I had the BEST long weekend!

I love day lilies. I think it’s because they so exuberant. I have multiple cultivars (they don’t all bloom at the same time, so even without the Stella D’Oros I have about a month of day lilies).

I have lots of hostas not because I love them, but because they grow in shade, which I have a lot of, and they’ll thrive.

Visitor at the hostas.

Because I have so much shade, I also have several varieties of fern.

Here are the ubiquitous Stella D’Oros. These get put anywhere I want to ignore.

And two of the other day lily varieties blooming now.

Friends were in DC for work on an overlapping weekend, so I went down so I could see them while they were closer than several days drive away.

Saturday, it was supposed to storm all afternoon, so we went to the Air & Space Museum Annex, to which I had never been.

One of the things I especially wanted to see was the shuttle.

The heat tiles were more amazing that I had ever thought!

Seeing the amount of wear on the tiles was both amazing and also made me a little sad, thinking that the loss of a tile caused the death of astronauts.

One of the things I especially wanted to see was the restoration area. Since it was a Saturday, no one was working, but you could see what they were working on.

The restoration of a wood frame plane next to a WWII plane being restored.

To give you an idea of how complex these various restorations can be:

I was tickled (green, rather than pink) by this control panel.

Michael figured out what the black rectangles below the phones were. That amused me even more.

An odd looking piece of technology….

With a name that amused me highly.

I also looked at the WWI and WWII planes, because it astounds me that men were willing to go up into the air in those flimsy things and fight each other. I mean, the WWI planes had synchronizes for their machine guns so they could shoot *through* their spinning propeller without shooting themselves out of the sky.

One thing that surprised me was that the space section actually depressed me quite a bit–so many of the items in that are were for warfare. It seems so wrong that the achievement of leaving the planet was a small thing compared to the amount of time and money spent planning ways to destroy other humans.

But after further thought, it was more than that. The WWI and WWII planes didn’t bother me, because I could see the skill and bravery required to go up in one of those machines and engage in a duel with the enemy. (I have tremendous respect for all soldiers who place their own lives on the line to protect people they’ve never even met.)

Guided missiles, however, are ways to kill people from a great distance, requiring nothing more of the the person firing the weapon than to push a button.

Remember: I’m a pacifist. I believe that I personally cannot lash out at someone–even in self-defense. (It’s far more complicated than that, but that’s a decent summary.)

From that perspective, the idea of being able to kill without putting yourself in danger is mortifying. I understand the need for self-defense, even if I feel it is not an option I can take. But to kill without being in personal danger or to protect someone in your presence–that gives me cold chills.

So to see how much effort has gone into killing with missiles left me feeling shaken.

But besides that, I really enjoyed the museum–and even more enjoyed spending time with my friends: neurondoc, Jeri, and especially MWT, who I’d never met in person before.

I’m so glad I was able to spend all day Saturday with them.

I read several new and new-to-me books this month–all the historical romances and supernatural fantasies were new-to-me and I even read the Jane Yellowrock new release almost immediately! Lots of hiking on the weekends, and being outside in the evenings, which cuts back on the reading, but I shan’t complain at all.

All of the historical romances had M/M elements, and all were boinking, but most of them were very good. I’d especially recommend the trio Hamilton’s Battalion which has three separate romances: a woman pretending to be a man to fight in the continental army, a M/M romance between an English Lord who deserted the British Army and an ex-slave fighting for the freedom of his brother-in-law, and a maid who works for Mrs Hamilton and the granddaughter of a revolutionary soldier.

If you’ve been reading the Jane Yellowrock books, you don’t need me to tell you to read the newest, but if you haven’t, this is a series that has managed to be very good over the course of a dozen books, and I could be content if the series ended here (it won’t). And the short story pair by Lish McBride made me want to re-read Hold Me Closer Necromancer, which is a YA I very much enjoyed at the time.

Historical Romance

Hamilton’s Battalion: A Trio of Romances (2017) Rose Lerner, Courtney Milan, Alyssa Cole (8/10)
Flight of Magpies (2014) K.J. Charles (8/10) (A Charm of Magpies)
Rag and Bone (2016) K.J. Charles (8/10)
It Takes Two to Tumble (2017) Cat Sebastian (7/10)

Fantasy, Supernatural

Dark Queen (2018) Faith Hunter (Jane Yellowrock)
Freaks & Other Family (2016) Lish McBride (8/10) (Necromancer)

Fantasy

Discworld
Mort (1987) Terry Pratchett (8/10)
Guards! Guards! (1989) Terry Pratchett (9.5/10)

Mystery

The Beat Goes On: The Complete Rebus Stories (2015) Ian Rankin (8.5/10) (Rebus)

Audio Books

Mercy Thompson
Moon Called, Audible Version (2006) Patricia Briggs narrated by Lorelei King (7.5/10)
Shifting Shadows: Stories from the World of Mercy Thompson, Audio Version (2014) Patricia Briggs narrated by Alexander Cendese and Lorelei King (9/10)
Stiletto, Audible Edition (2016) Daniel O’Malley narrated by Moira Quirk (9/10) (The Rook)
Voice of the Violin, Audible Version (1997/2003/2008) Andrea Camilleri translated by Stephen Sartarelli narrated by Grover Gardner (8/10) (Inspector Montalbano)

Now: The stats!

Thirteen books this one and a DNF. The DNF was one I quit with prejudice–it wasn’t even good enough to hate read, I had so many issues with it.

All my reading was ebooks, and I also managed four audio books this month (one was the travel book I listened to with Michael). Five of the books I own in multiple formats (ie paper and eBook or eBook and audio book) and seven were re-reads (I can only listen to audio books I’ve read before, so all audio books are re-reads.)

eBook : 9
Audio : 4
Multiple Formats : 5
Re-read : 7

Primarily fantasy and historical romance this month, with overlap between the two.

Fantasy : 9
Mystery : 2
Romance : 5
YA : 1

And male authors are falling behind this month, despite the effort of Terry Pratchett. I actually started a 3rd Terry Pratchett, but I might go onto the next, because the witches aren’t my favorite story arc.

Male : 5
Female : 8

And that’s the past month in books!

It’s a running joke between Michael and I about how often we ignore the GPS, because it’s trying to kill us.

Here’s a road that is at least marked as inaccessible to cars, but that didn’t stop three vehicles trying to go down the road during our brief walk. Often, the roads are NOT marked as such, so take caution when turning down any gravel road in WV.

Because your GPS really is trying to kill you.

It doesn’t look too bad here. We stopped one SUV of foreigners from attempting the road. (“No! Your vehicle will NOT make it!”)

Dappled light makes it difficult to see this is a puddle stretching completely across the road. You cannot tell how deep it is. (It’s there year round. It’s deep.)

This is the first section of road that causes people to turn around. Most cars do not have the clearance to go over those rocks. Lots of trucks don’t have the clearance to go over those rocks.

It’d been raining recently, so the creek across the road was unusually high. But even in dry weather there is always a small creek there.

There was a truck in the creek when we walked back. I think he was just playing around, but he was slipping while trying to turn.

Now we’re past the creek, and the road really turns into a muddy mess.

This is why I always advise people to NOT take a gravel or dirt road, unless that is their destination. A short cut really isn’t. Especially if you don’t have cell signal and are trying to find someone to tow you out.

This is a ridiculously easy hike, but it’s also one of my favorites, because it is always beautiful.

Location: Canaan Valley State Park
Trail: Blackwater River Trail
Distance: 0.8 miles
Elevation: 3243-3331 feet

It’d been awhile since we hiked up Seneca Rocks on a weekend day.

It was ridiculously busy. Which is good, because it means people were spending the weekend doing outdoors things here in WV. But less good for someone who likes solitude.

On the plus side, the homestead was open, and they had extra items on display, including many old quilts.

Click through for other pictures of the quilt.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the sky.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.

Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,
May the soldier or sailor,
God keep.
On the land or the deep,
Safe in sleep.

Love, good night, Must thou go,
When the day, And the night
Need thee so?
All is well. Speedeth all
To their rest.

Fades the light; And afar
Goeth day, And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well; Day has gone,
Night is on.

Thanks and praise, For our days,
‘Neath the sun, Neath the stars,
‘Neath the sky,
As we go, This we know,
God is nigh.

Taps, by Gen. Daniel Butterfield

Most of these are from Seneca Rocks and environs.

Irises are kind of embarrassing to look at, when you think about what flowers really are.

Day lily found at homestead at Seneca Rocks

BLUETS!

Crabapple!

Despite off and on again rain, we went to Coopers Rock on Saturday, and we had a surprising amount of sun, making it a beautiful hike.

We made it to my favorite place.

It was good.

Location: Coopers Rock
Trails: Rhododendron, Mont Chateau, Ridge Trails
Distance: 4.7 miles
Elevation: 148-2092 feet (804 ft gain)

Some flowers are from my house, some from the WV botanic garden, and one from the WVU arboretum.

Rhododendron!

Spiderwort

Broom (I love broom, and am glad this one has struggled and survived)

Chives

Irises

Peony

Thurmond, WV used to be a coal town and rail hub, and trains still run regularly through the area.

The population of Thurman at the last census was five, and most of the land in the area belongs to either CSX or the National Park Service, the latter of which has been attempting to preserve the remaining buildings.

Former National Bank of Thurmond

Thurmond Post Office, closed in 1995

Coaling Tower

Ruins being taken back by the woods.

Since it’d been awhile, we headed to New River Gorge, and went to one of the (many) areas we hadn’t hiked before: the Thurmond area.

We first went to see the town of Thurmond (separate post) which has been all but a ghost town for decades (the post office closed in 1995). Then we took our hike. We chose the Stone Cliff Trail, when runs beside the New River for its length.

What was particularly nice was that aside from the day-use area and the very start of the trail, we didn’t see anyone and had the trail to ourselves. We hiked 2 1/4 miles out–close to the end–but then I noticed that it was already 3, and we still had to stop at the brewery and eat dinner and then drive home, so we turned around and headed back.

Location: New River Gorge, Thurmond
Trail: Stone Cliff Trail (partial)
Distance: 4.5 miles
Elevation: 980-1253 feet
Temperature: 83-85 F

Because the trail runs beside the river it is quite flat, and thus an easy hike.

Stream tumbling down the mountainside

Stream crossing

It may have been raining in Morgantown, but New River Gorge was beautiful.

Here are some flowers we found on our hike.