October 23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I like a man in uniform:

Towel boys:

Seasonal pleasures:

Your blogger took some time off

a couple of days ago

to hike a portion of an old Indian path,

known as the Carolina Road,

that stretches from Frederick, MD,

south through Virginia

to the North Carolina border.

 

 

 

Much of it follows the route of present-day

U.S  Route 15, but

this never-paved portion running south 

of Rt. 50 in Loudoun County

entranced me as I realized

that I was hiking where

Algonquin and Iroquois Indians

traded and migrated centuries ago.

I started my walk behind

the stone wall of a cemetery

for Mt. Zion Church (1851, Baptist),

which had been used as

a barracks, Confederate headquarters,

prison and hospital during

Civil War skirmishes.

 

 

Women entered through the door on the right,

men on the left, and the sexes remained

segregated during worship.

Blacks (both free and enslaved)

had to enter from a side door

and were relegated to the balcony.

During the Battle of Mt. Zion (July 6, 1864)

Mosby's Raiders routed the Union forces.

My high school logo was

an image of Col. Mosby on horseback,

and our football team was called the Raiders.

This particular portion of the Carolina Road

had been home to William West's Ordinary

(from the French word ordinaire,

for their fixed-price meals);

in other words, a tavern,

long since vanished.

 

It was a splendid autumn day,

a welcome respite from the 

toxic political aura

centered a short distance away.

Just 36 miles east of here Rt. 50 (Constitution Ave.)

borders both the White House south lawn (Ellipse)

and the recently reopened Washington Monument.