Stuffed manimals

historic manimals
Sitting on a shelf at Burnley Moran Elementary School, Charlottesville, VA. I think the 2nd figure from the left is local grandee Th. Jefferson.
3rd from the left whichever indigenous princess wore her hair in a ponytail. To the far right, US Representative David Stern Crockett (the hat).
That leaves two, an unsmiling man/woman far left and an African American male. ID help please.

Burnley-Moran was built in 1954. It takes its name from the first two women to head Charlottesville schools. Carrie Burnley was principal of McGuffey School for twenty-eight years, and Serepta Moran was principal of Venable School for twenty-one years. The mascot is the bobcat.–Cvillepedia

scabies

license plate scabies
In Virginia, car owners have the opportunity to “Create a plate“, Identity plates, vanity plates, license plates that tell the rest of the world something about the interests of the owner of the vehicle.
Usually the choices are idiotic, but on occasion, the message is intriguing. Eight characters to say something really important.

respect, choice, options

Senator M Warner D VA

Senator Mark Warner was in Charlottesville yesterday at the ribbon cutting for Blue Ridge PACE.
The last of seven to address the assembled crowd, following celebratory remarks, Warner spoke from personal experience about our society’s view of aging. The Senator’s comments begin at 25 minutes (see player below) . Warner spoke for fifteen minutes.

At the end of the day I think a society is judged most not by what they say but how they treat their youngest and how they treat their oldest.– Senator Mark Warner

Sen M Warner hands

Speakers at the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony

“We saw lots of things wrong with the debate around health care reform. But to my mind, the single most insulting point of the health care debate was when people were legitimately talking about how we ought to allow families to have the kind of counseling that they should all go through, as an option, not forced upon anybody but as an option, and even the notion of those kind of conversations was labeled by some as death panels which was outrageous, beyond the pale… This is an issue… that is more than a policy issue, it is a personal issue, it is an issue of faith… it is time again I believe to start this conversation.”

crowd gathered, Monticello Mountain in background
Crowd assembled for the ribbon cutting at Blue Ridge PACE. Monticello Mountain in the background.

bird walk

Corvus brachyrhynchos
Went for a short morning walk along the Rivanna with people that know birds. They heard or saw white throated sparrows, carolina wrens, tufted titmouse, a fish crow, american crows, a bald eagle, mallards, canada geese, a red shouldered hawk, cardinals, mockingbirds, a ruby crowned kinglet, downy woodpecker, a pileated woodpecker, a red fox, hermit thrush, bluebird, yellow-rumped warbler, raven, sparrow, white-breasted nuthatch, goldfinch, song sparrow, Carolina chickadee, flicker, red-bellied woodpecker, catbird, robin, towhee, starlings.
I saw runners and unidentified flying objects.
The dog walkers are still leaving bags of dog dung on the side of the trail. People too precious to carry the load while they walk.