Local Views

I recently visited the little ‘burg’ of Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. It sits between 2 rivers…. The Shenandoah and the Potomac. The rivers come together and flow on East toward the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Oceans as the Potomac.

Lots of American history comes together here or maybe comes apart is a more apt term. It is where the North and the South Divided during the Civil War. This was not our original destination, but an accident closed the road to Frederick MD, so we decided to drive to Harpers Ferry… instead. We drove around the upper part of the village, and then took a drive through the Harpers Ferry National Park…. We were just in time to take a walking tour of a local Farm and heard a bit of the history from a Park Guide. I enjoyed hearing some of the history… and the start of the war with the abolitionist John Brown and his attempt to capture the Armory and Gun Factory in Harpers Ferry, of the area and the names involved, but when he started to describe the battles and who was where, I lost interest. If you are interested in knowing more….. see HERE or Here or here

I am always more interested in how they lived in those days… like how the cannons were hefted by men up the rocky hillsides from the train tracks below- about a 1,000 feet…. 10,000 pound cannons hauled up by 100 or more men in late June!!! They tried mules, but it was too hard on them!!! Can you imagine… that hard labor and the less than healthy  food that was available then? Not to mention the heat and humidity, that is always present at this time of year….

So they hauled a cannon like this up a wall of rocks and trees like this…

A cannon row:

So, when our guide started talking about General Lee and the other Generals on either side… I wandered off with the camera and took some nature shots.

This butterfly is smaller than a Quarter. When it’s wings are folded it is smaller than a dime!!! It is an Eastern Tailed Blue Hairstreak.

Hiding in the shade I found a Moth resting.

Also spotted was the remains of a flower. I don’t know what flower, but whatever it was I don’t think it is nearly as interesting as it’s seed head….

On our way into one of the restored original buildings in Harpers Ferry, I saw this door latch. It has been there a long while…. and used much, as we can see by the wearing on the metal. Isn’t a beautiful piece of workmanship?