the 3 faces of Chuck

This Saturday may be the first official day of Spring, but the backyard neighbor just showed up this morning. And kindly insists:


It's my spring . . .


and welcome to it.

Elma Seward, 1921-2010

From EJSeward

Early and often, things posted here were from a trip taken with my mom. Or things she had kept.

This Wednesday the 20th, she passed away.

Much as it's been for my brother who died February last year, this blog is an extended remembrance of the world in which she lived.

From EJSeward

ye olde Tinder Box

Revisiting a post at That Mall's Sick And That Store's Dead! about the old Newmarket North mall, I recalled still having this stuff from the Tinder Box that was there three decades ago.

Pipe cleaners . . .



Pipe . . .



Everything but the three decade old pipe tobacco. (Huh . . .)

A closeup of the pipe's Tinder Box label:



Another view of the bag:

lit up like a Christmas tree

Ida & the station

Tropical Storm Ida
Originally uploaded by VaDOT

Yet another VDOT pic of TS Ida flooding.

My mom always said of this bridge that it should've extended past this low area toward higher ground.

As she's not a VDOT engineer and the businesses here likely wanted to keep the road frontage (and would still face occasional flooding), that was not to be . . .

Ida & the ferry

Tropical Storm Ida, originally uploaded by VaDOT.

More from the aforementioned VDOT TS Ida set. This one at Scotland Wharf.

Ida on Flickr

Tropical Storm Ida
Originally uploaded by VaDOT

VDOT also has a set of pics from the flooding in November from Tropical Storm Ida.

a VDOT view of the snow

Photos posted on Flickr by the Virginia Department of Transportation of the recent snow storm.

Long Gone Away

This homebrew music video uses some stills from the Night Wanderer post and one of the razed Walnut Mall lot. And an unblogged photo of the Coliseum Mall demolition.

Plus Super-8 footage circa 1998 of the so-called ghost house in my old neck of the woods and other area bits & pieces.

Like Pons Store or the James River seen from Hog Island.

hen evades tom turkey

day of the Chuck

Well, the backyard woodchuck is hanging in there as of this 1st day of November.

As these blurry photos can attest.

like old, only new

Since my post about the old, long gone Thornburg VA Stuckey's, something odd has emerged.

Not a new Stuckey's, but a combination Miller's Mart/Dairy Queen that gives this ol' wayfarer déja vu all over again.

Like it's Stuckey's for a new millenium.


Or for an old era, watched over by a figure from a Captain Morgan's ad.


Old mainstays like bottle rockets, pop-its & other fireworks can still be found.


And questionable figurines of times past have been transmuted into howling wolves, dark castles and questing elves.

Now if I can only find the jokey trucker hats.

And someone to wear them.

friends in vinyl

As this bit of arcana is more about "getting away" than "looking back", check out this link for the full story . . .

two turkeys roosting

picking up hay bales

courtesy Open Source Movies

Though several states north of and decades before my time & place, feel a bit of deja vu watching this film.

Esp. where the bales are hoisted into truck and barn by human hands.

Modern Trends in Swine Production-1961

courtesy Prelinger Archives

The pastures and bigger lots seen later in the film are closer to what I remember. Some of the sights and all of the sounds match recollection.

Esp. the muted grunts and slamming feeder lids in this section and this one.

And the US Steel logo that appears is very familiar.

Film link and thumbnails at the Internet Archive . . .

roadside goodness returns

Just FYI, folks: agilitynut is out in the Midwest and posting the pics and such to prove it.

Oh, ye olde Krispy Kreme . . .

And former Arby's . . .

And lend this an ear . . .

And a moment of silence for a good pig remembered . . .

wayback with Stuckey's

To file under Stuckey's . . .

As things online have a pretty fast turnover, it's thanks to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine that old websites can still be visited.

The Stuck On Stuckey's site being a case in point . . .

There's a whole list of links to different editions, but this one will get you there.

As Petersburg gets mentioned here now and again, here's a postcard image of an old Stuckey's on US 301. From this list of Stuckey's images.

recent and not so recent

The Smithfield Times kindly shares a few of the sights and sounds from this year's Pork, Peanut and Pine Festival.

Think it's been quite a while since I went.

Meantime, here are some images of cool old newspaper ads someone was good enough to post on Flickr.

Includes old Leggett, Home Quarters Warehouse, Circuit City, Revco and Roses ads. So check it out.

cars going by January last year

Old recording of an old place. Kinda faint, so crank it to hear it.


The aforementioned passing cars, dogs faraway, wind and the creaking door.