Bryan L. Rearick

Bryan L. Rearick
On August 24, 2010 of Woodbridge, VA.

Beloved fiance of Jeanine; son of Leeland and Kathy Rearick of Boone, NC;

brother of Scott and his wife, Mary Rearick of Frederick, MD;

uncle of Juliette, Samantha and Emily.

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Bryan was a six year veteran of the Virginia Army National Guard having served two tours in Iraq.

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Friends may visit the Murphy Funeral Home of Arlington, VA, 4510 Wilson Blvd on Saturday, August 28 from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 P.M.

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Internment will be held on Friday, September 10, 10 A.M.

at the Columbarium at the Arlington National Cemetery.

All that wish to attend must meet at the Administration Building by 9:30 A.M.

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Memorial contributions in Bryan Rearick's name may be made to Disabled American Veterans, PO Box 14301, Cincinnati,OH 45250 Attn: Gift Processing.

Hummingbird Videos

Hummingbird Videos

One shows a hummingbird at the feeders. One shows one hummingbird chasing another hummingbird away from the feeders.

Click on black triangles above.

My World Tuesday = Four Hummingbirds In Our Yard

My World Tuesday = Four Hummingbirds In Our Yard





We have counted at least four hummingbirds flying around our backyard at the same time. You think hummingbirds are sweet and innocent. Well these four guys (gals?) are fighters. They chase each other away from the feeder. Why they do this Jack and I can't figure out. Especially since we have five feeders in our yard. Why can't they share and play nice? Tomorrow I'll post some videos I took of their fights.

Now please go visit other My World Tuesday memes and find out what's happening around our world.
http://showyourworld.blogspot.com/

When It Rains, It Pours

When It Rains, It Pours

About two weeks ago we took down our umbrellas because tornado style winds were forecast for our area. We didn't get the winds but we did get about three inches of rain in one day that led to water lying on our lawn for about fifteen minutes before it disappeared in the underground drains. This is the standing water in the back yard.
Here's standing water in the front yard.

And here's standing water in the side yard.

Everything in moderation. Right.

My Other Blog = PiedmontReaders

My Other Blog = PiedmontReaders

Go there to learn about these two books that the club read for July and August.

PiedmontReaders: http://piedmontreaders.blogspot.com/

Just click on address to learn more.

Have a good weekend. I'm watching my livefeed of Big Brother this afternoon.

Even On A Grey August Day

Even On A Grey August Day

Even on a grey August day the old cobbled streets
and the brick sidewalks

and the gaslamps

in old town Alexandria, Virginia make it a fun place to have lunch at an outdoor cafe.

My lunch companions: Jack and daughter Jeanine.

Have a great summer weekend, everyone!

Skywatch Friday = Grey Skies This Past Week

Skywatch Friday = Grey Skies This Past Week

Northern Virginia has had lots of grey skies and rain this past week. These photos were taken in

old town Alexandria, VA where we were meeting up with our younger daughter a week ago Friday for lunch. We parked in a lot near the waterfront park and Potomac River so I grabbed my camera to take these pics as we were heading towards Duke Street.

Grey skies didn't hamper the sailboat enthusiasts.

But whenever old town Alexandria gets lots of rain streets needed to be blocked off because old town is in the flood plain of the Potomac River.

This blocked street was half a block from the river.

Another closed street near the river.

Happy Skywatch Friday! Now please go visit othere Skywatch Friday memes by clicking here:
http://skyley.blogspot.com/

Last Tourist Stop On Our Recent Roadtrip

Greene, New York was our last tourist stop on our recent roadtrip. We have a good friend who grew up and went to high school in Greene, New York in the '50s and '60s. Greene we learned was founded way back in 1792 by Stephen Ketchum and French refugees.

Here is a war memorial in downtown Greene, New York

Jack is pointing to the name of our friend who grew up in Greene. James Blakeslee saw action in Vietnam after college. He was on a patrol one day when the entire patrol group was hit by enemy fire. Nine of the ten soldiers died in the field. James was hit and very seriously injured but survived the attack and was medivaced from the scene.

Here is James Blakeslee's name on the local war memorial to World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War veterans.

Isn't this a beautiful looking home. One of James Blakeslee's mother's friends once owned this home. I think it looks like a bed and breakfast inn.

This is one of two round barns on the outskirts of Greene, New York.

Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY

Cooperstown, New York which is all decked out with American flags and big balls of red begonias looks like Main Street in DisneyWorld Florida. there are tourists walking the street and tour buses parked on sidestreets nearby. We saw lots of parents with children in tow heading to the museum and lots of little league baseball teams traveling as a group with their parents to visit Cooperstown's famous Baseball Hall of Fame.

This beautiful three story turn of the century home was on the market. Would you like to buy it?

Here was another grand home in the town.

Jack and I arrived hungry in Cooperstown so we started a visit to the city with a stop at a local restaurant that served Old Slugger beer and ....

.......hotdogs and chips. What else can you order when you are in a famous American baseball setting.

July 25, 2010 the above three baseball players (Dawson, Harvey and Herzog) were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame along with about seven other folks connected with baseball.

Here's the front entrance of the Baseball Hall of Fame where we purchased out tickets. We got a double discount for being seniors and AAA members.

I love Yogi Berra. He is my favorite baseball player of all time.There is lots of information to read about each baseball team and each player because baseball is a game of statistics. If you were a true baseball nut you could easily spend hours here. Jack and I who are not baseball nuts covered the museum in about an hour and that included dodging lots of kids and teenage boys.

Of course there were several statues of the Babe!

Harry Thobe I guess was an ardent fan from Oxford, Ohio. I just had to take a picture of this write up because I know a lot of Thobes in Ohio since my sister's husband is Jerry Thobe. Also, Oxford, Ohio is home to my college, Miami University of Ohio.

Statues of courageous men: Lou Gehring, Babe Ruth and Roberto Clemente

I shot this picture of a jewelry case that shows the various club rings the world series of baseball winners get to wear indicating that they were a member of a winning baseball world series.

Had to take this photo for my son-in-law from Cape Cod.

Had to take this photo because Jack's father and family lived in St. Louis.

Had to take this photo for my relatives in Ohio. In this photo Pope John Paul is receiving a baseball shirt from Marge Shotte who at that time was the notorious owner of the Cincinnati Reds.

Pete Rose, because of gambling on baseball will most likely never be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame but that does not mean that his name and jersey and bat and photo are not there.
See below.

They have these various plaques for statistics for all time and active players. Here is where Pete Rose heads the all time hits list. What is interesting is that during baseball season someone must go around daily to update these records as more hits are made by the current players. And of course they must have computers storing all this data.

Below is the one thing Pete Rose doesn't have but still yearns to have at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

A bronze plaque like this one for Cal Ripken Jr. that indicates that he has been inducted into

The Baseball Hall of Fame.

To learn more about the Baseball Hall of Fame go here: http://baseballhall.org/

Abe Lincoln's Son's Manchester, Vermont Home

Abe Lincoln's Son's Manchester, Vermont Home: Hildene

Abe Lincoln's son, Robert Todd Lincoln became a very wealthy man on Wall Street and built a summer "cottage" that was really a magnificent 24 room Georgian mansion on 500 acres of land in southern Vermont. Jack and I had to drive down a private one mile road to reach the beautiful home that overlooks the surrounding mountains and countryside.

Here is the view after you park your car, purchase your tour tickets and walk towards the front porch.

When you enter the grand foyer of the house you are greeted by a grand staircase that had also built into the second floor landing hidden organ pipes for Mr. Lincoln's wife who played the organ as well as the piano and the harp. How unusual.

The dining room was the most formal room of the house.
This was Robert Todd Lincoln's bedroom. The bed is similar to the bed in the Abraham Lincoln bedroom in the White House. Robert Todd Lincoln had already graduated from Harvard when his father, President Lincoln was reelected president in 1865.

There was both a formal library and a working office in the home. In the office Robert Lincoln kept his father's personal papers. He would transport them from his winter home in New York city to this summer cottage each year. People speculated that he later burned papers at Hildene that referenced Mary Todd Lincoln, his mother, as having a mental illness. Above is just a part of the long wall with lots and lots of built in drawers for Lincoln presidential papers. It reminded me of an old fashioned library card catalog. Later, before Robert Lincoln died he decided to give his father's papers to the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.
This was the laundry maid's room on the first floor in the servants wing of the house. It too had a built in wall of compartments. These were used for storing the laundered and ironed clothes and linens of the owners and their houseguests. I've never seen anything quite like this in any other historic American mansion.
A lady tourist volunteered to take our picture in the formal gardens. We started chatting with her and learned that she graduated from Lee High School in Springfield, Virginia. Just down the street from Franconia Elementary where I used to work.
The formal French gardens were so lovely overlooking the rural mountain setting. Lots and lots of pink and white flowers in a sea of green.

There were big tubs of pink petunias along the pathways.

Here's a view of the backside of the house with the gardens in front. Hildene now rents the estate for weddings. The bride walks down that grand formal staircase and then walks down this garden path to the wedding ceremony spot in the garden. We saw a huge white tent on the grounds adjacent to the gardens that is used for the wedding reception.

White coneflowers and white Madonna lilies in this final picture of Hildene.

To learn more about Hildene go here: http://www.hildene.org/