Sammy Should Have Seen the Natural Tunnel

This post is especially for a blog hop I found here:

http://www.mochasmysteriesmeows.com/2016/12/come-fly-with-me-sammyto-vermont.html

Regrettably, Sammy's last post went up here:

https://onespoiledcat.wordpress.com/

If anyone else wants to take up the travel blog theme, this blog recommends visiting the Natural Tunnel State Park, which is sort of in between Clinchport and Duffield, Virginia. The main attraction is a natural tunnel through a limestone hill. It's literally big enough to run a train through...and a railroad company insists on running trains through the tunnel! Hiking trails, birdwatching, fishing, caving, wading, rafting, and open-air concerts are also offered by the Park Service.



(Photo from Creative Commons: File:2013.VA.NaturalTunnelSP.RyanBerkheimer (8339448556).jpg )

Elizabeth Barrette wrote a nice free-verse poem about the Natural Tunnel as part of a "Poetry Fishbowl" (a blog concept explained here:

http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/4142896.html )

She's promised to post the poem upon receipt of $10. Please feed the poet.

The Natural Tunnel is not to be confused with the Natural Bridge, another limestone formation in southwestern Virginia.



(Photo: Originally uploaded by Bill (Transferred by rohith_goura) - Own work (Originally uploaded on en.wikipedia), CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16522553 )

Thomas Jefferson ranked these rock formations among the "natural wonders of the world." They are certainly on the must-see list of nature scenes in Virginia.

I don't know whether this site could host a Blog Hop, but if you have an animal and/or travel blog, the comments section is designed to link to it...

Elizabeth Barrette's Winterfaire

Is this cool, or is this cool? Elizabeth Barrette is linking as many crafters (and independent writers) as possible to her Live Journal:

http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/3483161.html

If you scroll down through the comments you'll find lots of other cute stuff (note that LJ is global, so some of it's not made in the U.S.A.) as well as links to my knitting posts and Theresa Wiza's crocheting ( al lcraftc onnecti on.org ).

I wish I had good news to report from https://www.facebook.com/TreeAndTraFashions , but I've not seen or heard of any more jewelry being available through this site.

Phenology: Carolina Wren

Thanks to Elizabeth Barrette for posting about this cute little bird:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Carolina_Wren/id

Carolina Wrens don't come very close to the Cat Sanctuary because the cardinals and house wrens think they own the house and yard, but I heard one up in the orchard on Saturday.

Other phenology: Chilly and damp in Gate City; on the way to the computer center I saw snow beside a back road. Most living things have gone into Winter Mode. However, last week and the week before we enjoyed a long warm spell that fooled some creatures into thinking it was spring already. A few insects flew, grass and chickweed popped up, and spring peepers (small frogs) started peeping. The inevitable cold snap has been enough to discourage these mistakes, but not, we can hope, cold enough to kill off things that should become active in March.

Today's Cartoon Chuckle

Thanks to Elizabeth Barrette for sharing these colorful non-animated cartoons:

http://jezebel.com/5829204/if-male-superheroes-posed-like-wonder-woman

Off-Road Wheelchairs

Some day, I hope it's fifty or sixty years into the future, I'm going to want an off-road wheelchair. By then maybe they'll have designed even better ones:

http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/2880838.html

I'm not leaving the Cat Sanctuary, I don't want our road paved, and I would like not to have to ask anybody to push me up and down our definitely "off-road" dirt-and-rock road.

Phenology: More Elderberries

Elizabeth Barrette shares pictures of her elderberry blossoms and other plants:

http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/2882038.html

I'm surprised by the echinacea; around here they start after the first of July.

Poems About Friendship

The blogger known as Raze shares a batch of four haiku-type poems about friendship:

http://poetree.dreamwidth.org/119513.html

Comments include a few bonus poems. Thanks to Elizabeth Barrette for the link.

Scaly Cannibal Llamas

Scaly cannibal llamas? Right...it's a metaphor for stereotypes and how they spread.

http://aidanmoher.com/blog/featured-article/2013/05/we-have-always-fought-challenging-the-women-cattle-and-slaves-narrative-by-kameron-hurley/

http://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/2841073.html

The comments are worth reading...especially the one about oil and water.