C&O Trip #3

1. The confluence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah at Harper's Ferry. The Potomac is to the right, the Shenandoah in the center. They meet near the far point of West Virginia and flow to the left in this photo toward Virginia and Maryland.

2. Here's where WV, VA, and MD meet. Maryland is on the left, WV on the right, and VA in the distance

3. Part of Harper's Ferry.

C&O Trip #2

1. Here's one of many aquaducts on the towpath. Rather than dismount and walk across, I chose to ride down and through to keep my pace, but this is precisely where my water bottle holder broke off of my bike. I rode over the bottle and the holder and had to stop.

2. A cave on the way.

3. A wide spot in the river.

Biking the C&O Towpath

Last Saturday was a beautiful, crisp day and I had some free tiem (!!! for the first time on a weekend in a long time!!!) so I decided to bike the 23 miles to Harper's Ferry and back. Here are some photos from my trip.

1. The crossing the Potomac from Shepherdstown to Maryland. The C&O Towpath is on the left side of the river. The day before (Friday) I had taken a moderately challenging bike ride with my friend Karen on the right side and also through the hills beyond Shepherdstown.

2. & 3. Several shots from the Towpath. The canal was to the left. Occasionally you can catch a whiff of ginseng growing nearby.

More Hotspots

1. The Weston Insane Asylum (very eerie)
2. The Gondola Ride into Hawks Nest (very scary)
3. The Mystery Hole (very queasy)

Blackwater Falls

We camped not too far from here. This was my second time visiting Blackwater Falls and they were much calmer this time. The first photo is K & R falling and the second is the falls.

Coming soon

More trip photos to come...

Dolly Sods 2 with photos

Here are the bogs - very marshy! We hiked around, looked for carnivorous plants, and ate wild mountain blueberries.

Dolly Sods 2

Here are the bogs - very marshy! We hiked around, looked for carnivorous plants, and ate wild mountain blueberries.

Dolly Sods 1

1. Dolly Sods overlook
2. The wind is so strong the trees grow one-sided.
3. Me and Rach at the overlook.

Autumn Trip 08

I had a storytelling performance at the Autumn Glory Festival in Oakland Maryland on Saturday. Rachel and Kris came with and we went camping, hiking, and sightseeing afterward. Here are many photos from that trip.
1. K & R at the Fairfax stone.
2. Me pretending to be Lewis surveying for Lord Fairfax.
3. Our campsite near the Blackwater River.

Rosh Hashanah #2

Rosh Hashanah

Happy New Year! Ryan had the day off for Rosh Hashanah and came over to help cook dinner. Then all my friends came over to ring in the new year, Mo Kaplan-style. Check out my New Year's feast: challah (yes, homemade) with honey, latkes, matzoh ball soup, matzoh with gefilte fish & horseradish, chicken, chirosits, and pecan pie. There was also some leftover kugel, too. Here are some photos before guests-round-two came by.

Streetscape

These photos are of a tree in town. Shepherdstown Streetscape has begun and they are in the process of tearing up the sidewalks and digging out the trees. There was a group of elementary school children protesting and here's a sign they left in one of the trees.

Chinco #2

It appears that we beached on the Sun. Also, here's a giant Viking statue that we passed on a bike ride to the beach on morning.

Chincoteague

As one last pre-semester getaway, I went to Chincoteague and Assateague islands on a camping and beach trip. The latter is a reserve with marshes, beaches, and plenty of wildlife - wild ponies, egrets, herons, turtles, sandpipers. The best part of the trip was the morning "rooster calls" from the seagulls.

Ryan's Birthday

Last weekend my friend Ryan had his all night "Sweet 16 + 10" birthday party, which comprised dining, dancing, and style on the town with a strict dress code (it is Ryan after all). Indoor sunglasses were an obvious requirement. We started in Rockville, moved to DC, and finished in Rockville again.

Student Activities #2

Here's another photo from the fashion show and then a photo from my morning class, which is a portion of a Dadaist exhibit that we created.

Student Activities

Here are some photos from my course #2 (Say What?!?) fashion show. The students were given all of the lost and found items from last year's gov school plus some random supplies and had to work in teams to create a line of clothing that conveyed a theme that Sarah & I provided. The students ran the show - from organizing the runway and designing the layout of the black box theater to choosing music and an emcee. The themes were Hope, Power, Good versus Evil, and Happiness. You can see some of those themes in these photos.
The AC broke the morning of our show, which happened to fall on Teacher Rec Day (where specially invited instructors shadow their students) so it was literally hotter inside than outside.

University of Richmond

Free time here at the Governor's School is *v e r y l i t t l e* but I managed to get out and take a few photos several days ago. The first is the castle where I live. I also teach my afternoon class here. The second photo is the music building where all of our evening guest performances are held. The third photo is of the "secret garden" that is outside of my room. It turns out that I have one of the few basement rooms where the windows don't look out on concrete supports. My room is to the left of the garden in the photo.
Its difficult to capture how incredibly beautiful this campus is. I tried to take more photos but I can't quite get wide-enough views. Everything is amazing!

Funky Clavi

By a strange twist of fate, I bought a clavichord yesterday. A neighbor who is moving invited me over to look at some old piano music she wanted to get rid of, and while I was there she mentioned she also had a piano and a clavichord for sale. It was a great price, so I bought it. The clavichord is a precursory instrument to the piano and was popular in the Renaissance, Baroque, and classical eras, but gave way to the more versatile piano. It is similar to the harpsichord and virginal. Sound is produced by striking the strings with metal tangents and it is a very quiet instrument intended for chamber music.