River of Life

We enjoyed the Dry River in western Rockingham County, visiting with friends, hiking, and watching the water in the stream.

Some years ago, the Daphna Creek band composed and performed “River of Life,” an original song by the Rockingham County gospel bluegrass band.

“River of Life”

Little North Mountain

Hiked the mountain just west of Sparkling Springs, Rockingham County, Va., on March 21, 2021, with friends. Great exercise, a fabulous view of the Shenandoah Valley below, and good company climbing and descending the steep mountain.

Silver Lake Mill

The historian got to turn an interior iron crank that released water at Silver Lake, Dayton, Virginia, which turned the early 20th century red wheel. The water flowed towards Cooks Creek, which drained towards the North River and eventually the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, which reached the Potomac River and finally the Chesapeake Bay. This mill was burned by Union soldiers during the Civil War and rebuilt after the war. As with the water which bubbles forth from the Silver Lake springs and ends up in the Atlantic Ocean, so our lives are interconnected and flow into the future in sometimes unknown and winding directions.

Silver Lake Mill, Dayton, Virginia, Rockingham County, Virginia July, 2016

James Madison University

Friends took a hike on the newly developed Bluestone Trail in Harrisonburg, Virginia.  The trail is a function of the city of Harrisonburg and the sprawling and growing comprehensive university that dominates the landscape in the friendly city.  Hikers and bikers shared the trail on a sunny day, which all revolved around the fourth president’s namesake school, an outstanding institution in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

JMU March 2015 Bluestone Trail hike

New bridge over Linville Creek

New bridge over Linville Creek replaces 1898 wrought iron truss bridge that many Broadway, Virginia, residents, including Mennonites, used in early 20th century by MennoniteArchivesofVirginia
New bridge over Linville Creek replaces 1898 wrought iron truss bridge that many Broadway, Virginia, residents, including Mennonites, used in early 20th century, a photo by MennoniteArchivesofVirginia on Flickr.

Mennonites in the Northern District of Virginia Mennonite Conference often used this old iron bridge to head west towards mission stations in the West Virginia highlands. Today a modern bridge over the steady Linville Creek reduces the 1898 bridge to a foot and bike path. The old bridge in Broadway, Virginia, is on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia.

Massanutten Mountain from Greenmount and Sky Road intersection, Rockingham County, Virginia

On a trip from Singers Glen, Virginia, to Harrisonburg, Virginia, the historian spotted this grand view of the Massanutten Mountain. On his trips to Harrisonburg, musician Joseph Funk probably paused to relish in the ancient beauty of the distant mountain peak. Perhaps it was inspiration for his printing and musical work in the valley.

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Amish

In the late 17th century Amish began migrating from Europe to Philadelphia, PA, and eventually moved west to Lancaster County, PA.  From there they migrated west to Ohio and other states.  In Lancaster County, the Amish maintain their agricultural way of of life, in spite of rapid urbanization and modernity all around them.  They are the fastest growing religious group in North America.  This Amish farm is in Smoketown, Lancaster County, PA.

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Burkholder-Myers house, CrossRoads Heritage Center, December 7, 2013

Christmas on a cold December evening at the historic 1854 Burkholder-Myers house in Harrisonburg, Virginia, with twenty-first century lights and a football field in the distance. Martin and Rebecca Burkholder would find it a challenge to recognize their own house.