Awaiting His Queen
English Captain John Smith, scanning the James River from Jamestown Island, Virginia, as he anticipates the arrival of his long awaited Queen Elizabeth. She will be coming on May 2, 2007.
Legend of the Dogwood
Dogwood blossoms on a dogwood tree that I planted about three years ago. It gets more beautiful with each season. Dogwood is both the state flower and state tree of Virginia, although it is the white wild dogwood. There are natural wild dogwoods here that are pink too, however they are a much lighter colored pink and not seen as frequently as are the white dogwoods
There is a lovely legend associated with the dogwood tree. The dogwood’s blossoms are in the form of a cross — two long petals and two short petals. At the outer edge of each petal there are rust-stained and blood-stained nail prints and in the center of each blossom is a crown of thorns. This came about at the dogwood tree’s great grief and distress at being used to make the timbers of Christ’s cross. Thenceforth, in the Springtime, it reminds all who see this to remember
In Jesus’ time, the dogwood grew
To a stately size and a lovely hue.‘Twas strong & firm it’s branches interwoven
For the cross of Christ its timbers were chosen.Seeing the distress at this use of their wood
Christ made a promise which still holds good:“Never again shall the dogwood grow
Large enough to be used soSlender & twisted, it shall be
With blossoms like the cross for all to see.As blood stains the petals marked in brown
The blossom’s center wears a thorny crown.All who see it will remember me
Crucified on a cross from the dogwood tree.Cherished and protected this tree shall be
A reminder to all of my agony.” ~~Anonymous
Flowers of a Virginia Forest
These are actually broken stems that I gathered from my woodland garden after a windstorm. The wounded blossoms resulted in a cheerful display.
once a snowflake fell
on my brow and i loved
it so much and i kissed
it and it was happy and called its cousins
and brothers and a web
of snow engulfed me then
i reached to love them all
and i squeezed them and they became
a spring rain and i stood perfectly
still and was a flower.~~Nikki Giovanni
Nikki Giovanni is a celebrated poet who has been a University Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech since 1987. She is a dynamic speaker and it was she who delivered the powerful and passionate memorial ceremony’s closing speech. The above poem by Giovanni is entitled “Winter Poem.”
Visit Neddy’s Archives, for more of Neddy.
Save To: 
The image, Virginia Flowers, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from Neddy’s 
.
Marine Corps Museum
The roof of the new National US Marine Corps Museum at Quantico, Virginia has created quite a landscape for travellers along the I-95 corridor in Northern Virginia. I shot this image from a moving car window while heading northward on I-95 during an April Nor’easter. The focal point of the museum building is this soaring, 210-foot tilted mast atop a 160-foot glass atrium. The architectural design was inspired by the famous Iwo Jima flag raising of World War II, as was the famous U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial, farther north in Rosslyn, Virginia.
The “first” birth of the USMC came about on November 10, 1775, when the Continental Congress raised “two battalions of ‘Continental’ Marines” to be used as landing forces with the fleet. These early Marines served on land and sea, and distinguished themselves in battles and operations. Their first amphibious raid on foreign soil occurred in the Bahamas in March of 1776. Believe or not, when the 1783 Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War, Congress saw no further use for the Continental Navy nor Marines and sold the Navy’s ships and disbanded both arms of military service.
Visit Neddy’s Choice, for Neddy’s shopping recommendations.
Save To:
The image, Marine Corps Museum, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from Neddy’s .
Remember the Cross
Remember the Cross on which Jesus died. Remember the Promise of Resurrection.
Easter Remembered at Laurel Grove Church Ruins, from my Picasa Albums:
“Laurel Grove, Virginia“.
Save To:
The image, Promise of Resurrection, is subject to copyright by barneykin. It is posted here with permission via the Flickr API by barneykin.
Train 53 Southbound
“… the engineers don’t wave from the trains anymore
Not the way they did back in 1954
“They’ve all got computers and diesels and things
And the engineers don’t wave from the trains any more
No the engineers don’t wave from the trains.”
“There’s more important things that’s changing our world
Engineers forgot about us little boys and girls
But I still get a far-away look in my eye
When I see an old train rushing by. ” (Blue Grass Song)
AmTrak Train 53 Southbound, travelling through Lorton, Virginia beginning its journey of 855 miles from to Sanford, Florida, non-stop, carrying passengers and their vehicles.
Visit Neddy’s Choice, for Neddy’s shopping recommendations.
Save To:
The image, Lorton Train, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from Neddy’s .
Old Brick Church on the James
Jamestown Island Brick Church on the James River, from “My Picasa Album” – Jamestown Island.
The present church was built in 1907, by the National Society of Colonial Dames of America. The Church stands behind a brick tower which was erected circa 1690, and is the only surviving seventeenth-century structure at Jamestown. It is also one of the oldest English buildings in the United States. The interior of the Church contains the brick and cobblestone foundations of the original 1639 Jamestown settlement church. The James River flows beside the site. It is at this sacred place that America’s most cherished traditions of freedom were first planted. They took root well.
Visit Neddy’s Choice, for Neddy’s shopping recommendations.
Save To:
The image, Old Brick Church on the James, was originally uploaded by barneykin. It is posted here from Neddy’s .
Neddy's Wondrous World 