I will never forget the last two days as long as I live.

Yesterday was one of those surreal experiences most people never even experience, thankfully. It started out when I got to the gym and the news was tuned in on the locker room TVs. It started out with reports of one fatality and several injuries in a Virginia Tech shooting. But by the time I had finished swimming laps, there were over 30 people dead and numerous injuries in what turned out to be the deadliest shooting ever in the history of the United States. A shocking event that had stunned the country.

Yesterday I pretty much stayed glued to the TV and decided to go to Blacksburg today to see the campus and try to reconcile some of this so that it felt at least somewhat real.

I got to Blacksburg at about 8:30 am and came in on the Prices Fork exit, passing by the new Alumni Center which had turned into a sea of news satellite uplink dishes.

I proceeded downtown which was eerily deserted, then parked near Mike’s Grille and began to walk toward campus. When I got to Squires, there was the first indication of what had happened…a black poster with white lettering on the doors…..

On to the War Memorial which overlooked a near deserted Drill Field, a place which would normally be full of people crossing to classes at this time of the morning.

As the day progressed, I wandered about a campus that was deserted by students and filled with assorted media reps from all over the world. They were all looking for their story and apparently there was not much success to be had as the students who were milling about were reluctant to talk.

I spent a lot of time photographing those places that are so familiar to me. But today, they were just different. There was a feeling of sadness that dripped from the air, a stark contrast in mood to the backdrop of a beautiful sunny spring day complete with the usual Blacksburg wind whipped up by the tail of an almost passed Nor’easter. That storm had actually made the task of saving the lives of the most severely injured that much more difficult as it precluded the use of Lifeguard 10 to transport them to Roanoke.

I was photographing the lobby of Burrus Hall, trying to capture the two half staff flags framed by the front doors, when a figure quickly appeared in the viewfinder and rushed through the door. It wasn’t until I had taken the shot and looked up that I realized it was President Steger on his way to his office to begin what was likely the most difficult day of his career. I realized that I had captured Dr. Steger in one of the sequence shots. I always take sequences of flag shots because it is difficult to capture the best moment of their unfurl.

Later, as I was shooting the breezeway that tunnels through Burrus Hall from the exterior sidewalks, Dr. Steger left the building on his way to a meeting in Williams Hall and I got this shot. I just can’t help but think how alone he looks here. He’s did a great job yesterday answering reporters questions at the news conference, making it apparent that he is an accomplished leader.

The rest of these shots speak for themselves for the most part. As I finished up near the VT memorial set up for last night’s candlelight vigil, I signed the memorial and took this picture of it..

Afterwards, I got three requests to be interviewed by reporters who had apparently taken footage of me signing the memorial. Answering their questions really brought home what all this had meant to me. It has been a sad, sad two days and I’m pretty sure I will think about this everyday for a while.

This campus will never be the same.

Norris Hall is in the far background….Burrus Hall is to the far left…

NY was freakin’ COLD!

Got to Brooklyn late Friday night and hung out there until Monday.

Saturday we walked around the nabe and over the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan for a little shopping. The wind on the bridge was bodacious!

Went to the new Home Depot in midtown and that was pretty cool. Not like the Home Depot in the nabe here….no big aisles with sheetrock and lumber, but a nice assortment of things every Gotham resident could possible want to fix up their $3 million dollar one bedroom condo.

Chip made an awesome (as usual) Swedish Easter dinner. He even did the whole Easter Egg thing with contest (my egg didn’t even come in the money) which was a blast from the past. Remember the PAAS kits????

Jim’s Hokie Egg…….

My Charlie Brown Easter Egg…..figures with that theme it would be a loser…

James finally uses his horticulture degree to repot Chip’s plants….

My only shots of the city (incl view of the Empire State Building out Chip’s back window) as I boycotted due to the cold….just had my heart set on going to Central Park for a few hours…oh well…

We left the city Monday to head to Chris and Joey’s house where I continued my camera boycot and just kicked back. Great new house they built with their own bare hands. I’ll get some pix next time I’m there. The diorama with the bobcat Joey killed makes a great backdrop for the bar and excellent photo potential.

The Empire State museum in Albany was really worth the trip. They have an excellent WTC exhibit with many many artifacts from 9/11 including pieces of structural steel salvaged from the WTC.

Went to see Rent at the renovated Proctor’s Theater. They have done an AWESOME job with downtownn Schenectedy and the folk there have a lot to be proud of. The theater is beautiful and a living monument to times when theaters were truly grand pieces of architecture.

The brewery visit was great. Ommegang make D-licious Belgian Ales and the tour was D-licious, too. Especially the sampling at the end! We tooled around and had lunch in Cooperstown but didn’t make it to the Hall of Fame or the museum as planned. Just ran out of time. Will have to go back as Cooperstown is cool as all get out. Lots to do there and beautiful.

Actually had a snowstorm the next day and made it up to camp to check things out. The lake was still down for the winter and high snow drifts up against the woods. Really was sorry I didn’t bring my camera as the place was beautiful with all the new snow.

Left the day after that while it was still snowing. Got out just in time as a Noreaster was heading up the coast and promising even worse weather. No Thanks! It was sunny and beautiful when we got back to Roanoke late Friday. Yipppeee! Spring really IS here.

A GREAT trip and lots of good times with friends and family.

I absolutely cannot believe that I have soaked up all of this beautiful weather the past week here in Virginia only to bolt to the land of the cold, cold north for a week!

Yes, fool that I am, we’re heading to New York for a romp in NYC friends Chip, Tommy and Dean ( take a look at their awesome film company Lucky Frog Films) where the weather channel is showing temperatures in the teens to thirties. How can THAT be!! Today….a mountain bike ride in Roanoke’s 80 degree spring weather and then tomorrow???? Freezing?????

Then off to Camp Dick at Broadalbin, NY to see what winter brings there and check on the old place. Camp, for the uninitiated southerner, is what northern folk call their summer cottage on the lake. It’s an endearing term, much better than “lake house” or “the lake”, and whenever I say it or hear it I think of summer, sunshine, family, friends and all kinds of fun and relaxation. Our camp is a great place where I try to spend a couple of weeks, usually around the 4th of July. The spectacular Great Sacandaga Lake is right at the front door. It is rented out the rest of the summer, but not again this year as the last tenant was booked just a month ago.

If you ever want to travel to some of the most beautiful country in the world and spend a week at a vintage 1932 Adiroandack NY lakefront camp (6 bedrooms and an oh so quaint wraparound front porch just 100+ feet from The Great Sacandaga Lake), then you need to check this out…here.

If you rent in August you can take a trip into Saratoga Springs for the flat track races and all there is to see there. Not that a trip into Saratoga isn’t totally worth it any other time of the year. Lots to see there. The natural springs located all over town are fun to try. The taste of the water at each one varies from deliciously fresh to mineral laden swill (but swill that is rumored to be GREAT for your health). Maybe you could even catch a great concert at the SPAC.

From Broadalbin, we’ll trip down to Schenectady to visit the historic Proctor’s Theater where we’ll see a road production of Rent, and the go on a visit to historic Cooperstown where we’ll see the Farmers Museum and brewery Ommegangg.

Last but not least, I really needed to share some pix I took a while back at the car show here in Roanoke at the Civic Center. I had totally forgotten about them, but I love old cars, and really the people who like old cars are pretty cool, too.

So here is what I saw.

Hope I’ll have some good shots from the trip to share in a week or two.

Stepford Husbands????

This father was totally reaching into his pocket to buy the kid a car!!

What a great day to have a birthday! Everyone’s happy cause spring is in the air, playing April Fools on each other. Yep, an April Fools birthday has to rank right up there with the best.

Somehow, even though spring officially begins in March…April 1st just seems to be solid proof that spring really has arrived. Just the word April makes me think about getting out in the garden, and even the thought of mowing the grass is kind of exciting this time of the year. That won’t last long!

It’s also time to clean up around here and that is exactly what we did yesterday on Clean Valley Day in Roanoke. Gave Downtown Wasena a good pick up and admired all of the new trees that we planted last year along the exit from the bridge and the village center. The cherry trees were spectacular in their first year (sorry no picture) and it looks like the Chinese Elms are leafing out now, too. All of that August watering is paying off.

The night watchman at the Cheshire Gallery was keeping and eye on things..

And the window at the gallery is looking really nice, too…

Went to the VT UVA hockey game last night and unfourtunately we lost 3-1, but the second and third periods were hard fought.

Then downtown to Macadoos for a few beers with friends.

Today, it is my official birthday and I got some really cool stuff. Been wanting a Mint Julep cup to make my Mint Juleps a little more authentic. Got this awesome cup with my initials engraved in it. Can’t wait to use it!! Speaking of which, I noted the mint is leafing out as well so Mint Juleps on the porch are not too far off. Actually had a Mojito last night as discovered kind of late that all of the bourbon is gone…hmmm.

And I also got a copy of Eldest….

….the sequal to Eragon, which I am totally looking forward to reading. Picked up Eragon at Dulles last year just before leaving for Bangkok, hoping to read it on the trip. It started off kind of slow and I lost interest, so didn’t read much of it on the trip. But when I got back, I picked it up again and was I really glad that I did. It may start slow, but Eragon is definitely a page turner past the first 50 or so pages. Can’t wait to see the movie, too.

Well, out to the garden. Tomatoes are looking good…

….so better be ready to plant them. The garden needs A LOT of work right now. But hey….spring is here!