It was converted for hot blast in 1853, and was 35' tall and 11' across the bosh. The furnace was constructed of dry-laid local stone with a brick chimney. It was connected to an embankment to the northeast by a charging bridge over which iron ore, limestone flux, and charcoal were wheeled and dumped into the central, brick-lined cavity. A casting house where molten iron was formed into pigs and sows in sand molds was located on the tap arch side of the fiunace. The tub bellows that produced a blast were powered by a waterwheel set close to the stack. A race ran to the waterwheel north of the h c e . The base structures were burned during the Civil War, but were rebuilt in 1866.
"The extant Mt. Torry Furnace is a stone square trapezoid. The outside stone structure is about 30 feet wide, and 40 feet tall. The northeast side of the h c e has collapsed and the stack has caved in. Although parts of the exterior structure are intact, much reconstruction and stabilization has taken place since the Forest Service acquired the property. The tap arch
has metal supports and is 15' wide and about 25' high. No brick or lining material is evident. Historically the fUmace was approached fiom the north. The ramp up to the bridge to the charging deck begins to the north. There is a multi-acre slag pit between Back Creek and Route 664, southeast of the furnace. An unnamed tributary of Back Creek was the feeder source for
the wheel race. Neither a wheel pii nor the tuyere arch was located; these may have been located on the side that has collapsed. A stone wall that may have supported blast equipment is northwest of the furnace."

Sherando Lake, Virginia

I meandered through some winding roads Saturday and Sunday, hoping to find a nearby running trail and cycing trail. Eventually I parked my car not too far from a signpost which stated, "Sherando Lake" and George Washington National Forest. From there I jogged along an old gravel road, now gated and open to foot traffic only. When I started seeing increasing amounts of sand in the roadway, I thought I just had to be getting to water. And sure enough eventually the path in the forest opened up into a clearing around Sherando Lake, where fishing is allowed, and boats and swimmers are not. These views were taken from the dam or levee (no signs really indicated what was what), but the view was gorgeous even if it wasn't identifiable.

Classic Niagara Falls - American side

Photo Hash

Inevitably, after a weekend like I just rushed through, there are photos that are definite keepers and definitely blog worthy. Others are more personal treasures. Then there are the others -- ones I really want to post, but my 4-photo-per-pane won't allow it. I could post them solo, but they don't seem to have quite that much appeal. Many times I wait, thinking they'll fit in elsewhere. For this particular collection, however, I opted to "make hash" using my photo leftovers.

That's me, Leelannee, Camelia, Nelson and Bart in the photo above.
Sammie and Chad opening a couple presents; both Eliza (right) and Magdalena (not in this photo) enjoyed helping Chad and Sam open gifts.
Leelannee beat me this year; that's her racing to the finish line of the Crosswinds 5K (photo by Nelson).
Camelia and I pigging out on scrambled eggs, turkey ham and hash browns. Food AND photo by Nelson.

Rest after Labor Day Frenzy

On Monday I got to hang out with friends and chill out. Above: Nelson fixes breakfast for Camelia and me.

Leelannee (left) also ran the Crosswinds 5K -- and she beat me. Two years ago, I beat her (according to the statistics; I didn't know her then, but she's become a great friend). Phil, my former neighbor, is in the middle. And on the right is my buddy Nelson.

D&D

D&D is the nickname my youngest brother used for the folks in a recent e-mail. Delores met and married my dad not too long after my mom died of cancer, about four years ago and the same time I started running. Running helped me cope with the stress of those days and Delores has helped Dad cope as well. They came out to NY (from Iowa) for Sam's wedding, and this was the second time I saw Delores. They spent a couple days before the wedding with Sam, who had never met Delores. Here they are enjoying Nelson's patio in Canandaigua (NY), which he built primarily for me so I could study outside in the fresh air instead of being cooped in my room all day. I helped build the "fence," which used to be a pallet from a factory. The design and most of the work, however, was Nelson's.

A Dream Come True

My dad's wife, Delores, has always wanted to see Niagara Falls. Her three-block trek through Labor Day crowds, maneuvering through a very long wait, and then negotiating the wet ramp onto the Maid of the Mist with her walker was a feat equal, if not greater, than my 5K on Saturday. This is a photo of the American Falls (do you see the double rainbow in the photo below? click on the photo to enlarge if you can't see it here)

Crosswinds 5K

To calm my pre-wedding nerves and as a benefit to Sands Cancer Center in Canandaigua, New York, I ran a 5K with about 354 other participants, coming in 258th. An asthma attack prevented the finish I had hoped for, but I came close -- 31:38. I had hoped for a 30 minute finish, but this 10:11 mile pace was okay (Photos by Nelson Bowen). Above: the line up. Below: that's me near the finish line.
At the rear left is Steve Bragg, my virtual running partner. He ran a 27:12 5K, a 8:46 mile pace, according to the statistics at http://www.crosswindsonline.org/. We share our individual running goals via e-mail and cheer each other on when we reach them. He's been working 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. all summer, so I am pretty amazed at his ability to finish so well. The couple in front is my dad and his wife Delores. That, too, is pretty amazing to me. Until I started running four years ago, I never did anything very athletic. Now I'm 50 and Dad will be 80 in November, and he saw me finish a race for the very first time. Oh! I almost forgot Bart...that little Terrier-Pom mix is quite a runner himself. Though he didn't run this particular race with me, he used to run with me about once a week when I lived in Canandaigua. Those little legs hustle!

Momma of the Bride

I love my girls...AM on the left and Sam in the middle. They value relationships, servanthood and a strong commitment to their Designer AND they treat their momma like a queen (photos by Nelson Bowen).

Wedding Party

That would be my new son, Chad, on the left with his bride. Anna Maria is next to her sister and served as assistant to the bride. Magdalena (in rust) and Eliza Grace (in blue) were flower girls. They each arranged the flowers in their baskets. (For more photos see Steven's blog -- a professional photographer, he has some very unique and interesting views on his blog at http://homepage.mac.com/steverinojohnson/iblog).

The Bride's Assistant

I took these photos so you could see the detail in the dresses...the flower girls, assistant's and bride's dress were all from the same basic pattern.