Gratitude Challenge

Kwizgiver has started a gratitude challenge. I like the idea so I will give it a try. As she states, "The Non-Challenge Gratitude Challenge. This isn't about being perfect. There are no points, no "failing" if you miss a day, and no pressure to perform. It’s just a gentle nudge to look around. I’ll be posting prompts here on the blog, and I’d love for you to join me in the comments--but only if you feel like sharing."

And that's her picture from her blog. I swiped it.

The Prompt: One thing you can hear, and one thing you can touch.

I can hear the rumble of thunder in the distance, even over the sound of the air conditioner. Yes, the air conditioner is running here because it is in the 80s in early April. It should not be that warm, but I accept that I do not run the weather department of the world. I am grateful for the rain (if it comes) and grateful for the air conditioning. I'm also grateful for my ears!

I can touch my glass of water. This is incredibly mundane, but I drink lots of water every day, almost a gallon. The glass gets me out of my chair, and I make many trips to the kitchen for refills (and then to the ladies' room because, well, lots of water). That mundane glass of water gets me up off of my butt and onto my feet at least hourly.

Thursday Thirteen: Space Edition

Last night around 6:35 p.m., Artemis II blasted off into space, taking with it four people who will orbit the moon.

It's a feat not attempted in over 50 years.

So here are some space facts to acknowledge this mighty and exciting adventure.

1. Artemis II will be the first crewed mission to leave low‑Earth orbit since 1972. Low‑Earth orbit (LEO) is the zone close to Earth where the International Space Station circles. Humans haven’t gone beyond it since Apollo 17 launched on December 7, 1972, and returned on December 19, 1972.

2. The crew will ride inside the Orion spacecraft. Orion is NASA’s new human‑rated capsule. It’s the part that holds the astronauts, keeps them alive, and brings them home. Artemis I flew it without people; Artemis II is the first time it carries a crew.

3. The rocket that launches Orion is called the Space Launch System (SLS). SLS is NASA’s heavy‑lift rocket. Think of it as the muscle that gets Orion off Earth. Once its job is done, it falls away and Orion continues the journey.

4. Orion’s heat shield is the largest ever built for a human spacecraft. It has to survive re‑entry from lunar speeds, which are about 25,000 mph. That's far faster than anything returning from low‑Earth orbit.

 

5. The Moon is slowly drifting away from Earth. About 1.5 inches per year. Over millions of years, that adds up to real distance. 

6. NASA’s Deep Space Network can hear signals weaker than a refrigerator light bulb from billions of miles away. Three giant antenna complexes, one each in California, Spain, and Australia, keep spacecraft talking to Earth long after they’re tiny specks in the dark.

7. The International Space Station orbits Earth every 90 minutes. Astronauts see 16 sunrises and sunsets a day. Their internal clocks do the best they can.

8. Voyager 1 is so far away that its radio signal takes more than 22 hours to reach Earth. And it’s still sending back data, albeit slowly, faintly, and stubbornly.

9. The Moon has moonquakes. Some come from tidal forces, some from meteor impacts, and some from the lunar surface expanding and contracting as it heats and cools.

10. A spacesuit is basically a one‑person spacecraft. It controls pressure, temperature, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and waste. It’s life support wrapped around a human body.

11. Artemis aims to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon. This is a deliberate shift in who gets written into exploration history.

12. Earth’s atmosphere is astonishingly thin. If Earth were the size of an apple, the atmosphere would be about as thick as the skin. Everything we breathe and depend on is in that fragile layer.

13. Every footprint left on the Moon is still there. No wind, no rain, no erosion. There's just dust and time. They’ll remain for centuries, maybe longer.

_________________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 953rd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

What Will We Find?

This is a meme I don't do much. You can find it here.

I thought these were interesting questions.

1. What will we find on top of your refrigerator?

A. My husband, who is 6' tall, uses the top of the refrigerator as a storage place for his hat, his belt, and his suspenders when he comes in from his day. There is also a fly swatter up there and probably a lot of dust. I am 5' 1" tall and I can't reach the top of the fridge to clean it without climbing on a stool.

2. What will we find on your nightstand?

A. On my nightstand, you will find a box of tissues, medication, several small bottles of water, and a personal humidifier.

3. What is in your purse or handbag?

A. My pocketbook (that's what I call it, maybe it's a southern thing) contains tissues, my asthma inhaler, credit card, driver's license, Chapstick, and a pack of gum.

4. What will we find on your coffee table or side tables? How about your kitchen or dining table?

A. On my coffee table, you will find a wooden bowl made by my good friend Willie from the wild cherry tree we had in the back yard. I fill it with candy during Christmas but mostly it stays empty, although I noticed there is a single tiny little Mr. Goodbar in it. On the kitchen table, you will find place mats that have sunflowers on them, medication, cloth napkins, and the local newspaper.

Carvins Cove: A Lost Community Beneath the Water

With Virginia and the nation celebrating 250 years of freedom from England in 2026, I thought it might be fun to occasionally bring up some local history. At one time, Botetourt County stretched all the way to the Mississippi and into Wisconsin, which means my county's history is also the history of much of the nation.

Carvins Cove is being talked about a lot these days because a Google data center is locating at The Botetourt Center at Greenfield. This is an industrial park the county created in the 1990s and its purpose has changed several times over the last 30 years.

The data center is supposed to use up to 8 million gallons of water a day when the entire thing is built out.

We recently visited the Cove. As you can see in the photos below, the lake is down considerably, as indicated by the dirt at what should be the water line at full pond. We've been in a drought situation for over a year now.

However, there is more to the story of Carvins Cove than water usage. Right now, it's a water reservoir with a conservation forest area that locals treat as both landmark and backdrop. 

But beneath that calm surface lies the memory of an entire community: farms, a school, a church, a resort hotel, even an amusement park. All of it now rests under the water that supplies much of the Roanoke Valley.

This is the story of how that happened.

Before the Water: A Frontier Settlement

Carvins Cove began as a small early‑19th‑century settlement built around a grist mill on Carvins Creek. Its namesake, William Carvin, was one of the first settlers in the Hollins area and held a 150‑acre land grant along the creek.

By the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Cove had grown into a modest but lively rural community. Before its destruction, it included:

• Rocky Branch School

• Cove Alum Baptist Church

• Cove Alum Springs resort hotel

• Tuck‑Away Park, a small amusement park

• At least 60 homes

It was a place where Botetourt and Roanoke families lived, farmed, worshipped, and gathered. It was a quiet valley.

The First Rumblings of Change (1920s)

The community’s fate shifted in the early 1920s when the Virginia Water Company announced plans to build a dam to impound water in the area. By 1926, the company publicly confirmed the dam would be constructed at the falls of Carvins Creek.

An 80‑foot abutment was completed by 1928, but the reservoir itself remained unrealized for nearly two decades. The valley continued its daily life, even as the shadow of the future lake grew longer.

The Final Years of the Community (1940–1946)

Everything changed when the City of Roanoke acquired the Roanoke Water Company in 1942. With municipal backing, the reservoir project accelerated:

• The city began purchasing and condemning land throughout the Cove.

• On February 14, 1944, the last structures were auctioned off.

• In total, Roanoke acquired over 12,000 acres for about $1 million.

• In 1945, German POWs were brought in to help clear timber.

By May 1946, the reservoir filled and overtopped the dam, sealing the valley’s fate. The official dedication followed in March 1947.

What Lies Beneath

During drought years, the waterline drops enough that stone foundations and remnants of the old community reappear, ghostlike, along the shoreline.

Even when the water is high, hikers and riders sometimes notice old chimneys, walls, or roadbeds tucked into the woods. They are quiet reminders of what used to be there.

Carvins Cove Today: Water, Wilderness, and Memory

Today, Carvins Cove is:

• The primary water source for roughly 130,000 customers in the Roanoke Valley.

• One of the largest municipal parks in the United States (ranked between 2nd and 9th depending on the source).

• A major recreation area offering hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, paddling, and fishing.

It’s also fed in part by the Tinker Creek tunnel, opened in 1966, which diverts Botetourt water under Tinker Mountain into the reservoir.

Carvins Cove is no longer a village, but it is very much alive.

Why Carvins Cove Still Matters

Carvins Cove is a rare place where natural beauty, local history, and regional infrastructure intersect. For Botetourt County, it’s a reminder of:

• The early frontier families who shaped the region

• The sacrifices made for public water access

• The way landscapes hold memory, even when transformed

Standing on the shoreline today, it’s easy to forget that a community once lived beneath your feet. But the past is still there in the foundations that surface during drought, in the old photographs preserved by local families, and in the name “Carvin,” which still echoes across the valley.

Sources include the Western Virginia Water Authority; the City of Roanoke archives; the Roanoke Times historical coverage of the Carvins Cove project; the Botetourt County and Roanoke County historical societies; the Virginia Department of Historic Resources; and regional histories documenting the Cove Alum Springs resort, the early Carvin land grants, and the 1940s reservoir construction.

Sunday Stealing

Random Revelations

1. Is your phone Apple or Android? What about your laptop?

A. I have an iPhone. My laptop is a Dell, though not a very good one.

2. Can you say "thank you" in more than one language?

A. Gracias. 

3. What do you draw when you doodle?

A. I draw lines, doodles, loops, sometimes little people.

4. Which do you enjoy more, Scrabble or bowling?

A. Scrabble. I haven't been bowling in at least 35 years.

5. Can you juggle?

A. I cannot juggle, unless you are talking about multitasking. In that case, I juggle the laundry, a phone call, and a word processing program all at once sometimes.

6. Have you ever worn pajamas in public?

A. I do not recall ever wearing pajamas in public, except at the hospital when I had to walk up and down hallways with my little IV thing attached to me.

7. Was your best subject in school the one you enjoyed the most?

A. My best subject was always English, followed by history, and I enjoyed them both.

8. When you're offered the senior discount before you ask for it, are you offended or grateful?

A. I would love to have every senior discount available, but I am seldom offered them.

9. Do you agree that with age comes wisdom?

A. No, because I know some older folks who obviously never learned a thing.

10. Do you consider Sunday the first day of the week or the last day of the weekend? 

A. This is a good question. It has always puzzled me that Sunday is the first day of the week on the calendar but it's the day everyone goes to church, which is supposed to be the Sabbath. Monday always seemed like it should be the first day of the week to me.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Indian Lake

Saturday 9: Indian Lake (1968)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, a family gets on a bus and heads off on vacation. Think about the last trip you took. Did you travel by car, bus, train, boat, or plane?

A. The last trip I took was by car.

2) Once they get to Indian Lake, they swim, have a picnic and go canoeing. Are you looking forward to any of these activities this summer?

A. I am not looking forward to any of those activities this summer. 

3) "Indian Lake" became familiar to TV audiences because it was used in commercials for the Dodge Charger. In the 1960s, most households didn't have remote controls to enable viewers to mute or skip commercials. Today, we do. When a commercial comes on, do you watch or do you turn down the sound or, if possible, fast forward past it?

A. I thought commercials were the signal to get up and go to the ladies room. And some shows won't let you fast forward through commercials anymore when you're streaming.

4) The Cowsills were a family singing group who had four Top 10 hits between 1967 and 1969. The brothers were self-taught musicians who enjoyed playing at church and school events. When their father, Bud Cowsill, became their manager, he insisted his wife Barbara and their youngest, Susan, join the band. He wanted the Cowsills to become "a latter-day Von Trapp family." Without looking it up, do you know who the Von Trapps were?

A. The Von Trapps were the Austrian family immortalized in the movie The Sound of Music.

5) The Cowsills were the inspiration for the sitcom The Partridge Family. It ran for four seasons and the fictional Partridges had three Top 10 hits, were nominated for a Grammy and made David Cassidy a star. Are you familiar with The Partridge Family?

A. I am quite familiar with The Partridge Family. I thought David Cassidy was quite handsome, and I wished I were as subtly beautiful as Susan Dey.

6) The Cowsills starred in an advertising campaign for the American Dairy Association. On TV and in magazine ads they proclaimed that "Milk is the lift that lasts." Decades later, oldest brother Bill recalled that he seldom drank milk. How about you? Do you often drink milk?

A. I am allergic to milk, so I do not drink it.

7) While Bud Cowsill engineered the family band's success, he also contributed to their demise. The Cowsills were scheduled to appear 10 times on the influential Ed Sullivan Show but were fired after the second because Bud was too confrontational backstage. He also had a reputation for being abrasive with record company executives and concert promoters, and this affected the band's ability to find work. Do you have a hard time biting your tongue or controlling your temper?

A. I can have a temper sometimes. I try not to but am not always successful.

8) In 1968, when this song was popular, Leonard Bernstein released his award-winning recording of Mahler: Symphony No. 8. Do you enjoy classical music?

A. I like to listen to classical music sometimes.

9) Random question – Here we are in March. If you made any New Year's resolutions, have you kept them?

A. I did not make any New Year's resolutions.

_______________

I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

When the Reporters Are Gone: What We Missed About the Data Center

I’ve been watching the conversation about the proposed Google Data Center at the Botetourt Center at Greenfield, and I want to offer a perspective that comes from 40 years of covering local government in Botetourt County.

A lot of people are angry at the Board of Supervisors right now. I understand why. Nobody likes feeling blindsided. But the truth is more complicated, and it points to a deeper problem we don’t talk about enough.

1. The Board didn’t hide anything. The zoning change happened in November 2024. The county advertised a public hearing to amend the RAM zoning district to include data centers as a permitted use. That was the moment when this project became possible. It was public. It was legal. It was properly noticed.

I remember seeing the ad and thinking, “They’re preparing for a data center.” Anyone who understands zoning would have recognized it.

But most people don’t read legal ads, and most people don’t follow zoning language closely. Most people don't even read a newspaper anymore. That’s not a criticism. It’s just reality.

2. The public didn’t react because the public didn’t know what the change meant. And this is where the real issue comes in.

When I was still writing, I would have explained what a RAM district is, broken down what “permitted use” means, connected the dots between the amendment and the likely project, interviewed county staff about the RAM use change, and written the kind of article that helps people understand what’s coming before it arrives.

That’s what local journalism is supposed to do. That's what I used to do.

3. But we don’t have that kind of local journalism anymore. The paper today prints very little that could be called “news.” They avoid controversy. They don’t have the staff, the time, or the institutional memory to cover land use, budgets, or long‑range planning.

It’s not the media's fault entirely.  People stopped buying papers, stopped advertising, and the economics collapsed. I stopped working because I was ill, and the paper never replaced my position.

But the result is the same: the county lost its watchdog, its explainer, its translator, because no one stepped up to take on that role.

4. So now people feel blindsided. The Board did not hide anything, (though they could have been a bit more forthcoming). But the information ecosystem failed. Not just the local paper, but also the TV media, and the daily paper. The Botetourt Bee ceased publication in the summer of 2024, before this public hearing happened. And it ceased publication because some members of this county acted inappropriately.

But this data center is what happens when a community loses its reporters. Important decisions go unnoticed, legal ads become the only form of outreach, people don’t understand the process, outrage arrives months or years too late.

The data center isn’t just a land‑use story. It’s a story about what happens when local news disappears.

5. I live half a mile from the site. I raise cattle. I have my own concerns. I’m sensitive to low‑frequency noise, and I’m paying close attention to what this means for me, my land, and my herd. I’m not dismissing anyone’s worries.

But I also know how the process works, and I know this didn’t come out of nowhere.

6. If we want better outcomes in the future, we need better information, not more anger. Communities can’t make informed decisions if they don’t have access to informed reporting. That’s the real loss here, and it’s one we’re all feeling now.

Watch the news. Buy the local paper, the weekly and the daily. Support local journalism if you want to be informed.

Communities need their watchdogs.

Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen Reasons Physical Therapy Can Be Helpful

1. It teaches you how your body actually works. It's a marvelous miracle, full of mechanics and patterns, and there are habits you didn’t know you had that affect many things.

2. It builds strength in the places that quietly hold everything together, not just the obvious muscles.

3. It helps restore movement you didn’t realize you’d lost. Small changes in range of motion can make a big difference and make daily life easier.

4. It gives you tools to manage discomfort, not just endure it.

5. It helps you relearn trust in the part of your body that’s been hurting, which is its own kind of healing.

6. It breaks big problems into small, doable steps. Being able to do something with a body part that wasn't working properly can be a relief when reaching for the peanut butter feels overwhelming.

7. It encourages consistency over intensity, a rhythm that often fits real life better.

8. It helps correct imbalances that build up over years, the ones you only notice when something finally complains.

9. It supports recovery after injuries or surgeries by guiding movement safely and gradually.

10. It improves stability and balance, which can give you confidence to do everyday tasks.

11. It helps prevent future issues by strengthening weak spots before they become problems.

12. It offers a structured space to pay attention to your body, something most of us rarely do.

13. It reminds you that healing is active, not passive. It is something you participate in, not wait for.

_________________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 952nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Sunday Stealing

 

Have You Ever ...

1) Skipped school?

A. Yes. I used to skip 6th period, which was band class, where I played the flute. My other band, the one where I played guitar in joints on the weekends, the five of us skipped school one day and went together to see The Rose at the theater. We all came out crying, even the guys.

 

2) Lettered in a school sport?

A. I lettered in band, which is not exactly a sport, and I was a member of the National Honor Society.

 

3) Made a prank phone call?

A. Of course, but that was like, 55 years ago.

 

4) Paid for a meal with coins?

A. Maybe when I was young. We still pay with cash at restaurants, so we don't eat at restaurants that don't take cash. I won't let my credit card out of my sight, and the wait staff always want to walk off with them.

5) Laughed until some sort of beverage came out of your nose?

A. I think I have done that, yes, but I can't recall when. Or what beverage, although it was probably either a Dr. Pepper or a Diet Coke.

 Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

__________

I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: London Town

Saturday 9: London Town (1978)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Have you ever visited London?

A. Only in my dreams. Oh, wait, the plane I was on when I went to Spain landed in Heathrow, and we had to switch planes to get to Spain. So, I guess I have been there. Sort of.

2) In this song, Paul sings of encountering a London street musician playing the flute. Are there street musicians in your town?

A. I do not know of any street musicians where I live, since I live in a rural area. There may be some in the nearest city, but I've never seen them in the news.

3) It's raining as he wanders around London. How is the weather where you are today?

A. Today is warm and partly cloudy.

4) "London Town" is one of a handful of songs credited to Paul McCartney and Denny Laine, his bandmate in Wings from 1971 to 1981. They became fast friends in the mid-60s when Denny was with The Moody Blues, the band who opened for The Beatles on their final UK concert tour. Paul has acknowledged Denny's outstanding vocals and guitar playing, as well as his humor and generosity. Share the good qualities of one of your close friends.

A. One of my close friends is a terrific artist and she enjoys sharing her talent with others.

5) Wings broke up in 1981 when Paul decided he was weary of touring. His kids were in school, his Beatle bandmate John Lennon had been murdered, and he simply felt more comfortable staying put and working in the studio, rather than performing live. Denny believed this would mean his role, and his financial compensation, would diminish so he quit Wings. Tell us about why you left one of your jobs.

A. I left one of my jobs because of stress. Actually, except for my career as a freelance writer and one where I didn't get a raise that I thought I should have gotten, stress is the reason I left all of my jobs.

6) Linda McCartney also wrote and performed with Wings. In addition to music, she is known for her photography and cookbooks. Of these three – music, photography and cooking – which do you enjoy most?

A. I enjoy music and photography. I am not a cook.

7) Paul's first car was a 1964 Aston Martin DB5. He selected it himself before The Beatles went off on their first world tour and it was waiting for him when he got home to London. He drove it when he shouldn't have, as he didn't get his license until spring of 1965. When did you get your driver's license?

A. I got my driver's license when I was 16. 

8) Speaking of driver's licenses ... Last year someone bought one of Paul's expired driver's licenses at auction for $20,000. When you get a new license, passport, or state issued ID, what do you do with the old one?

A. Given the way things are today, they would be a trail of documentation that I have existed and been a citizen for 62 years. I probably should have kept them. 

9) Random question – Which do you have more of: dirty dishes in the sink or dirty clothes in the hamper?

A. Clothes in the hamper.

_______________

I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

Thursday Thirteen

Things that happened on March 19:

1. In 1687, La Salle was killed. René‑Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, was a French explorer who claimed the Mississippi River basin for France and named it Louisiana. On his final expedition, after missing the river’s mouth by hundreds of miles, his exhausted and starving men mutinied and shot him. His death marked the collapse of France’s most ambitious North American colonial dream.

2. In 1815, The Battle of New Orleans officially ended. However, the War of 1812 was already over on paper, as the Treaty of Ghent had been signed months earlier. News traveled slowly. Andrew Jackson’s ragtag force of regulars, militia, free Black soldiers, and Jean Lafitte’s pirates defeated the British anyway. The victory turned Jackson into a national hero and reshaped American identity, even though it changed nothing diplomatically.

3. In 1831, the first U.S. bank heist occurred when thieves broke into City Bank on Wall Street and stole $245,000. It was an astronomical sum at the time. Most of the money was recovered, but the heist exposed how quickly the young nation’s financial system was growing, and how unprepared it was for modern crime.

4. In 1863, The SS Georgiana sank. This state‑of‑the‑art Confederate cruiser, loaded with munitions and medicines, attempted to slip through the Union blockade. She ran aground and was destroyed on her maiden voyage. The wreck, found exactly 102 years later, became a touchstone for Civil War maritime archaeology.

5. In 1865, The Battle of Bentonville began. This was one of the last major battles of the Civil War, fought in North Carolina as Confederate General Joseph Johnston tried - and failed - to halt Sherman’s march. It was a final, desperate attempt to slow the inevitable end of the Confederacy.

6. In 1918, the U.S. standardized time zones and adopted Daylight Saving Time. What began as a wartime energy‑saving measure became a permanent reshaping of American timekeeping. Railroads had pushed for standardization for decades; Congress finally made it law.

7. In 1920, the U.S. Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles again. President Wilson wanted the U.S. to join the League of Nations. The Senate refused - twice - choosing isolation over internationalism. The decision shaped American foreign policy for the next two decades and arguably helped set the stage for World War II.

8. In 1931, Nevada legalized gambling. In the depths of the Great Depression, Nevada took a gamble of its own. Legalizing casinos was meant to boost the economy; instead, it transformed the state’s identity and eventually created Las Vegas as a global symbol of spectacle and excess.

9. In 1941, The Tuskegee Airmen’s 99th Pursuit Squadron was activated. The first Black military aviators in U.S. history began their service under segregation, scrutiny, and doubt. Their combat record in WWII helped dismantle racist assumptions within the military and paved the way for desegregation in 1948.

10. In 1962, Bob Dylan’s debut album was released. The album was mostly traditional folk songs, recorded quickly and cheaply. It barely sold. But it introduced a voice that would reshape American music, politics, and protest culture within just a few years.

11. In 1979, the U.S. House began formal consideration of the ERA extension. Congress had already passed the Equal Rights Amendment in 1972, but not enough states ratified it by the deadline. In 1979, lawmakers debated extending the deadline to 1982. It still fell short. Where it stands now: Nevada (2017), Illinois (2018), and Virginia (2020) eventually ratified it, reaching the required 38 states. Legal and procedural disputes mean the ERA remains unrecognized at the federal level.

12. In 1991, NFL owners stripped Phoenix of the 1993 Super Bowl. Arizona voters had refused to establish Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a state holiday. The NFL responded by pulling the Super Bowl, a rare moment when a sports league took a public stand on civil rights. Arizona reversed course in 1992.

13. In 2003, The Iraq War began. The U.S. launched airstrikes on Baghdad, beginning a war justified by claims that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. Those weapons were never found. The conflict reshaped U.S. foreign policy, destabilized the region, and continues to influence global politics and veterans’ lives today.

Sources include the National Archives, the U.S. Senate Historical Office, the National Park Service, Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Nevada State Museum, the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site, and contemporary reporting from the New York Times and BBC News.

_________________

Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 951st time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Botetourt and the Civil War

With Virginia and the nation celebrating 250 years of freedom from England in 2026, I thought it might be fun to occasionally bring up some local history. At one time, Botetourt County stretched all the way to the Mississippi and into Wisconsin, which means my county's history is also the history of much of the nation.

Botetourt County of course has multiple connections to the American Civil War, or the War Between the States, as it is sometimes called. The war took place from 1861 to 1865.

Buchanan, one of our towns, was raided by Union General David Hunter, during what is known as "Hunter's Raid."

Photo courtesy of buchanan-va.gov

Hunter's Raid began on June 5, 1864, with the Battle of Piedmont. He proceeded to Staunton, a city about an hour and a half away today by Interstate 81, burning government buildings and supplies as he went. 

In Harry Fulwiler, Jr.’s book, Buchanan, Virginia: Gateway to the South, the author records the events.  Hunter’s report:

“June 13:  While awaiting news from Duffie, on the 13^th I sent Averell forward to Buchanan with orders to drive McCausland out of the way and, if possible, secure the bridge over the James River at that place.”

In an August 8 report on the June events: “On the morning of the 14^th I moved with my whole command toward Buchanan, and on arriving there found it occupied by Averell. He had driven McCausland sharply from the place, capturing some prisoners and a number of canal barges laden with stores, but had not succeeded in saving the bridge.  As there was a convenient and accessible ford at hand the advance of the army was not retarded by its loss. In view of this fact and of the damage incurred to private property the inhabitants of the village protested against the burning of the bridge, but McCausland, with his characteristic recklessness, persisted in the needless destruction, involving eleven private dwellings in the conflagration. The further progress of this needless devastation was stopped by the friendly efforts of our troops, who extinguished the flames.

On the 15^th I moved from Buchanan.”

Fulwiler also records the memories of Jane Boyd, who witnessed the Confederate burning of the bridge and the subsequent occupation by the Yankees: “General McCausland sent his men across the bridge, and then had the bridge filled with baled hay … and fired. The bridge was an old fashioned covered wooden bridge, and the flames spread rapidly. … The burning of the bridge set fire to the town, and as many, perhaps, as thirty buildings were destroyed. The scene was terrific, and many people were made homeless. General McCausland formed his line of battle just at the foot of Oak Hill, my old home, and the enemy’s line was on the opposite side of James River, near the foot of Purgatory Mountain.” The report goes on to talk about how General Averil’s men put out the fire, but looted as they did so, downing many decanters of fine old wines. Boyd says there were 30,000 men camped around Buchanan and surrounding areas. Mount Joy burned, the Jones’ foundry, a storehouse, and many other buildings.

Hunter took his men away from Buchanan via the Peaks of Otter, to Bedford. The raid ended at the Battle of Lynchburg on June 17-18, 1864, where Confederate General Jubal Early defeated the Union forces.

Following the Union defeat, Confederates forces pursued Union forces back through Bedford, then to Salem where they fought again at the Battle of Hanging Rock.

While that raid wasn't quite all of Botetourt's contributions to the Confederate side of that terrible war, it was certainly devastating to that part of the county.

Nearly forty years after the war ended, Botetourt residents memorialized their Confederate soldiers with a monument at the county courthouse in Fincastle.

The Confederate Monument is on the right-hand side of the photo. This courthouse has been
torn down and the monument has been relocated.

The Botetourt Monument Association put up the monument, which is in the shape of an obelisk. The family of Buchanan’s most famous author, Mary Johnston, was instrumental in placing the monument in Fincastle. Johnston also had a hand in the dedication of a monument in Vicksburg National Park in 1907 celebrating the Botetourt Artillery’s efforts in that famous Civil War battle.

According to news reports of the October 27, 1904 dedication in Fincastle, Major John Johnston and Eloise Johnson, Mary Johnston’s father and sister, attended the unveiling.  Eloise Johnston apparently was the chief sponsor of the monument; Judge William B. Simmons and John Johnston were “untiring” fundraisers for the project.

The newspaper called this “the greatest day in the history of the peaceful little city. Thousands of people gathered there to witness the unveiling of the beautiful monument erected in honor of the Confederate dead of Botetourt County.”

The writer reported that John Johnston and Attorney General William A. Anderson, both Botetourt County natives, made eloquent addresses.

Eloise Johnston and “a staff of twelve young ladies, representing the twelve volunteer companies that went into the Confederate army from Botetourt county,” unveiled the monument, “a model of beauty and excellence.”

While the monument at the county courthouse is not unique, the inscriptions are a little different in that they recognize the services of women in helping the soldiers during the war.

One side of the monument reads, “To the women of Botetourt in remembrance of their constant encouragement, steadfast devotion, tender in ministrations and unfailing providence and care, during the war and in the dark reconstruction years.”

The statue commemorates, “the deeds and services of the twelve volunteer companies … that went to the war from Botetourt County.” It is “in memory of our brave and loyal officers and enlisted men who were killed in battle and who died from wounds and disease, during the war, and of our faithful comrades who have died since the war.”

The twelve volunteer companies from Botetourt County participating in the Civil War and listed on the monument are:

The Fincastle Rifles, Co. D. 11 Rec't. VA. Infantry.

The Botetourt Dracoons, Co. C. 2 Rec't. VA Cavalry.

The Mountain Rifles, Co. H. 28 Rec't. VA Infantry.

Anderson's Battery - The Botetourt Artillery.

The Roaring-Run Company, Co. K. II, Rec't. VA. Infantry.

The Botetourt Guards, Co. I. 57 Rec't. VA Infantry.

The Osceola Guards, Co. K 60 Rec't. VA. Infantry.

The Blue Ridge Rifles, Co. A. 28 Rec't. VA Infantry.

The Botetourt Springs Company, Co. E 28 Rec't. VA Infantry.

The Breckenridge Infantry, Co. K. 28 Rec't. VA. Infantry.

The Botetourt Heavy Artillery, Co. C. 20, Bat'N. VA. H'vy. Art'y.

The Botetourt Senior Reserves, Co. -- 4, Rec't. VA. Reserves.

The Botetourt Junior Reserves, Co. E.2, Bat'N. VA Reserves.

The monument has been moved from its original location at the front of the Botetourt County Courthouse in Fincastle and is now in a monument park the county is constructing as part of the new courthouse building project.

There is a similar obelisk monument in the Town of Buchanan.

 

Perspective

Just the smallest shift can change your perspective.

Recently I decided to move my computer a little. My computer, once squarely in front of the window, is now off to the side.

I have a different view from the same window.

Before the move, I looked straight into a small glen, a part of the cattle pasture. Brush and pine trees frame the space, and daily I’d watch the deer pass back and forth, from brush to pine, their noses to the ground eating grass as they went.

I don’t see that anymore. Now I see a grove of oak trees, and the fields stretching out towards the two-lane road that runs by my house. I see the cedar trees growing tall, majestic and larger every year. And I see a rose bush, presently leafless and dead-looking, though with this warm weather it’s liable to bud just any time.

Each day I watch the view out my window.

Some mornings loom gray and ugly, the clouds and dark sky proclaiming a rainy, windy day. Other mornings, the dustiness of night is suddenly brushed away by pink as the sun rises behind me. 

Time passes, the shadows change, the daylight flicks over the house, the eaves of the roof afford shade or not. In evening the sun shines golden over the mountains I love so much. The rays reflect the browns of the tree branches, the yellows of the hibernating grasses.

I see squirrels, groundhogs, an occasional fox, the deer I may as well call my pets. The cattle, too, meander past. Sometimes I stop working to watch the calves kick up their heels, running delightedly up and down the hillside.

I envy those calves (until I remember their ultimate future).

If I raise my window, I also change my perspective. Suddenly, instead of the quiet of my house, I hear traffic. Momma cows call to little ones. Crows caw. A horn blasts in the distance, maybe a siren.  Things are happening all around me, even if I can’t see them.

In the mornings, I sometimes drink my hot tea over the kitchen sink so I can watch the sun rise. Today it was brilliant pink, splashed in between clouds. The dark skyline of nude trees seemed to reach up to grab the light, so breathtaking was the magnificence of the day.

It's just March. There is still time to think of this as a new year, time to seek out new perspectives, new windows, new light.  Do we bask in the sunrise, or rejoice in the sunset? Should we keep the same viewpoint and never bother to change our minds? Do we stick with the tried and true and never see the critters roaming just a stone’s throw away?

I opt to look. Even the fat, lumbering groundhog is too cute to miss.

Maybe it's time for a new perspective. Not the grand, resolution-style overhaul we promise ourselves every January and abandon by February. Maybe we need just a small shift, the way moving a computer a few inches can open up an entirely different world outside the same window. Listen a little longer before you speak. Let someone finish their sentence before you're already forming your reply.

Sometimes the most important thing a person says comes at the very end, quiet and almost offhand, and you'd have missed it entirely if you'd stopped listening too soon.

The new view doesn't have to be dramatic. It might be a different road home, an unfamiliar store, a hand held when you'd normally just walk side by side. It might be three small words said out loud to someone who already knows you mean them.

Look out the window every once in a while. You never know what's passing by.

*A version of this ran in The Fincastle Herald in 2005. It's been revised.*

Sunday Stealing

Thursday Thunks

1. It's the middle of the night. There isn't another car in sight. You're stuck at a red light that just won't change. How long do wait until you run it?

A. Probably not very long, although with my luck there would be a police car with no lights on it hiding behind a bush somewhere.

2. What's your favorite recipe?

A. Anything I don't have to cook. Otherwise, I suppose it's my grandmother's recipe for what she called Chocolate Lush.

3. When did you last ask yourself, "What the hell was I thinking?"

A. Every day. I ask myself that every day.

4. Have you ever had a mole removed? If yes, where on your body was it?

A. I had a huge mole removed from my chest when I was five years old. I was born with it and it covered most of my chest. It was shaped like a bullet and had white spots in it. I have been told it was precancerous so that is why they removed it. I have a huge scar on my chest in between my breasts where they cut it out. When I was in school, I used to tell my gym teachers I couldn't take gym because I'd had heart surgery and wasn't feeling well. If they argued with me, I would raise my shirt and show them the scar. It was hard to argue with a massive scar in the middle of my chest.

5. What website do you faithfully check (other than email)?

A. I do Wordle, I check Facebook once a day, and I play my Elvenar video game in my browser every day. I read the New York Times and The Roanoke Times online.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Four-Leaf Clover

Saturday 9: I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover (2001)

Selected in honor of St. Patrick's Day. 

Unfamiliar with this week's song? Hear it here.

1) This is one of the songs included in Willie Nelson's Rainbow Connection album. He named it after his daughter Amy's favorite song when she was a little girl. She'd been asking him to record "The Rainbow Connection" for 20 years and finally, in 2001, he came through for her. Think of something you had to wait for. Was it worth the wait?

A. I knew two months after we met that I would marry my then-boyfriend, but it took him another seven months to come around and propose. He was definitely worth the wait!

2) Willie can trace his family tree back to the Revolutionary War. Are you interested in genealogy?

A. I can trace my family tree back to the Revolutionary War, too. I have always had an interest in genealogy but it's something I hope to pick up again at some point.

3) Today Willie is legendary performer, but as a child, he was very uncomfortable in front of crowds. He recalled that during his school days, reciting in front of his class made him so uncomfortable he suffered nose bleeds. When did you most recently have a bloody nose?

A. I don't generally get a bloody nose. I can't recall when I last had one.

4) During the 1990s, Willie had problems with the IRS. His management team set up illegal tax shelters, and he ended up owing millions in back taxes and penalties. This year's IRS filing deadline is Wednesday, April 15. Will you be early, on time, or will you need an extension?

A. I have my taxes for 2025 taken care of.

5) In "I'm Looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover," Willie sings about appreciating something he has previously overlooked. Is there anything positive in your life you feel you may take for granted? 

A. I'm sure there are lots of things. Think about it: I have a roof over my head, food, a little extra spending money if I want to buy a book or something. I have electricity and water. I have a man who loves me. What else could a woman want, really?

6) Four leaf clovers and shamrocks are considered good luck. Do you have a lucky charm?

A. I do not have a lucky charm.

7) "The wearing o' the green" is one way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Will you wear something green in honor of the day?

A. I generally don't, but I will be going out that day so I will see if I can find something for the occasion. I don't want to get pinched.

8) According to Irish folklore, if you catch a leprechaun, he must either give you his pot o' gold or grant you three wishes. Would you choose the gold or the wishes?

A. I think I'd take the three wishes. With one, you could wish for gold if that's what you want. Although as fairy tales and legends generally point out, it is important to be careful what you wish for and how you word the wish.

   

9) Traditional Irish stew is made with mutton or lamb, though here in the US beef is also very popular. What's your favorite soup/stew?

A. I'm afraid I'm a very boring soup eater. I just like chicken soup.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.