Tysons Corner has changed a lot in the last 20 years since I moved to Northern Virginia. Tysons has transformed from an overgrown office park into a small city with as many residential buildings as offices now.
New construction is everywhere you look all over the area.
You see many interesting things as you travel around America. One thing that always catches my attention are the night lights of a carnival. I noticed this carnival from my hotel window when I arrived just before dark. Around 9pm I walked over to catch a few of the shots that I share here.
Summer 2020
Evergreens never give up hope of the warmth returning. They stay green, ready even more sunlight as they drink up the water of the melting snow.
Winter melts away
I was sitting at a traffic light when I noticed the variety of colors ahead. I keep my camera set on manual infinite focus so I can catch what I see quickly, but for this shot I adjust the focus way down to create the blur. It is just what I saw in my mind when I saw these lights and I had to try to make the camera see what my mind was seeing.
This view was spontaneous and I would not have captured these colorful lights had I not been ready. This is why I always carry my camera.
I always use my photos for business presentations and a recently created one called for black and white images. I’ll share some here.
As of 16 January 2021, news reports are indicating over 21,000 National Guard troops are stationed throughout Washington DC to protect the U.S. Capital from further insurrection activity similar to the 6 January attack on the Capitol building that resulted in the death of 5 U.S. citizens.
Every road leading to the National Mall was blocked with no access to that area either by car or by foot. Heavy duty military vehicles and armed soldiers set the tone for all those entering DC from the bridges leading from the Virginia side of the Potomac.
When on roads outside of the no-go-zone, D.C. seemed ordinary in every other way.
However, anywhere within the vicinity of the White House, National Mall, U.S. Capitol, or other important buildings, you are always under the eyes of trained U.S. soldiers ready to protect America from the home grown MAGA terrorists.
Every route approaching the heart of the U.S. Government was blocked.
Unmarked Secret Service details were everywhere as were marked cars stopping vehicles for reasons unknown to us.
With not much more to see, we left DC, missing the sights of our Nation but fully understanding why they were on lockdown given the dangerous climate in America at this time. It looks like the trash has been cleaned up ahead of the Inauguration – not a single Trump flag or MAGA hat was in sight today. America is on the path back to normal. Time to return home and enjoy the rest of the day.
Many small West Virginia coal mining towns are slowing slipping away to history. Many little unincorporated towns had little going on as we passed through on the way to other tourist spots in West Virginia.
I estimated about 1/2 of the homes and 3/4 of the local businesses are abandoned here in this one particular town. Better times have passed by this little coal town and this town was not alone.
Many towns along the rural routes in West Virgina resembled this town had something that I can only guess were coal chutes to send coal down the mountain for processing. We saw so many of these in the West Virginia hills as we passed through these small towns. Every chute was disassembled in the sections that crossed the road.
These one-road small towns are lined with houses and storefronts. They are the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else. These are not rich area, quite the opposite, and I suspect the towns’ inhabitants pull together to help each other when necessary. The trouble is, however, what happens when the entire town needs help?
