what I would have read at his bedside

 ¹The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

 ²It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.

 ³Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

 ⁴Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

 ⁵Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

 ⁶Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

 ⁷And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

 ⁸And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

 ⁹No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

 ¹⁰And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35, King James Version)

Vetmed poster symposium

found a new trail

My wife went to a church retreat for the weekend so my brother and I went out to play around on the mountain. Saftey was almost mostly our first concern.

Wait for it… Alice catching air was the best shot of the day.

for Laurie

not quite, but getting closer

We are six months along as of yesterday.

This is Pedro the deer mouse that we found in our driveway.  He looked hurt so we are trying to “save” him. Those poor owls are getting so hungry.

Virginia: what we came to see

Laurie walking up with David Servideo

Dad walking up with Janna Laughery

David and Janna Servideo walking away

It was a really great wedding.

Virginia: waterfall hike, bachelor party, backyard bbq

Here are some highlights from the past couple days.

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Virginia: arrivals, wine, bugs and the bees

After visiting five different airports we finally arrived in West Virginia to meet up with Dad and Laurie. Because we got in a little late we stayed the night in Charleston before piling into the rental the next day for the 3hr scenic drive to Blacksburg.

Above is the house that Marian and I get to stay at. The owner of the house, Diana, is a lovely Christian lady who is taking care of her husband that is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

View from our bedroom window.

Here is the happy couple still working on the wedding details. Shaking David’s hand was one of the things I was most looking forward to on this trip. He is a good man, and I think a great match for my sister.

David’s parents came into town and we all went out to a Cajun restaurant. Sorry for the cell phone pics. This was a very fun 2 1/2 hour dinner.

The sparkly rock.

Justin finally flew in on a red eye. We picked him up at the airport and then hung out at Janna’s place for a bit. He ate the spaghetti.

Oh! I felt the baby kick for the first time last night. He’s in there just letting everybody know that he is okay.

Some more family friends dropped in and we all caravaned up to Chateau Morrisette winery to sample the Black Dog list.

The grounds of Chateau Morrisette were very beautiful with flowers everywhere. We couldn’t stop noticing that the place had a fertile ora. Perhaps a foreshadowing of the reason we all came to Virginia?

shots from Moscow Mt. Thursdays

This summer I have  peddled up Moscow mountain a couple of times with my good friends Chuck and John.  We will leave after work Thursday evening and ride until about eight, which is the best time to beat the heat. It really is a good time. When I was doing my undergrad, riding Moscow mountain would be a bi-weekly event. By the end of the season getting to the top was hardly a challenge.  Well, since then I have been a bit out of practice, and now it is quite a challenge.  But, I know the higher I peddle my bike up the mountain the more downhill I will get to enjoy.

Pics!