Branta canadensis Friday morning, snow quietly begins in Charlottesville Saturday was another story. Cold, snow blowing. I ran into some folk on the Rivanna trail wearing snow shoes. Skiers from Fifeville Non-city sanctioned, recreation in the street. My favorite aspect of a snow storm, bipeds reclaim the commons, temporarily people, rule. C&O railroad bridge, Moores Creek. Anyone know what year this was built? Woolen Mills roofs, Alexander, Milby, Hudson, Timberlake… Momentary uptick in entrepreneurial activity.
old cats Gerry Danner’s cool cat Blue. Blue used to stop traffic on Market Street for fun, a casual display of power. Ghost of Christmas past, self portrait.
Riverview THE RIVERVIEW CEMETERY COMPANY was incorporated by a group of local businessmen on December 29, 1892 with a mission to establish a cemetery “near and convenient” to the City of Charlottesville and properly ornamented with “trees, shrubbery or flowers.” In February 1892 the Company made its first land purchase of 27.95 acres from the Charlottesville Land Company for $6,987.50. Riverview continued to amass small quantities of land over the years from neighboring lot owners, residents and the Albemarle Golf Club on its western border. Local residents Henry Clay Marchant, Mrs. M.J. Burgess and J.S. Barksdale purchased the first burial plots on December 6, 1894. Seventeen more were sold between 1894 and 1899, several to board members and officers of the Cemetery Company.–Lara Day Kozak
Franklin sidewalk October 2014, City Council voted to install pedestrian provisions and address truck traffic on Franklin Street. I wonder how that is going?
Rivanna Renaissance “The degradation of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem took place more than two centuries; it will take more than three decades to reverse. The newly signed Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement—with its clear, well-defined and achievable goals and outcomes, its flexibility to respond and adapt to changing conditions and its public engagement—sets the course and provides the watershedwide commitment to get us there.”–Nicholas DiPasquale, Director of the EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program (left, DiPasquale paddling the Rivanna, October 1) DiPasquale one of the speakers at today’s Rivanna Renaissance conference.
Steel Road Railroad crew makes repairs to the CSX/Buckingham Branch bridge over Moores Creek. This route attracted the incendiary attention of General Sheridan’s subordinates in the 1860’s.
Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) SAK Construction’s TBM, Miss Chelsea is on the move, headed NNE, grinding through 1700+ feet of bedrock, going where no one has gone before.Interesting boring job. Drive to work, ride the man-basket down into the hole, fire up the TBM. How is the machine moved forward? What protective gear does the operator wear? At the moment it’s a horizontal short walk (100+ feet) from the tunnel entrance to Ms. Chelsea. Later on it’ll be longer. Bike to work? What is the lighting like in there? Any chance of a live video feed?
old soldier, Carl D. Proffitt Olive and Chubby built their Woolen Mills house in 1939. I admire his service record. Daily Progress has that story. Additionally, I admire his persistence, his neighborliness. He always had a kind word. He lived on, beyond Olive, beyond five siblings. It takes a lot of courage to age in place. Chubby Proffitt had courage.