Virginia

Sunrise running

| edwinridout

Sunrises on the Pre-Hyperion run (the run before the 8am Saturday run from Hyperion Espresso):

Edwin, Jeff H, Cat N at Howison Hill, 6:57am 2/28/2026. Just a hint of a snowbank left over from early January.

Above, sunrise on Howison Hill, mile 4, 7:30am Sat Feb 14th: Edwin, John Ashburn, Cat Norvell.

Looking into the sunrise this time, mile 5, Feb 14th 2026, 7:40am, with the terraced National Cemetery behind us (Civil War, 15,000 Federal soldiers). Me, LJ, Cat, Jeff, John.

John A, Cat N, LJ D, LaTonya M, Edwin R, at Cossey Park 1/17/26. Photo by fisherman Steve (?).
Dec 27th in Pratt Park about 7:40am: Edwin R, John A, LJ D, Cat N.
Departing Lee Drive about 7:15am, Dec 20th: Edwin R, John A, Jeff H, LJ D.
Photo by Karen on the UMW Shell Path about 7am, 10/18/2025: Karen H, LJ D, Edwin R, Brian M.

Below, from Ingleside Drive, 7:15am, October 4th. Running with tall people: LJ Darcy, Jeff Haber, and me, with Falmouth Bridge in the distance.

Below, from Ingleside Drive, 7:05am, Sept 13th, also showing Falmouth Bridge.

Below, Sept 13th, Ingleside Drive

Below, Sept 6th, Fredericksburg National Cemetery:

Below, August 30, UMW athletic fields:

Below, Aug 23rd on the Chatham Bridge:

Below, with Megan McDonald, July 4th on the Chatham Bridge before we went over to JMHS for the race.

Cold morning run

| edwinridout
Almost 7am, Saturday 1/24/2026, St Clair Brooks Park, at about our third mile. Edwin, Cat, John, LJ, Josh. Only the camera noticed the first signs of a sunrise. I was trying to catch the sparkle of Fredericksburg city lights, here barely seen through the trees. It was cold — the app said “12°F, -11°C, Humidity 31%, Wind N 10mph…” It was cold when the wind was blowing, but mostly it wasn’t. Our first big winter snowfall didn’t start until later, at almost midnight. I finished 9 miles at about an 11:30 pace.

Belmont

| edwinridout
The Melchers’ sun room, added about 1920 to their 1795 home at Falmouth, Virginia. (My first time allowed inside, helping the curator remove a Christmas decoration.) On the left, as Gareth pointed out, is Long Walk beyond the row of boxwoods. To the right are the stone studio and galleries.

Twelfth Night

| edwinridout

Dog walk about 10pm under a bright half moon following our 9″ snowfall.

Our Christmas lights finale:

Next day, about 8am, before snow-blowing the final 2″:

Photo by Sandy:

Our treehouse lights seem to have outlasted Twelfth Night.

Drought

| edwinridout

Harley’s Pond at low tide, Christmas Eve 2024. No snow for us, though we have seen a sliver of ice on the pond once or twice. We had no rain at all in October, and just 1.6″ from Tropical Storm Debbie in August. Total rainfall to date since July 1st is 14.3″.

Northern Lights?

| edwinridout

About 11pm, October 10th. Our largest northern exposure (through the trees) is from the bottom of the driveway, looking up the street. I had a vague idea I might be sensing some pinkness in the haze, but wasn’t sure I wasn’t imaging it. With the big camera on a tripod, in the dark I couldn’t remember how to do a time exposure of more than 15 seconds. Looked like all I got was black. But later in Lightroom, I maximized the exposure, then saved these three shots.