I am guilty of not picking up my SLR cameras recently. I haven’t been keeping them where I live now, so they haven’t been as accessible and I have been working 40+ hours every week at UVA. But I almost always have my phone in my purse or travel bag and did whip it out a few times. I even forgot to take my SLRs on a camping trip, but maybe these Instagram images do some partial justice for autumn in the mountains.

I enjoy the onset of autumn, the break in the heavy heat and humidity, the crisp mornings, the fall colors, the layering of clothes…. certainly more enjoyable to me than our usual August weather. During the first weekend in October, I went up into the mountains with my parents and my grandfather for our annual trek out to the mountains in the fall. For a ninety-five year old, he has a lively social calendar – plans to be out and about almost every weekend this fall. He is active and healthy and certainly in better shape than most men his age.

The morning we were to return to our homes, a bird flew into the window of the cabin where we were staying and was stunned. I picked it up and held it in my hands while it recovered. It stayed with me for quite a while, even beyond recovery. It puffed up against the cold morning and held onto my fingers. I had to turn my hand over and shake it to get the bird to leave. He wouldn’t hop off willingly. I was able to pet it, gently expand its wings, and look closely at the details in his wings. Really a beautiful creature. I believe it may have been a Pine Warbler. This past weekend, I joined my best friends’ family, their eldest daughter’s fiancé, and future in-laws for the day. We scouted out Maria and Brian’s reception site – Pippin Hill Vineyards, where we had a really good lunch.

Victoria and I shared an amazing ham and cheese melt sandwich at Pippin Hill Vineyards – the ham and flavor overall was really delicious. Our meat and cheese platters were also really tasty. The vineyard has a great view of rolling hills and has really beautiful refurbished barn feel to its architecture. Between meals, we went to 5:15 mass at St. Thomas Aquinas, a beautiful catholic church, in Charlottesville. I really enjoy the acoustics and traditional music. The tune for, “In Christ There is No East or West,” in the catholic hymnal is really pleasant. It is written with flats and a some eighth notes. I discovered in the baptist hymnal at my own church that it is written with sharps and only quarter notes. It would be interesting to hear both versions. I will also mention that I really liked the Afghan group meal that we ordered for dinner on the same day we visited the vineyard and St. Thomas Aquinas. We got to sample lots of different dishes – all of which were really good. The eggplant dish, rice pudding dessert, and the meat that was in the curry bowl are probably my top recommendations. A lot of long grain rice was served with our dishes. We went to the Afghan Kabob Palace on Emmett Street. We definitely ate richly and abundantly this past Saturday. It was nice to discover two delicious restaurants while spending with good friends and enjoying the emerging fall foliage. This upcoming weekend, i am hoping to go hiking with friends and see the Blue Ridge’s fall colors. Perhaps I will think to take a SLR! Thank you for stopping by today and viewing my post!