New Year's Eve view

From the hospital hill, facing north toward Hogback Mountain, overlooking the town. (Not a bad view, should you find yourself in the hospital.)

The bright white steeple of Lexington Presbyterian seems to be springing from Randolph Street Methodist's brick bell tower, with the silver steeple of First Baptist decorating the roof: A little illustration of just how many churches we have here in Lexington.

At lower right is the blacksmith's forge and the in-town stable for the horses of the Lexington Carriage Company.

Hope to show you much more of Lexington in 2009!

School colors

The view from the Superintendent's box at the stadium at VMI. Center left is the rear side of Jackson Hall, the VMI chapel. This was the light on an unseasonably warm Christmas afternoon, showing the school colors of red, yellow and white (with a little blue thrown in).

North Main St. separates the larger part of the VMI campus (or "Post") from the stadium and other buildings on the east side. At lower left you can see the footbridge that cadets use to cross above the street.

200 miles from Lexington

Just back from two days in Washington, D.C., I had to post this picture of one of my favorite spots in the Capital.

In the foreground is a bust of Lorenzo de' Medici in the Italian Renaissance rooms of the National Gallery of Art. It is thought to be a later copy, in painted terracotta, of a wax sculpture designed by Andrea del Verrocchio. The wax original was made to commemorate Lorenzo's escape from an attempted assassination (during Mass!) in the Duomo.

His younger brother, Giuliano (center - also by Verrocchio), was not so lucky.

The gentleman in the dark suit is there to make sure I don't take them home with me.

Here is the grotesque on Giuliano's suit of armor:

(Tomorrow, back to Lexington.)

Church on Sunday: Column

Column and capital of the porch of the Trinity United Methodist Church on Main St.

I'd like to take more pictures of this church and its interesting details, but, alas, I'm going to have to get out a lot earlier in the morning to catch the sun on its façade!

Planes

Interesting lines on a building at Jefferson and Washington streets.

I've been taking photos for this blog for a month now, and this is the first time I've caught any jet trails in the sky. Suddenly, they're everywhere! Must be the post-Christmas travel rush.

All is calm

Christmas afternoon light on the side door of the First Baptist Church on N. Main St.

This church has an interesting history that I will have to save for another time. We're off to the big city for a couple of days. (I'll still be posting, though.) I'll catch up with everyone when I return.

No room at the inn

Nativity crèche in front of the Lauderdale Presbyterian church on Main St. (For the crèche in more context, see photo below.)

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Self-portrait with camel

I'm trapped inside making preparations for tomorrow, so all I have to offer is a fuzzy photo of your faithful blogger with a favorite Christmas ornament. Hope all of you are more ready than I am!

Gravestones and Holly...

...make a moving combination, I think.

This large holly tree is growing in the middle of an old family plot in Stonewall Jackson Cemetery in the center of town. Guess who else is buried in this cemetery?

Playground loner

A climbing structure in the playing field next to the elementary school. (The school is at the far left.)

I never see anyone on this structure -- it's too far away from the rest of the playground equipment. (If there was a soundtrack to this photo, you'd hear lots of children shouting and laughing off to the side.) It has the look of a piece of rustic sculpture out there, especially in combination with the fence.

Extra Post: Blogging awards

(I originally included this with the post above, but I decided that was too unwieldy, so I've added this extra post.)


Yesterday I received these 2 awards from Rob at Trieste Daily Photo. (See yesterday's post for a link to one of my favorite photos from his fascinating blog.) Thank you very much, Rob! It is now my privilege to pass the awards on to eight other bloggers.

As is my custom with chain messages of any kind, I will not request that anyone pass these on who does not care to. This is my tip of the hat to you, to say that I enjoy your blog and want others to see it, too. I especially like the idea of the Proximidade Award, above, in recognizing how these blogs bring us into proximity with others, whom we would otherwise never know.

I follow many art blogs, as well as daily photo blogs, so I will award mine half-and-half:

Liège Daily Photo - Greg Dimitriadis posts very interesting (and sometimes amusing) photos from Belgium.

Murcia Daily Photo - Pictures of a lovely town in Spain I would otherwise know nothing about.

Aurora Daily - Small town and rural South Africa through the observant eyes of an architect.

Hove Daily Photo - A new blog from the English seaside by a retired designer and writer.

René PleinAir - A very talented Dutch painter who has achieved an atmospheric, unique style.

Christopher Greco - This Ohio artist paints landscapes with wonderful light and color.

Artist Michael Mikolon - A California painter of figures, landscapes, and marvelous architectural sculpture.

Dordogne Painting Days - Adam Cope posts evocative paintings, drawings and sketches from this beautiful region of France.

Thank you, everyone, for sharing your photos and paintings with those of us far away!

Church on Sunday: Phoenix

The steeple of Lexington Presbyterian Church reaches for the heavens.

A Lexington landmark at Main and Nelson streets, the original 1844 Greek Revival church was designed by Thomas U. Walter, who later went on to design the dome of the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. "Stonewall" Jackson worshipped here, and is remembered for the Sunday school classes he taught for both slave and free blacks in the town.

On July 18, 2000, a fire caused by maintenance operations engulfed the steeple, eventually causing its collapse - taking an 850 lb. bell with it - into the sanctuary below. (See a photo of the fire here.) The church has been painstakingly restored; in 2002, local school children were given a holiday to witness the dramatic replacement of the clock and steeple.

** Rob at Trieste Daily Photo has given me an award! (Actually, two blogging awards which seem to be making the rounds together.) Thank you very much, Rob. I will have to wait until tomorrow to respond, but in the meantime I want to send everyone your way to see your beautiful and evocative photos of Trieste and its environs, like this one.

Red, white and blue

I love the proportions of this wall and chimney, one wing of a handsome house overlooking the town from Liberty Hall Road. Very Virginia.

Pink shorts

This is the newest of the three footbridges over the Woods Creek ravine, which divides the Washington and Lee campus in two.

On a 40°F (4°C) day in December, the student's ensemble of choice will be: shorts and a down jacket.