Hiatus

Taking a short hiatus ... posting will resume in a few days.

Courthouse resolution #3: Materials

Third in my series of "10 things I can find to like about the new Rockbridge County Courthouse" at Nelson and Randolph streets: The final design incorporates characteristic Rockbridge area granite (dark grey prominently veined with white), red brick (an ubiquitous building material in these parts) and the white Tuscan columns so often seen on local Roman Revival buildings (albeit ersatz, alas -- you can see the vertical seams quite clearly in person).

This view is from Nelson St., looking toward what used to be Davidson Park.

Bird curve

Some clever person outfitted this guard rail on Monticello Rd. with a series of birdhouses, linking the cul-de-sac to the fields and views beyond.

Edwardian style

The arts and crafts style seems to have arrived in the valley in the 1920s. This 1928 house is at the corner of Jordan St. and Highland Rd.

Rockbridge scene

A brick pier at the entrance to the drive of an old house in Rockbridge County.

Wildlife

The Bear Building on Main St., c. 1828, under a mackerel sky.

Red door

A perfect little 1928 cottage at the "new" end of Jackson Avenue.

Church on Sunday: Boxwoods

The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church on Main St. hides its c. 1850 manse from view.

The church, built in 1963, is sited on what was once the long front lawn of a Gothic Revival cottage on South Main St, formerly known as "Boxwoods." The church's use of an existing Gothic building as a manse for a much newer church building resembles St. Patrick's Catholic Church and rectory on Nelson St. -- both cottages are even painted a similar shade of yellow.

A very Happy Easter to all!

(Here's a closer look at "Boxwoods":)

That time of the year

An afternoon Little League game at the Waddell playing fields.

Fourteen by sixteen

This tiny 1871 house at the corner of Davidson and Short streets is only 16 feet wide by 14 feet deep, according to city records.

Solid footing

Another in my series of shots under Lexington's bridges.

This is the main Nelson St. bridge, which runs adjacent to the new courthouse. The construction of the courthouse has given a whole new feel to this spot -- you may now arrive here from a set of steps beside the courthouse door. Directly underneath the bridge the ground has been paved, but in both directions it is a road to nowhere. (This bridge spans a wide swale, not a stream or river.) A strange place, but not without attractions.

Courthouse resolution: #2

The grilles screening the parking levels at the new courthouse make an interesting pattern against a blue-grey sky.

Back in January I made a New Year's Resolution to find 10 things I can like about our new Rockbridge County Courthouse, which finally opened for business last month. I do like these grilles, which are set in openings in the sides of the attached parking garage.

OK -- 8 more to go. Among the many things I don't like about the building: Anybody else think that the Halls of Justice should not have revolving doors?

That light again

My favorite light (the setting sun) shines on the side of a Victorian era house above North Main Street.

This is a third look at a building I've become a little fascinated with. See other views of it (in the morning and at midday) here and here.

Man and nature

The spring house at Brushy Hill preserve.

The city of Lexington owns over 500 acres in Rockbridge County, about three miles from town, kept as a nature preserve, with former logging roads now forming a network of trails. This old stone spring house (with its shiny new roof) sits down by Union Run, next to the small parking area. It's a little bit of man-made that is not out of place in its natural surroundings, I think.

Church on Sunday: Zack

Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Zack (built 1879), dressed for Easter.

This clean white clapboard church, with its churchyard in back, is the larger of two in tiny Zack. The other, and a little about Zack, here.

March of time

English ivy creeps up the turret of a hundred-year-old house.

Though it can't be good for the siding, I love to see vines growing like this on buildings, and wish there were more of it around town. If I could find some "vine eyes," - small metal eyes which slip into the mortar joints between bricks, through which can be threaded wires for non-clinging vines - I'd try to grow flowering vines like cross vine and jasmine on the outside of our house. As it is, we have to tear back our ivy every year to keep it from damaging the brick.

Just east of town

Another view of the spring fields off of Old Farm Rd.

One of the great pleasures of living in Lexington is that only a few minutes' drive from the center, in almost any direction, takes one into some of the most beautiful country in Virginia. It is even possible to walk out along a few of the less-traveled roads, without resorting to a car at all. The scene above can easily be reached by foot (if you like walking).

Runner up

In my search for yellow around town I also found these empire yellow walls at Hamilton Robbins on Main St.

The image of the arch-top window in the display is echoed in the reflections of both the courthouse and the R.E. Lee Hotel across the street.

Theme Day April 2009: Yellow

A spring display in the window of Pumpkinseeds, at the corner of Washington and Main.

Today is the first of the month, and daily city bloggers around the world are posting on the April theme: Yellow. Many shops around town have displays featuring yellow at the moment, so there was much to choose from. This shot had a special appeal for me.

To see how other bloggers have interpreted the theme, click here to view thumbnails for all participants.