Torrid Temperatures and Tanks

 On Sunday, I took Bill to one of my favorite yearly events, the Tank Farm, at Nokesville. I was a little apprehensive, since it was going to be very sunny, and I was nervous about getting a migraine. But I was determined to go, and armed with sunglasses and Excedrin, we arrived early enough to witness some superb flame throwing, with intense heat and exceedingly loud bangs. It should be noted that I was still unaware that my camera was somehow set in JPG mode, so the photos aren't of the sharpest quality. I did resolve this a few days later.

This is my third time here, and I know I'll be back again, since the tanks on display and the 200 living historians change every year. There were over 50 vehicles this weekend, some of which would be running, and even a Boeing Chinook helicopter this year, which we were allowed to sit in. Although the owner wants these all eventually housed inside climate controlled buildings to better preserve them, there's nothing better than seeing them out here in a field, covered in mud, and dust flying as they labor around the track.

This young lad posed with his $400 samurai sword. Apparently only officers would carry these. His colleague's size 2 jacket is from 1942, and was cheaper to buy than a reproduction one, since few people these days can fit into the vintage clothing, so most folks can't wear them. No McDonalds back then...

The heat was debilitating, and I was very concerned about a migraine suddenly starting, but I ducked into the shade whenever I could. A few of the historians were suffering too, and told me they weren't sure why the event was in August this year, rather than its usual September date. The numbers were higher this year, 15-18K visitors on Saturday, and about 10K last year on the Saturday. I told them I hoped it was because of better marketing than the time of year that brought in more visitors. It would be awful if keeping the event in August with these higher temperatures meant less exhibitors would attend.

Bill had a go at stabbing a stuffed sack. I wondered if he had anyone in mind as he was pretty ferocious when he attacked it. I was too hot and bothered to have a go myself. His instructor was incredibly patient, and all of them were very accommodating when people wanted photos. They always looked completely authentic.

A Swedish tank hammering around the track, the guys inside looking like they were having the best fun. I chatted for a while with the German officer, whom I told, actually scared me a little, because he looked like he’d stepped off a WWII movie set. He was very pleased about that!  The gentleman above, with the guns, has a sign above him, which rhymes in German, and translates to "We old monkeys are the Fuhrer's newest weapon."

Bill and I were constantly rushing back and forth from the tanks to the track as featured tanks were announced, but the stars of the day, for me, were the 2 Centurions, Easily, the most intimidating and best looking, it was remarkable to have 2 of them running round the track. One was Swiss, and the second was from the British army. They were incredible, and I loved the squeaking of their wheels as their tracks tore through the dusty ground. The poor announcer was standing by the track and each time the tanks thundered past, he disappeared completely in an orange cloud, but his voice still came through strong, without one cough! I think the tank drivers got a kick out of this.

Here's a video of the British Centurion. How amazing is it that I can stand and watch this gorgeous British tank, only an hour from my home. Note the Chinook helicopter in the background.

As our day started, so it finished, with more flame throwing. The 96th Marine Corp pretended to take over a bunker with guns and flames. We were a bit further away this time, so couldn't feel the blazing heat, which I was quite happy about. They put on a great show, followed by claps and cheers from the crowd, and then we were ready to go. I could feel I'd got a little sunburned, but was extremely grateful that I hadn't had a migraine, my first headache free day for a week. We celebrated with a beer on the way home, my first drink for 2 weeks. I'm slowly getting better!

A Sleepy Sunflower Sunrise

 Only 40 minutes from home is a rural sunflower farm, nestled in the Shenandoah valley, by the river, and with the wonderful name of Lost Bottoms. With its fairy tale name, I was entranced, especially as they invited people to come and admire their sunflowers from dawn to dusk, and for free, although donations are accepted. I'd been trying to come for a couple of weeks, but being floored by COVID, had been unable to venture out onto the driveway, let alone out to a field in the middle of the boondocks. But on Saturday, I felt well enough to drive out there, and left early morning, so I arrived just after sunrise.

I was the only person there, and it was beautiful. A cool breeze wafted across the fields, the dawn colors were slowly fading into the pale blue sky, and I was surrounded by flowers. There were rows of cosmos and zinnias in front of the sunflower field, and a small bench with scissors to cut any flowers you wanted to take home with you. I walked into the sunflower field, thousands of bright yellow faces turned to greet me, and noticed immediately that there were thousands of bees on the flowers, still, and sleeping. It was incredible, I'd never seen anything like it. The cuteness of finding a bee snoozing in a flower at home is delightful, witnessing so many of them slumbering in this field was simply overwhelming. I had to just stand and stare, and the more I looked around the field, the more flowers I noticed had little bumblebees fast asleep. And so I stood there, watching as the warm rays of the sun began to awaken them, and some started to stretch their little legs and slowly crawl across the flower heads to grab an early morning dose of nectar, while plenty of others were deciding to sleep in. It was a momentous occasion.

I walked very slowly among the flowers, not wanting to disturb anybody's sleep, and took care not to knock any flower heads as I slowly strolled along the path. I was actually in a sunflower maze. The sunflowers only came up to my shoulders, but I had no idea where the path would take me through the flowers, and didn't really care. I was happy to wander where I was led.

The whole field had an enchanted feel to me now, with the dreamy bees, but also because the sunflowers were entwined with blue and white morning glories. I had no idea whether they'd been sown intentionally, or if they were just 'weeds', but it added a wonderful entangled dimension to the field, with twisting vines climbing up the stalks and framing the sunflower heads. It was gorgeous. I have to add here that my photos are not the best. Due to my fuddled brain from being ill, I had the camera on the wrong setting and so all these shots are merely JPGs, and not RAW images as I usually take. So I wasn't able to do much processing, but this just merely gives me a reason to return next year, when I think I'll try to arrive even earlier in the morning.

I took my time walking around the field, delighting in seeing more bees waking up and slowly stumbling across the sunflower heads. I don't think I've ever seen so many bees in one place before, it was magical. Birds were twittering and gooses honked from behind trees, likely on the river banks. Crows croaked, and goldfinches swooped and bobbed across the tops of the sunflowers, abruptly landing on one that looked particularly tasty. The pale golden dawn light was disappearing as the sun rose higher above the mountains, and more bees became active as they warmed up. The blue morning glories began to fold up their petals, but the white ones stayed open a little longer. They were all wrapped and twisted around the sunflowers, tendrils peeking out above the large flower heads, or reaching across a space to latch onto anotherone. They obviously didn't hurt the sunflowers at all, I didn't see one sunflower looking as though it was being strangled, even though the thin vines were twisting the whole lengths of the sunflower stalks.

The day got brighter, and I felt I needed to retreat. The sunlight was getting whiter and hotter, and I was becoming conscious of a headache starting, which would later become another migraine. I took a last long look at this wonderful field, coming to life as the buzzing became louder, and stopped to just take one last photo of some bees that were still waking up, slowly trundling around the sunflower as they rubbed the sleep from their eyes.

Broken Buildings in New Jersey

 It's been a over a week since I went up to PA and NJ with Emily, Eric and Richard, to explore some sites that Eric had discovered. It was a fabulous day, a long one, and I got home late. I had bounced out of bed early on Sunday, planning to visit a sunflower farm, but my legs gave way, and a bout of extreme dizziness had me sitting on the bed again. Within 30 minutes, I was covered with blankets, shivering, and beginning a week of bed rest with my first, and only, I hope, experience with COVID. Obviously, the processing of photos was not considered for a moment, nor was anything else that used a few calories of energy. I felt completely drained, was exhausted, and had no interest in anything, except sleep and short bouts of English TV police dramas. Even 11 days later, I still feel tired and struggle to concentrate on anything for too long, but I wanted to get the urbexing trip documented, so it will be relatively short, and may contain grammatical errors.

We started early in the morning from DC and drove and drove, stopping briefly for breakfast and bottles of water; it was gearing up to be a hot day. Up in NJ, we stopped at an old house, hidden by vines and large trees. It had a fabulous old organ in front of a bay window, a tragedy that it has been left to rot by the previous owners, and will eventually be crushed, as the old wooden beams, struggling to hold up the house, will eventually give up their task, and cave in. I would like to witness that, as I imagine it may be quite musical. Upstairs, was a landing with an open window and walls filled with bird cages and nesting boxes. This was very odd to see, and we spent a while, discussing why they were there. I found another wall of wonderful old wallpaper.

 

 

I always look for beautiful vintage windows and curtains to photograph and today didn't disappoint.

Our next stop was an abandoned Egyptian restaurant. There were another 3 people there, about our age, and also photographing the place.

The building wasn't old, and the decor inside wasn't that impressive, plaster pillars and walls covered in Egyptian hieroglyphs and a couple of sarcophagi. The one laying down in the foyer was pretty cool, its cracked facade managing to look almost authentic if I closed one eye. We couldn't hang around for long, since Eric had noticed there were cameras on the scene. We had also spotted a lot of new cables being laid, so hopefully, the building is being brought back to life. 

Eric also found an old roadside 50's motel sign, which I loved. And on we went, this time, stopping at a 50's style diner, almost hidden by shrubbery.

We had a quick scout inside, lamenting the loss of an authentic vintage diner. Everyone loves a good breakfast, and we wondered aloud how this business had not succeeded, until we realized its demise had been a fire, and was likely just not worth resurrecting afterwards, due to too much damage. A shame.

Our last stop of the day was further south in DE, a sprawling industrial complex, with some of the old buildings erected in the late 1800's. It looked like it had been a pipe manufacturing plant of some kind. We found empty warehouses, rooms with large machinery left behind, a warehouse with shelving, metal wheels, electrical components, spare parts, and even an old lab area.

Eric had not been here since last year, but he noted that already more vandalism had taken place since his last visit. In fact, while we were scouting around one large building, we found evidence, and later heard the voices, of copper scrappers. They had left a large bag filled with their booty, ready to go, and were in the process of collecting more, and evidently not concerned about who heard them. Either that, or they didn't care. We kept quiet and put space between them and us, as we kept photographing.

We left after a couple of hours, and driving south, decided to stop at a tavern for dinner. It was excellent food and beer, and nice to be able to wash up after our day of grubbiness. It was a long drive back to DC, and then another 1.5 hours for me, which was fine. I had a Stephen King audio book to listen to, and a bottle of Diet Mountain Dew to keep me awake. The drive would be fine. But apparently, the next morning would not....